I got a chance to check out the Dante's Inferno demo, available now from the Playstation Network. I must say, at first I was skeptical for Dante's Inferno, read my "First Look" article for my reasonings as to why. They mostly revolved around my reasonable fear that Dante's Inferno was going to just be a God of War rip off.
I was wrong.
The game is amazingly cinematic. Granted that God of War is similar in its cinematic feel, Dante's goes over the top in cinematography to bring a level of suspense that I do not think any of the God of War games has been able to approach. Levels are constantly shifting and becoming more and more chaotic. In the demo, you play in a church on the approach to the gates of hell. This church is basically crumbling into a giant pit of fire and brimstone, one wrong step or wait to long and you're toast.
The thing that has me really excited in Dante's Inferno is the choices you can make between good and evil. When destroying enemies, if you grab them you have the choice of "Punish" or "Absolve", doing either will gain you experience points, however whether for good or evil is the question. Now, leveling up the good through absolving allows you to level up your cross attacks. Cross attacks are ranged attacks using the power of holy light. Punishing the undead will allow you to level your scythe abilities for the scythe you take (forcefully I might add) from the grim reaper at the beginning of the demo.
The premise of the game (at least as far as the demo explains) is that you play Dante, a crusader who is returning from Jerusalem after taking part in the atrocities that take place there. However the difference is that you should have never had the chance to return home. After being stabbed in the back, the Grim Reaper comes to take you to hell. Dante wants no part of this, so instead decides to kick the Grim Reapers ass and take his weapon. After some painful self mutilation where Dante sows a moving piece of flesh to his chest (which they don't discuss much of in the demo, but my hope is that they will explain that part in the main game), he arrives home to find his lover murdered. After releasing her spirit from her half naked corpse, her fully naked soul is ripped from Dante by some dark spirit with her message "I must go, I promised." Thus we begin our play through of the standard level that we hope to experience in the main game.
Mechanics for the game are enjoyable, easy to use, and quite graphic. I am looking forward to seeing the higher level attacks that can be performed by Dante. Enemies are not simply for killing either apparently, as the end of the level shows the ability to mount a giant minotaur looking demon, controlling it to stomp, smash, eat and scorch the other various smaller enemies around it. In true God of War style, mounting the beast involves a series of timed button presses, of which I did not fail to meet the first time. Either I am getting better at these types of sequences, or the timing is not that strict. We shall see if this changes in the actual game.
I was surprised as to how much nudity there is in the game. This will definitely not be a game you let your kids play or even watch. I am hoping that with the creative level design I have seen thus far, that the remaining game will continue to bring the level of dramatic flare that they have shown thus far. I am also hoping that the game will provide a level of horror that I have not seen since Silent Hill and the early days of Resident Evil. I am guessing in that department I will be out of luck, however, as stated, there will be no shortage of gratuitous digital nudity.
I have definitely changed my opinion of Dante's Inferno after getting some hands on play time with the game. I am looking forward to its release. I am hoping that the game will have enough content to keep me busy for a while to make it worth the money. I don't think I will be waiting a year for the price to drop on this one. As a result it is going to be pricy, so a short game would be disappointing.
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