Dante's Inferno: The Video Game Review

Dante's Inferno. Millions of people, over the course of many generations, have often identified this as the first part of famous Italian poet Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, a man's journey through the Nine Rings of Hell, the Seven Circles of Purgatory, and Heaven. It has been hailed as a classic by many, and has been the subject of controversy for others. Then, the impossible happened. In 2009, a little demo was released. It was called Dante's Inferno. With ambitious advertising campaigns that flooded the media, from 'Christian protester' outrage, to a fake advertisement for a game called Mass: We Pray, EA Games, creator of Dead Space, has done everything to get the epic retelling of Alighieri's poem into the light of day.

After the game's release two weeks ago from today, there has been a wave of outrage or butthurt (depending on who you are) flooding from every game review website, labeling it as a God of War clone. Fanboys of the Playstation 3 series agree, but fanboys don't have opinions, or can't utter them with Kratos's ballsack dangling in their throats. I played Dante's Inferno the whole way through before seeing this massive wave of pissed off fanboys or bribed reviewers (*cough* Gamespot), and I was flabbergasted. When I went from start to finish, I thought I played the holy grail of action games, and I didn't see anything wrong with it that was deserving of, according to 1Up.com, a C+, or, according to Sage of TGWTG.com, an unsatisfying experience that needs to be passed by. Despite the wave of negative reviews, I want to take this time to tell you guys why I think Dante's Inferno deserves better, and why you should check this game out. As well as why God of War fanboys and most mainstream game reviewers can all go suck on a large, stiff dick. Away we go!

Story:

This game is based on the epic poem of the same name, written in the 14th Century by Dante Alighieri. "Dante's Inferno" is about Dante, a crusader who was sent by King Richard to reclaim the Holy Land of Acre from Saladin and his forces, during the Third Crusade. The Holy Bishop also absolves the Crusaders of all of their sins. This may seem unimportant, but trust me. Before he left, Dante made a promise to his beloved, Beatrice, to stay away from the pleasures of the flesh until he returned from his conquests.

However, when Dante is murdered by one of Saladin's men, Death comes to drag his damned soul to Hell, and Dante refuses to go without a fight. Armed with the scythe of Death, and with the intent of starting life anew now that he knows the Bishop lied to them, he comes home only to find his father and Beatrice slain, her soul being taken by Lucifer to Hell. Now, Dante must traverse the Nine Circles of Hell to get her back before Lucifer weds her, and reclaims his place in Paradise.

I've heard a lot of "God of War" fanboys whine and bitch about the story of this game being nothing more than a shallow connective tissue to hold everything together. Horseshit. But what makes this review fun without a little bit of controversy, right? To demonstrate, let's look at the review of Dante's Inferno, provided by 1Up.com: http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3177808 . Some way into the review, the reviewer states that "what disappoints me most is that the story as a whole takes a backseat once you turn the game on", while also implying that "Just because God of War was a more story-focused action game than most doesn't mean Dante's has to copy that aspect of it." What, you mean the epic tale of how a dude's family gets killed by his boss, and so he goes on a vendetta against the Greek Gods for the sake of testosterone-filled revenge, filled to the brim with fucking every random woman you see in sight?

First of all, you're probably a) doing a gratuitous amount of crack, or b) sucking off the God of War fanboys a little too hard to think that God of War is a story-focused game. Sure, I'm basing this off of what I know and that's all, but what concept of "kill, kill, kill", and that's it, in the name of revenge is story-driven in any way? The whole revenge thing has been done to death, like your mother, and I can actually think of a much better way to tell a story. How about you take the cue from Dante and, oh I don't know, go save your family or loved one from Hades and bring them back?! Orpheus and Eurydice have done this in Greek mythology (look it up), and that would make it extremely easy for Kratos since he can shove his blades up anyone's ass that gets in his way! He got out of Hades in God of War 2 already, so why the fuck can't the selfish prick go in there and save his fucking family?! But no, God of War didn't do this, and so Dante's Inferno took the perfect cue to go down that road instead. Dante could have gone on a pissy revenge vendetta and killed Saladin and his people instead, but he went through Nine Circles of Hell to get his woman.

