Dante’s Inferno Divine Edition (PS3) – review

“Go to Hell!”

No, that’s not a plea to stop reading this review, it’s the tag-line for Visceral Games’ long-awaited, much-hyped action hack-and-slash title published by EA. Released on 2/9/2010, Dante’s Inferno drives players directly into the Nine Circles of Hell in what can only be described as a gruesome and grotesque descent into the heart of madness. What I’m trying to say is, reader beware: this review contains graphic and adult-oriented material that should be perused by neither the faint of heart nor the easily offended. This isn’t BSCKids.

Dante’s Inferno is the second title created by the studio now named Visceral Games, formerly Redwood Studios, an internal developer under the enveloping umbrella at publishing giant, EA (Electronic Arts). Unlike Visceral’s first title, Dead Space, Dante’s Inferno takes its inspiration from one of the world’s most famous poems – The Divine Comedy – written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and 1321. This isn’t the first time a game developer has taken inspiration from ancient literature, but don’t expect a literal adaptation of the poem here.

When the game launched, there were two versions: the Divine Edition, a PlayStation 3 exclusive, and the standard edition for the Xbox 360. Included in the Divine Edition for the same cost as the standard is a full Longfellow translation of the poem, the soundtrack, commentaries, and concept art. It’s all digital, so there’s nothing tangible to wrap your grubby little fingers around like with Bioshock 2′s Limited Edition bundle, but it’s all free content nonetheless, and it’s only for the PS3. If you own both systems, the purchase of the Divine Edition is a no-brainer, or should be. The games look and play identically. Let’s get into the review.

PRESENTATION

I’m really starting off with the best that Dante’s Inferno has to offer. The presentation is, by far, the best feature of this game. This is both good and bad, but I’ll get to that later.

Graphically, Dante’s Inferno is stunning, both in its artistic vision and graphical prowess. Dante’s Hell has never been more realized. In fact, Hell in general has never been more realized in a video game to my knowledge, at least not this literally. The Nine Circles – Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery – are each unique in their design and the way they present puzzles and combat to the player. The graphical imagery custom to each circle is no less shocking. Limbo is filled with unbaptized children abominations; Lust forces Dante to confront one of the game’s more disturbing creatures: a crotch-tongue wielding minion that’s almost completely nude; Gluttony gives Dante the Digestor, an obese creature with mouths for hands that vomits and expels fecal matter. I could go on and on. The imagery is repulsive and profoundly pushes the limits of the Mature (M) rating. Call of Duty is an M-rated game because of the killing and some language, but Dante’s Inferno is far above and beyond the pale for mature games. Your kids should not be playing this title.

Now, I’m 32 years old. Mature content isn’t wasted on me whatsoever, nor will I condemn a developer for exercising their right to free speech in this country to publish what they wish. I wouldn’t be doing my audience justice, however, if I didn’t mention the mature content and imagery, because it’s pervasive and perverse. For example, in Lust, one of most poignant images shocked me so much that I need to mention it here: Dante must battle his way to the top of a tower to fight Antony and his lover, a female character with tongues protruding out of her exposed nipples. This tower is nothing more, and nothing less, than a male organ. It’s not just a protruding phallic symbol that reminds you of the organ, it’s literally the organ, complete with details that one could find by looking at one. Also in Lust, the walls of the tower are adorned with detailed images of the female organ, and the sound effects are rife with provocative moans and sexual tones.

Visceral Games pushed the envelope of artistic imagery, for better or for worse. Many are speaking out against this level of adult content, but if you’re going up against God of War for the action hack-and-slash crown, I guess the developers felt shock appeal would work better than making a better game. I applaud their efforts as a mature adult. The atmosphere gave me a creepy sensation that this is what Hell is like and makes no effort to apologize for it.

Graphically, Visceral Games – according to the developer commentaries – toyed with 30 frames-per-second (fps) and 60fps, deciding in the end to go with 60fps. What a great decision that was. This game runs flawlessly on both systems, silky and smooth every second. I experienced no frame-rate drops whatsoever, and the smoothness of the engine made the environments pop with elemental intensity. The sound effects, as in Dead Space, are horrific and give the player an uneasy feeling. Screams of anguish linger throughout each circle as appropriate for the torture being received; Gluttony is one standout area. The entire circle of Gluttony is one big organic mess, and the sound effects reflect this at every turn. It’s cool.

