Game Reviews

First, let's deal with that elephant in the room -- Dante's Inferno borrows heavily from from predecessors like God of War, and similar games in the genre. There's simply no getting around it, and even bothering to try is foolish. But if you're going to wear your influences on your sleeve, you need to show and prove yourself... do it well, or do it better. In that respect, Dante's Inferno impresses, with solid third-person action that certainly feels familiar, yet throws in enough of its own tricks to make the action feel fresh and fun from start to finish.

You'll use standard "light" and "heavy" attacks to wield Dante's scythe, a massive blade yanked from the bony hands of Death himself. The size of this weapon is evident in the gameplay -- it feels substantial with each blow you land, the weight of the weapon felt in every sweeping swing and combo. The combat is solid, unyielding, and deliberate. Compared to a recent title like Bayonetta, where the combat is fast and frantic (almost to the point of confusion), there's never a feeling of losing control when Dante's in combat.Dante also wields a Holy Cross, a ranged attack that can be used alongside his scythe. While the Cross can be used on its own to stave off enemies or clip the wings of flying enemies, it truly shines when used alongside Dante's scythe. Toss an enemy into the air and blast them with the light of the Holy Cross to keep them there. Or hop into the air and continue punishing them with your scythe before slamming them into the ground with the Holy Cross. Groundbreaking combat gameplay? Not really. But when it feels this tight, and this responsive, the "this is just like another great game" argument doesn't hold much water.It's a great thing the combat feels so good, because you'll be doing a lot of it. Yes, there's minor platforming. Sure, there are some puzzles Dante will have to work through as he makes his way down and through the circles of hell. But the focus here is most definitely on combat -- it's obvious that Visceral made this an early priority, and it shows. To keep things fresh, the game throws in upgrades via a skill tree, split into two paths -- Holy and Unholy. Progression is based on gameplay choices the player makes -- punish enemies and unlock upgrades in the unholy path; absolve them to continue on a holy path. Relics can also be equipped to augment Dante's abilities even further, which keeps the skill set feeling fresh up until the game's end.