Anyway, to get back on point, the majority of the story is told throughout the game, so the cutscenes are actually important to the continuity of the game, and don't just serve to get you from point A to point B. Not only this, but Dante's Inferno actually has fleshed-out, three-dimensional characters who all have a part to play in our tale. It's not just about a dude out to get revenge, a man is going to save the woman he loves from Lucifer while confronting all of the sins he's committed in the past. Dante feels fear, he feels anger, sorrow, and he feels joy. His is a tale of redemption as well as love. With Kratos, you seem to just get one fucking emotion from him: kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, and kill. Kratos is one-dimensional, and to make a good story, you need to, oh I don't know, have interesting characters! If your main character has as much emotion as a fucking tree stump, or Swordfish, then you're in trouble! It's amazing how they were able to make three games around this twat. The story in Dante's Inferno is a lot deeper than some people let on, especially when an argument to denounce the game's story is that "When the volume drops every time people start talking and rises every time you attack something, the game doesn't feel like it prioritizes the story." That's meant to make sense, right? Well, in the case of the 'reviewer' at 1Up, that just tells me that he's looking for good reasons for bashing Dante's Inferno's skull in. Either that, or he's spent a good twelve hours sniffing glue before playing the one hour he's seemed to put into the bloody game before writing a review about it. But more on that later. Also, before you God of War fanboys out there say I'm wrong, take a look at what the creator of God of War said about Dante's Inferno:

"We've been intrigued about Dante's Inferno. This is my favorite genre, and the more people that are making [these games] the better," Asmussen told the UK Official PlayStation magazine."

Characters:

Below are the characters that will accompany you through your horrific crusade through the Nine Rings of Hell to save Beatrice, and the Three Kingdoms of the Afterlife. This part isn't all that funny, so if you're looking for lulz then I'm sorry to disappoint.

Our hero, Dante (not to be confused with Devil May Cry's protagonist) is a crusader who went to reclaim the Holy City of Acre. However, when he dies and retrieves Death's Scythe, he finds his lover taken by Lucifer to the pits of Hell. On his journey to save her, Dante comes face-to-face with his darkest sins...

Although Dante as a character is not faithful to the original poem, one thing needs to be taken into consideration: when somebody goes about remaking or modernizing a very old book or movie, some changes need to be made to ease the transition to modern audiences. With Dante, he needed to be a warrior to make the game more interesting, and he is given a reason to be in Hell. In the poem, Dante is a meek poet who goes into Hell for no particularly good reason, so this needed to be done to avoid a game that has you pressing X not to faint.

Dante's lover, they made a pact to remain faithful before he went to the Crusades. Murdered in Dante's home before his return, her soul is taken by Lucifer so that they may wed. Has Dante broken their pact, and will she be forsaken to be the Devil's wife?

A Roman poet who has been asked by Beatrice to guide Dante through the Nine Rings of Hell to rescue her, and to make him face his sins. A noble Pagan, he resides in the First Ring of Hell, Limbo. He presents the player with facts about the Nine Rings of Hell, and guides Dante through the toughest trials.

Once the most perfect archangel in the Kingdom of Heaven, he is the Prince of Darkness. Fallen from grace and trapped in the Ninth Ring of Hell, Treachery, this man needs no introduction. He takes Beatrice when Dante discovers her body upon his return from the Crusades, and he tries to forcefully wed her so he can regain passage to Paradise. Will his scheme succeed?

Other Characters:

Dante's father, he stays at his son's homestead when he is off at the Crusades. Murdered along with Beatrice, he is sent to the Fourth Ring of Hell, Greed. Through flashbacks, you discover that he wasn't such a nice guy, and his influence on his son was disastrous.

The brother of Beatrice, he went to fight in the crusades along with his friend Dante. While Beatrice made Dante promise to protect her brother, something tragic happened along the way that forced him to become the boss of the Seventh Circle of Hell, Violence . What happened?