In the end, I’m pleased with the presentation of Dante’s Inferno. It’s one area that shines to the fullest, both in its grand vision of Hell and the Nine Circles, and its grotesquery. Be not faint of heart to delve into the depths of Hell, my friend.

SCORE: 9.5/10

STORY and CHARACTERS

Dante is the protagonist of the game, as he is in the poem based on his dreams of Hell. The game’s story starts off loosely during the Crusades, in which Dante fights as a Templar (you unlock his original costume after beating the game the first time, FYI). Prisoners, deemed heretics by the Cloth, are released and Dante – the player – proceeds to rip them to shreds in the game’s first combat sequence. If you played the demo, this is identical in the finished game. Dante is stabbed in the back, after which he confronts Death. Death informs Dante that he has committed sins enough to condemn him to Hell, but Dante protests, stating that the Pope said he’s done no wrong. That single act of defiance forces the first boss battle against Death itself. Winning the battle awards Dante with Death’s weapon, the skull scythe.

Dante vows to redeem himself of his sins. He returns home, hopeful, but what he finds drives him on a quest of revenge. His wife, Beatrice, is slain, along with his father. Lucifer – aka, Satan – appears and steals Beatrice’s soul. Dante pursues the pair, aided by Virgil, who just gives Dante some tidbits of text at various locations. He’s worthless, but helps the player deal with the solitude in a way. As Dante descends deeper into Hell, the story unfolds via in-game cut scenes, fully rendered video (beautifully crafted), and animation. All three elements combine to form a pretty cool story delivery.

The story ends up being weak and rife with cliche and predictability. The repetitive nature of the gameplay, expressed below, removed me from caring about the story because it wasn’t compelling. A guy descends into Hell to kill the Devil and rescue his dead wife’s soul? That’s pretty much what it amounts to, and worse yet, the game leaves it completely wide open for a sequel, without really helping the player to understand why. Dante’s Inferno, if nothing else, is a clone of God of War. Everyone in the industry is saying it, and since I’m so fresh off two complete play-throughs of both God of War games, I can say with absolute certainty this is true. But Kratos’ story is far more compelling and driven by redemption than Dante’s, hand over fist. In this way, Dante’s Inferno isn’t a clone, but is in many other ways related to actual gameplay.

SCORE: 8.0/10

GAMEPLAY and CONTROLS

Here’s where Dante’s Inferno falls apart. It’s not so much because of poor gameplay as it is poor design and poor decision-making with respect to player interactions. We know what QTEs are, right? Quick Time Events. In other words, sequences presented to the player by way of timed button presses and analog stick movements to spur a dramatic action scene forward. If one of the prompts is missed, consequences occur to the player, usually in the form of damage or even death. Many games use this: Resident Evil 5, God of War (all), Darksiders, etc. It’s an accepted form of interaction where the developer provides cinematic elements while simultaneously allowing the player to participate. QTEs can be used poorly, however, and they are in this game.

Boss battles are an exception to this because they present their own unique QTEs. But during normal gameplay, mainly combat, Dante’s Inferno presents QTEs to the player in the form of finishing moves. Dante can either punish or absolve the creatures he encounters. Many of the smaller minions he can simply grab with R2, and absolve or punish with a single button press. The punishing/absolution animation is carried out by mashing the Circle button. In a room full of 25 minions, Dante can literally perform a single button grab move, followed by a QTE that can’t be interrupted by the other minions. It’s neither challenging nor varied. The larger foes require more damage to prompt the QTE for punish/absolve, but again it’s essentially the same button, and the same mechanic. R2 to grab them, Circle to punish/absolve. The beast you can ride in the game is even worse. When you beat the crap out of it enough, you hit R2 and the same exact three-button QTE comes up. It’s never varied, or challenging, or fun, for that matter. Square, Triangle, Circle, in that order, every single time. Now, I understand this is subjective, and I may catch flack from readers over this, but come on – challenge me!!! Don’t give me the same repetitious garbage over and over again!

Controls are even worse, especially during the platforming sequences. The design of some sections left me scratching my head in bewilderment. Check the DI forums; people are complaining more than I am. Puzzles are notoriously frustrating to figure out. I found myself at a dead stop several times as I stared at the room trying to figure out what to do. And the puzzles aren’t really part of the circles. In other words, a puzzle on Gluttony has nothing to do with the actual sin of Gluttony (case in point: the puzzle room on Gluttony).

