WeView: Dante’s Inferno

You know what’s not adapted into games enough? 14th Century Florentine poetry. I mean we get movies adapted fairly often, and even games based on books aren’t completely unheard of. But poetry? We hardly ever see that. 14th Century Florentine poetry is even less well represented, with one notable exception – Dante’s Inferno.

To be fair, the game may not be the most accurate representation of its source material. In fact, actual professors weighed in to rage against the way the game had altered key elements, centring their complaints around the game’s representation of Beatrice as a damsel in distress.

Despite the divergence from the source material, Alex was fairly fond of the title, rating it at 8/10 in our review. Starting things off with the obvious comparison, he commented that “Dante’s Inferno has successfully taken a swipe at Kratos and Bayonetta with a deft swing of Death’s scythe.” Both the God of War series and Bayonetta set a very high water mark for the hack and slash genre, so even attempting to hit their standard is impressive.

However, that’s not to say the game is without its problems. Alex complained that “the combat is repetitive ad nauseum, the morality choices hardly game affecting and, despite being a linear experience there’s some odd signposting on occasion and exploration is limited,” all of which are a serious drag on a game. In particular, repetitive combat in a hack and slash game can really ruin your enjoyment.

Fortunately, there was plenty of other things that raised the game up. Alex plucked out “the sense of scale in the delightfully detailed visuals as you make your way through the various stages,” as a highlight, as well as the way the game’s progression mechanics draw “you in with the promise of better power-ups and more impressive abilities”.

Returning to the earlier comparison to other titles in the genre, here’s what Alex had to say when wrapping up his thoughts:

So, whilst God Of War might have a little more muscle, and Bayonetta much more style, Dante’s unholy mission and constant, unweilding toil give the game just enough distinctive qualities to warrant a purchase for fans of the genre. There’s nothing terribly clever about the game, but it’s a wickedly tasteless ride through the mind of a developer keen to escape the confines of the slow, claustrophobia of Dead Space. Not essential, but bloody good fun.

Sounds pretty positive overall, and it’s always nice to have games that are simply “bloody good fun.” However, it’s not my opinion that counts here, it’s yours. If you’ve played Visceral’s 2010 entry into the hack and slash genre then now is your time to shine.

If you feel like sharing your opinions on the game with the wider world, all you need to do is drop a comment below. Once you’ve done that, we do ask that you include a rating from the Buy It, Bargain Bin It, Rent It, Avoid It scale, simply picking which of the four categories best sums up your attitude towards the Hell based adventure. We’ll round up everyone’s thoughts in Monday’s Verdict article, meaning you’ve got until Sunday evening to get your thoughts down.