Gameplay:

Alright, now, this game is what the people down at 1UP.com call a "God of War" clone, and since I have never played a God of War game in my life, I wouldn't know what to make of that statement. For those who played God of War before, then you shouldn't have to read any further because we have all of the standard bits and bobs going here: press X to kill things, press X to kill more things, and press Y to also kill things. It's a hack-and-slash game, so you have waves of enemies to fight as you traverse the Circles of Hell. However, an addition to this game that is bizarre is the use of a Holy Cross as a projectile weapon, firing off crosses of light to obliterate your enemies.

The combat, for the most part, is very fluid, and you can actually chain some really cool combos when you get experienced enough to do it. You can even use both weapons in your combos, which is a huge plus because that can get you out of a pickle. For example, say you have a huge wave of baddies coming at you. You smack them around with your scythe for a bit, but they just keep coming. If you're looking to get a mean combo, then all you have to do is press B after mashing X or Y, and you can fire your Crosses to blast the hoard away, freeing up some time and space to have your way with Hell's minions. However, the game prevents you from spamming either the cross or the scythe, and that adds some points in game design because that means you actually need to use your brains.

Other features in "Dante's Inferno" include a move system where you can press Start, and access the shop. There, you can buy either Holy attacks/abilities, which are used exclusively with your Cross, or Unholy attacks/abilities, which are used with your scythe. When you collect enough souls, you're able to buy any move or ability you please, with over 60 to choose from overall. However, you can only purchase certain abilities if you level up your Unholy or Holy levels, which can be done by either absolving or damning enemies in battle. There is also a mini-game where you come across a soul condemned to suffer in Hell during your journey. When you grab hold of these souls, you can either Damn them or Absolve them. If you damn them, you simply one-hit kill them and gather souls and Unholy EXP. Points. If you intend to absolve them, you get to play a mini-game of capturing sins. It's a button-sequence mini-game, and you are rewarded with bonus souls that you can use to buy upgrades if you capture as many sins as you can! In other words, you get more souls, and Holy EXP. Points, if you absolve a soul. There is also "Beast master," where you take control of one of Hell's beasts!

People might also come across the "God of War Clone" label because "Dante's Inferno" has similar features, like green souls for health and white souls for currency. You also have a 'super mode' called Redemption Mode that allows you to attack your enemies faster, and also become invulnerable until the bar runs out. They had something like that in "God of War," right? However, let's keep something in mind: just because it borrows heavily from the other game mentioned doesn't make "Dante's Inferno" a bad game. For those people who have never played God of War before, then it really doesn't make a difference what you call it because "Inferno" presents a really fun gameplay experience that doesn't disappoint in both puzzle and combat elements.

There is also a portion in the 1Up review about how Dante's Inferno shamelessly steals everything from a 'masterpiece,' and is inferior in all ways, shapes, and forms. Now, to kick the review off, the writer begins to compare Dante's Inferno with God of War, and states "... Dante's is as complete a forgery as games come, taking approximately 90% of its key features directly from Sony Santa Monica's game." Oh yeah, because God of War didn't steal elements like the soul collection mechanic of Omnimusha, the puzzle solving of Tomb Raider, and the combat of Devil May Cry and pour buckets of blood all over it.

With God of War fanboys, they refuse to acknowledge a good game can exist that borrows game play from their Holy Grail. Dante's Inferno, from what I've heard, copies a hell of a lot from God of War in terms of game mechanics like the puzzles and combat, but a) so do other games, like Darksiders, and b) the fanboys fail to mention that God of War is not totally original, but has borrowed other mechanics from other games. I don't really see what the big deal is about using a proven gaming style that works, because you can only do so much with gameplay mechanics before it just gets over-complicated and stupid (See: Mirror's Edge). Dante's Inferno proves to be an exciting, adrenaline-pumped action experience, and that's all that really matters. Besides, didn't EA's other well-known game "Dead Space" borrow heavily from "Resident Evil 4?" Isn't "Dead Space" hailed to be one of the scariest games out there? Point being, you don't need to be entirely original when it comes to gameplay mechanics to make a good game.

