Graphics

Dante’s Inferno is a mixed bag, the graphics are good enough and they look nice, however it’s the visual design that smacks of a game that tries way too hard to push the OFFEND button. I’m no prude at all but when even I look at a game and shake my head sadly when I travel through the Circle of Hell known as Lust, you know you’ve done something pretty cliché. It’s not even shocking or disturbing, it’s just plain expected. I wasn’t perturbed or grossed out, I spent most of my time saying things like, “Oh look a penis tower.”

Oh look, here’s some naked stuff...and so on. It didn’t surprise me, not even when Lust with her mouths for nipples disgorged a plethora of malformed babies with curved metal blades for arms. I’ve watched Clive Barker’s worst and best, this was nothing compared to that.

Gluttony checked a bunch of typical reactions from me as well. Now I know this is based on the Divine Comedy and that Hell is and I quote: not a nice place to take a vacation, so it’s supposed to be a bit shocking. However the interior decorators based some of the designs on the original drawings and that’s where I can give a thumbs up, albeit reluctantly.

Apart from my gripes, it is a nice looking game and the character design is pretty decent. Not sure I like Dante though; he’s not really as gripping as the other Dante or even Kratos and found myself throwing him into fires and off ledges just because I despised him that much.

Animations

There’s not much to complain about here, the animations are decent enough and they do exactly what they set out to do. The combat moves are visceral and Dante is pretty well animated, Death’s scythe manages to change forms a couple of times and the best character by far is the Devil who is a ‘dark’ smoky figure that flows and moves around.

AI

Decent enough, some problems now and then in combat when the enemies seemed to make some really stupid moves even on the harder difficulties.

Physics

Again, the physics seem to be ok in the game. Nothing spectacular is done with the engine so it’s a case of; it does what it needs to do.

Sound

The audio for Dante’s Inferno is good, it’s packed with nice ambient special effects and there are some truly dodgy audio segments for Lust.

Music

Suitably epic in scope and it matches the action and exploration well enough.

Voice/Dialogue

Dante is as I expected him to sound, the voice of a demanding warrior, full of menace and contempt for his situation. The voice work overall is pretty decent and the various roles are good enough, all except for the Devil who is suitably menacing and brilliantly acted. The script/dialogue is solid enough with a nod and homage to Dante’s own written work hidden away in the various reams of dialogue.

Multiplayer

That’s to come in the DLC that’s been planned for the game, watch this space...no seriously, watch it.

Infernal

The problem is that we’ve played DMC and God of War to death, we know the cocky Dante and the surly Kratos, and we’ve flirted with the sultry Bayonetta and helped War overcome his trials in Darksiders. If Dante’s Inferno had of been released previously perhaps a year or so ago it might have found a better niche in a genre that’s already been dominated by some of the best. But the treatment of the source material’s character, the design to shock and offend first and foremost, lack of connection to the main character and his situation make it just yet another button masher.