The game boils down to a lot of trial-and-error, both in timing your jumps from ropes, falling from one rope to another, and distance elements. Some parts are too far away in the background to allow precise movements, and you end up falling off a ledge or a platform by accident. What’s worse, each segment between save points is marked by some progress marker. Anything you find, such as Relics, Fountains, Souls, Shades, etc., are reset if you plummet to your death or fall in combat. I’m fine with starting that section over if I die, but why do all the items reset? Isn’t starting over enough of a consequence? Why do I have to do that whole sequence of finding items over again for? And if you die trying to get to those secrets again, guess what? You have to start over again! It’s ludicrous. I’ve been called a “lazy gamer” for mentioning this in the DI forums, but I can’t let that type of player frustration slide. If I score a Trophy by doing an action, Sony doesn’t take it away if I die before I can save. A reward should be just that. Sure, start me over at the beginning of a combat or platforming sequence if I die or mess up, but don’t make me chase loot down all over again.

Combat is another sticking point with me. It works, it’s not bad, but it’s not perfect. Take the ranged Cross attack – circle button – for example. It has unlimited ammo, let me first establish that. Now, why that’s the case, I have no idea. You might as well have handed the gamers a crutch, because that’s exactly what the Cross becomes. It has immense power, especially if you upgrade it along the Holy path, and tremendous range. The problem, besides the unlimited ammo, is that you can’t target the ranged attack. The camera pans around rogue during combat, and sometimes enemies and/or Dante are totally off the screen! So there’s no targeting system like in God of War with the bow, so the Cross attack is basically firing at whatever the game engine deems closest. If there are five ground foes and five airborne foes, the Cross is all over the place, sometimes firing directly at Dante’s feet when it gets confused. You end up having to jump up in the air to get it to target airborne foes, but even then it’s a gamble, at best. It will fire at ground foes from the air, too.

As you can see, using the Cross becomes not only a crutch, but a complete button-mashing experience since there’s no precise targeting. Later, when you unlock more powerful Cross attacks, it’s absurdly overpowered and still has unlimited “ammo.”

The silly ranged system combined with the punish/absolve without interruption takes the combat to dizzying heights of repetition and button-mashing. QTEs are the same and not challenging. Later in the game, during Circle 8 (Malbolge), the developers seemingly ran out of steam and placed not 1, not 3, but 10 different challenge rooms of combat to thwart Dante. Sorry, but that’s just lazy. One room you must use magic only; another one, no magic; another, get five airborne kills; another, use only the Cross. Really? Come on.

Bugs plague the game, as well. Read the forums, and you’ll see what’s going on. Lots of broken stuff hurt the title. I’ve submitted two bugs already, one of which was a total game stopper. I’ve experienced bugs before, but never this much in a console title. Seems they’re becoming more prevalent these days, and developers should take note that gamers are getting frustrating over paying for buggy software at launch.

Now for some praise. There are lots of neat collectibles and RPG elements in the game, much to my delight. There are 30 pieces of Silver, representing the price Judas sold Jesus out for before the Crucifixion. There are three Beatrice stones that allow auto-absolve of Shades. There are 27 Shades to find and either punish or absolve, which earns you tons of Unholy/Holy experience points. There are two distinct power-up paths: Holy and Unholy. Each level you unlock gives Dante access to new moves, powers, and magic, in addition to health and mana bar upgrades. There’s magic you acquire and assign to D-pad buttons to aid in combat, such as Divine Armor and Lust Storm. There are Holy and Unholy Relics to find and equip, which provide interesting variety in the way damage is handled, experience is gained, etc. Some Relics require higher levels of the Holy/Unholy path to be wielded, which motivates the player to find them all and use them wisely. And the Relics themselves can be leveled up as you collect souls with them equipped, which yields more bonuses and powers from them. It’s a very cool system and really adds some depth to the otherwise repetitive and boring gameplay.

SCORE: 6.0/10

OVERALL

When it’s all said and done, Dante’s Inferno isn’t a bad game, but it’s not a good game, either. It’s average, as many scores in the industry reflect. It took me a scant 8 hours to beat the game on Hellish difficulty. The Gates of Hell challenge – 50 waves of attackers – is a complete joke because of the overpowered Cross attack. New Game Plus mode allows you to carry over your stuff to a new play-through, but beyond the Trophies, I see no reason to go to Hell again, at least not until the DLC is released in March.

OVERALL SCORE: 7.5/10