Accuracy To The Source Material:

Extremely. Dante's Inferno not only excels as a fun game to play, but it's also incredibly accurate and faithful to Dante Alighieri's epic poem. The developers were especially careful to capture the essence of the story, and present it in a modern perspective that honors the poet's work. To me, presentation is a massive part in critiquing something, and if it doesn't look like it has effort put into it, then I'm going to hate it. The creators worked their asses off to be faithful to the poem, and it shows in several aspects:

The Rings of Hell:

What way to better prove the accuracy of Inferno than take a look at one of its main characters? Some people cough1Upcough say that the nine circles of Hell all look the same: "You'll run into a few memorable characters -- such as a boss that shoots evil babies from her nipples, and an enemy that defecates to attack -- but apart from minor references here and there, there aren't major differences between Anger, Gluttony, Greed, etc." This definitely tells me that the fucking idiot of a reviewer over at 1Up didn't even play the game the whole way through if he's telling me that he played all 8-12 hours of it (depending on difficulty) and thought that the Circles of Hell all looked the same. Unless he's blind altogether, but then what the hell is he doing playing video games?!

Before we even set foot in the First Circle, we have to get there, right? Right away, you are presented with a frightening, dark world that has the souls of the damned raining from the sky, their corpses alight with the flames of damnation. The guardian of this realm is Charon, the oarsman who ferries souls to Limbo for judgment.

The First Circle of Hell is Limbo, the first steppingstone in Dante's journey. Limbo, in the poem, are fields and a castle that houses the virtuous pagans like Virgil, while in the game Limbo is the fortress of King Minos, the Judge of Souls who determines which ring each soul belongs in. Limbo, although not actively punishing those who reside there, 'punishes' the pagans and unbaptized with a 'false' Paradise, since they were never able to accept God. The enemies you'll face here are possibly controversial, mostly because they are un-baptized babies with sharp blades for hands. Unable to grasp why they are in Hell, they angrily lash out in groups against Dante.

For those who let lust control their actions in life, Lust is where they are sent when they die. Like the poem, the damned here are forever spun in violent winds without hope of less pain, or a moment's rest. This symbolizes the way their lust pushed them about in life. An addition to the game is the Carnal Tower, a massive (and phallic) structure that houses not only nasty Temptresses, sexual enemies who, although female in appearance, have a snake-like phallus to attack with when they split open, but also Cleopatra, the Guardian of Lust who fights Dante while Lucifer escapes further into Hell with Beatrice.

Possibly the nastiest level in the game, Gluttony is home to those who overindulged in foods in life, forced to lie in rotting rivers of icy rain and mud, as well as human excrement. The poem is like this, but sans the excrement. The Circle itself is organic in nature, giant mouths and eyes decorating this vile place. Not only do you have to fight the guardian of Gluttony, Cerberus, right off the bat, but you also encounter the Gluttons, disgustingly fat demons who attack by barfing and defecating on you.

Those who either kept or gave away too many possessions in life suffer here. In the poem, Greed has the hoarders and wasters jousting each other with massive weights attached to their chests, while here Greed is a massive gold smelting plant, both of these versions overseen by Plutus, Roman God of Wealth. The enemies here are Hoarders Wasters, two tortured souls fused together that attack by spinning a massive golden weapon, coins spilling out of one of the chests of this monster. Here, you meet Alighiero, Dante's father.

Those who were wrathful upon others, allowing their anger to drive their actions, suffer here in the Circle of Anger. While this strays a little from the original source material, namely the exclusion of Sloth from this circle, Anger is still largely the same: a swampy land of the damned where the angry lie gurgling beneath the surface, forever asphyxiated and wishing they had never been born. The swamp itself is the River Styx, and its ferryman, Phlegyas, is the boss here, a gigantic fiery entity that wishes to oppose Dante and prevent his entry into the City of Dis.

"We moved toward the city, secured in our holy cause and beheld such a fortress. And on every hand I saw a great plane of woe and cruel torment. Bitter tombs were scattered with flame, made to glow all over, hotter than iron need be for any craft, and such dire laments issued forth has come only from those who are truly wretched, suffering, and forever lost."

