Joshua Causey

Dante's Inferno

Developed by Visceral Games and published by EA, Dante's Inferno is a hack 'n slash action game released on February 9th, 2010.

You play as the crusader Dante. Upon arriving home, you find your house trashed and your lover Beatrice dead. When you discover that her soul has been taken to hell by a sinister entity, you take a flying leap in to Hell in hot pursuit. Arriving in Limbo, you meet the Roman poet Virgil who tells you about the 9 circles of the Inferno and agrees to lend what help he can as you make your descent.

The first thing most people will tell you about Dante's Inferno is that it is a God of War clone. This is true for the most part, as Dante borrows many maneuvers from Kratos, from the combat tactics to QTE's (quick time events) and sliding big blocks around as part of light puzzles. What Dante's Inferno does bring to the table is an original setting, a dual-branched upgrade tree, and decidedly next-gen production values.

Your primary weapon in the game is Death's Scythe, and you utilize two attack buttons and upgradeable attacks to weave together combos. You later gain a cross that grants you a very powerful ranged attack. These are the only weapons you have through the entire game, but you get a nice assortment of new moves and upgrades across 2 upgrade paths. One is Holy, which focuses on defense, increasing the power of your cross, and crowd-control. The other path, Unholy, specializes in increased Scythe damage, overall offense, and devastating magic attacks. Both paths offer upgrades to health and mana, and you choose which you want to develop by way of how you finish off enemies, either through Punishment or Absolution.

Each path also has an option for an extra Relic slot and a longer Redemption bar. Relics are found as you progress through the game and they offer many enhancements to Holy and/or Unholy abilities, as well as some utilitarian aspects like mana regeneration, increased damage resistance, or gaining more experience when you destroy an enemy. The Redemption bar is filled up via scythe attacks, with fancier, varied combos filling the bar more quickly. Once full, Dante can activate Redemption Mode which makes him faster, more powerful and decreases damage taken.

Progression through the game is linear. There are small out-of-the-way spots where you can find extra relics and health/mana fountains, as well as collectibles like silver Judas coins, but most of the time it's point A to point B. Levels are all designed very well--each has a distinct style and atmosphere, and you never have to wonder where to go. Virgil shows up frequently to help describe what you're seeing, and different events in the game will trigger flashback cinematics that fill you in on Dante's story. Talk to Virgil every time you can, as many times as you can. Not only will this fill in his commentaries, but he will also sometimes give you a new relic.

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