The City of Dis, a gigantic, fiery, hellish place, houses the four lowest, darkest Circles of Hell, those that cannot be easily understood by human concept. The active sins are punished here, whereas the other Circles were those of the flesh, passive sins that are less serious in comparison. This is where everything gets fire and brimstone. Upon your journey, you will find:

Those who did not fear or follow the Lord burn here for all of Eternity, the scorching fires of Hell burning away their sins forever. The damned are locked in flaming tombs and catacombs without hope of escape. The enemies here are Priests and Pagans, two variations on mages that have been recruited into Lucifer's forces. There is no boss here, because in all honesty, we don't want to offend anyone more than The Divine Comedy already may have - Mohammed is in Hell in the poem, after all (!!!).

For those who have lashed out against their neighbors, themselves, or God himself, this is their eternal resting place. Guarded by a giant statue of a minotaur, Violence is split into three respective territories, each with their own distinct flavors: Violence Against Others is a river of boiling blood, the Phlegethon, that scorches those cruel enough to harm their fellow man for all eternity. Giant centaur statues are in this river, acting as platforms. The poem has the minotaur and centaurs, but they are very much alive. Violence Against Self is a horrible, creepy forest that houses those who have committed suicide. They are 'reborn' as trees, bodiless. Virgil eloquently puts it this way: "for it is unjust for a soul to possess that of which it has robbed itself." Violence Against God presents us with a desolate desert landscape, scorching sands where those who have committed violence against God (sodomy and the like) are left to burn in the sands. Here, Dante encounters the damned Crusaders he fought alongside and then Beatrice's brother Francesco, hideously morphed into a damned soul thirsting for violent retribution.

This is home to the politicians, 'Holy' men, pimps, and liars, those who manipulated others in life. Since this is a sin peculiar only to man, it is thus one of the most obscene in the eyes of God. This is a dark, lightless cavern, and it is here where you face the Ten Malebolge Trials, tests of endurance and strength that Beatrice, now the Queen of Hell, forces you to go through to face your sins . Malacoda, the leader of the demons known as the Malebranche, is the closest thing to a boss here, but you face him before the trials.

These are the icy tombs surrounded by classical and Biblical giants who can be seen from the previous Circle in the poem. Antaeus, Nimrod, and Ephialtes are amongst the giants. Traitors are frozen in a lake known as Cocytus, where the Lord of Darkness himself, Lucifer, is frozen in a lake of his own tears. This is the final battle, so prepared to get your ass kicked a good amount of times before you triumph over Hell!

So in what way can I compare this with God of War? They could have put a little effort into Hades when Kratos went there in GoW2, but all we got were groping hands that might have well belonged to Pedobear at a preschool. But that's aside the point.

The game is also faithful in a very neat way to the poem because a majority of the dialogue is from the poem itself, particularly the lines uttered by the poet Virgil. Another way that the game tells you the developers were faithful to the source material is the inclusion of a historical timeline about he life of the real poet, Dante Alighieri, in the special features that come with the game. That tells you a lot when an action game includes some facts about its source of inspiration. In fact, the Divine Edition (available for PS3 owners) comes with a copy of the poem itself! Lastly, every time you die, the game brings up a line from the poem so it immerses you further. Neat! So when people say that Dante's Inferno bastardizes the poem and source material, it makes me question whether they actually read the fucking thing. LaughingMan, who actually read the poem, has been following me through this journey through Hell, and he pretty much says that it's pretty accurate for an action game. So again, go fuck your mums.

And now, boring and not-funny shit that still needs to be addressed in a proper review!

Graphics:

One of the most striking features about Dante's Inferno is the actual quality of the graphics presented. Again, presentation is extremely important to me, so when I saw how beautifully detailed everything was, from the characters themselves to the Circles of Hell, I was flabbergasted. The designers were damned sure to create very finely detailed environments that would give you the illusion of traversing an epic and horrific landscape, journeying through the sins of man to rescue the woman you love. From the slimy, organic texture of Gluttony, which reminded me of the kennel scene in The Thing, to the dark, icy prison of Lucifer, I was totally immersed because the designers created an epic world!

The cutscenes are also just amazing to look at, the characters and landscapes presented just giving us an amazing sense of realism. The computer-generated animation at the integral points of the story, including the first and last cutscenes in the game, accentuate the epicness of the situation that take difficulty to capture properly... tell you what, let's just take a look at an example to get a sense of what I mean:

Other cutscenes in the game include animations that act as flashbacks, nothing too intricate and flashy yet getting the job done. These add onto the story of Dante's Inferno, letting us discover the sins of Dante's past while, on some level, getting into his head. Perhaps, because it is memory and not in the present, the game designers felt it would be more appropriate to tell the story in a strange animation. Still, people might feel that this way of cutscene was a little lazy. However, since it isn't the dominant 'type' of cutscene to be found in the game, I feel that there's nothing wrong with it.

Overall, the concept and design is absolutely mesmerizing to look at, and you can tell that the people who made this game spent a hell of a lot of time making sure Dante's Inferno looks absolutely awesome! Speaking of good design...

Sound:

What do we have to say about sound design? Well, from the second I descended into the dark depths, the screams of the damned and tormented assaulted my ears, a very haunting score accompanying me as I saw the souls of the lost raining down in a fiery story at all sides. Hell, the music and sound design was even epic before I actually got to Hell. Anyway, the designers took great care, first and foremost, to deliver an epic soundtrack that probably took a lot of work to create. From your descent into each layer of Hell to an epic boss battle, music is key to getting a player pumped for a battle or trembling from the seemingly impossible challenges ahead. In Dante's Inferno, you really get a feel for that. Here is the main theme of the game:

The main taste of music that is prevalent in Inferno is that of a mixture of orchestra and choir, which is basically what you get in any action movie or medieval tale. However, what sets this apart, for me, is how the music doesn't just try to be epic, but also "hellish," for a lack of better word; it doesn't command special attention from the rest of the game, but it works hand-in-hand with the disturbing atmosphere to create an immersive experience.

Overall

Dante's Inferno, before it actually came out, had me doubting whether it would be any good. Even when I played through the awesome demo did I doubt that it would be any good. However, I was thankfully proved very, VERY wrong. Dante's journey to Hell doesn't only grab hold of you, but drags you along until the very last second, taking you on a magical mystery tour through nine unique locations, nine vicious sins, and nine to twelve hours of badassery. So seriously, all the fuckers at 1Up, Gamespot, etc. need to stop bitching about the fact that someone dares to rival their master and sex fantasy, Kratos, by yoinking the gameplay mechanics and seamlessly intertwining them into a great game. Once we get past the ocean of rabid, sex-starved God of War fanboys and the game reviewers who are most likely taking bribes or spending their free time under the desks of Sony execs and Kratos, sucking on their hairy, pustule-filled ballsacks, then we actually have ourselves a solid game.

In fact, I genuinely think that most reviewers have missed the point entirely. Once you get past the whole "BAWW IT STOLED GOD OF WAR'S GAMEPLAY" thing, which I never had to do since I've never PLAYED God of War, then Dante's Inferno can really show you how awesome video games can be again. They don't need to be something completely new and experimental in style to be fantastic. Instead, a game needs to just immerse you in its story, take you through with a fun experience, and just have you coming back for more. With me, that's exactly what Dante's Inferno achieved, and it's still a wild ride through Hell.

Leave a Comment

Dave
28 Feb 2010, 14:33

Easily one of the most entertaining reads here in a long long while but Dante's Inferno is still a God of War ripoff. The developers at Viscreal did make a fantastic and unique looking game but at the core it is still the same hacking and slashing in EXACTLY the same way it is done in God of War. Even when Dante rides the monsters to kill other enemies that is taken right from the God of War e3 demos.

And 'no I don't have Kratos's balls in my mouth'. Dante's Inferno is the same gameplay and even the same look and feel of God of War.

Everybody else thinks that Dante's Inferno is unoriginal in the gameplay so why are you so angry that no one else is seeing it as original?

noneyourbusiness
28 Feb 2010, 15:04

WAHT THE FUCK? THE GOD OF WAR RULES AND DANTES INFERNO IS JUST A PIECE OF SHIT COPY PASTE. KRATOS WOULD BEND DANTE OVER AND MAKE HIM CALL KRATOS HIS DADDY. DANTES INFERNO DID NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING NEW THAN GOD OF WAR. THIS REVIEW IS FANBOY CRAP FROM A DUDE WHO NEVAR EVEN PLAYED GOD OF WAR GAME. PLAY GOD OF WAR III AND THEN WRITE A REVIEW I CAN READ

Kenny
28 Feb 2010, 22:46

Aaaand did you play Dante's Inferno, noneofyourbusinessdjsahdfr? I'll listen if you did :3.

Also Dave, that was just added venom but I'm acknowledging that it's ripping its gameplay from God of War. What I'm saying, though, is "So what if it did?"

marshmallowman
01 Mar 2010, 07:50

noneofyourbusiness, you're the reason why we God of War fanboys look bad...

BEDLAM-BURNS
01 Mar 2010, 10:02

Dante's Inferno is a freaking sweet game because of the way the developers made a REAL Hell look. Imagine the circle of gluttony being shoved up Cerberus's ass and fighting through its entrails? The game looks fantastic. And the story was better than the Divine Comedy because the hero had a reason to follow Beatrice into Hell and he had to battle his own sins in each circle.

And what is so wrong with mimicking a game play style? Then Modern Warfare 2 ripped off Doom or Quake because you walk around in first person shooting things? You god of war fanboys need to get those dicks out of your ears and actually play Dante's fucking Inferno before you spew that shit from your mouths.

BEDLAM-BURNS
01 Mar 2010, 10:29

The new Dante's Inferno reminded me of this Mark of Kri review.

http://www.cheshirecatstudios.com/reviews/the-mark-of-kri/

If every one hates Kratos then GOOD because he is a pissy titty baby who screamed and begged for powers. The REAL God of War made Kratos's balls drop with magical powers and now he thinks he is a hardass. "RARRR I WILL KILL YOU BECAUSE I TOOK THE EASY SHORTCUT TO BECOME STRONG ENOUGH TO ACTUALLY KILL YOU!"

Iron Monkey
01 Mar 2010, 13:24

Dante's Inferno is a blatant, mechanic-for-mechanic copy of God of War.EA is smart enough to know that all they have to do is repackage one of the biggest games of the year with new characters and a new story, and they'll grab the mainstream consumers attention.

Gamers are BLIND, and need to realize that games like this are taking away from the creativity that have made us embrace the industry the way we do today. I'd say if you're a fan of the Dante's Inferno story, and must play the game, just give it a rent. Don't buy into the propaganda that has been surrounding this game, making it out to be this "God Of War Killer" that the game so gracefully fails to be. At least Dante's Inferno is a decent way to practice our God of War skills for God of War 3.

X_SWORDFISH_X
01 Mar 2010, 13:50

ROFLCOPTER DOWN!!!
ROFLCOPTER DOWN!!!

Zimes
01 Mar 2010, 14:01

Taken that this is a rip off of game play, the story here is SO much better than that of GOW period. To take a 14th century poem and turn it into a bloody, porno-filled, graphic show and put parts of the poem into the game: GOW fails when it comes to having a decent story line.

GOW can NOT claim to be original in gameplay since it has ripped off so many different games and slapped them all together. It not only makes those fan boys complete idiots for not realizing it but, retards as well since they can not grasp that their cock-sucker Kratos is nothing but a rip off.

GOW Fanboys: step 1: remove cock from mouth
step 2: Learn that a game is more than button mashing
step 3: realize that is hard to be original in games when you are so limited by what you can do in them
step 4: Learn to think for yourselves instead of listening to paid off game reviewing websites and magazines.

TidalMonkey
01 Mar 2010, 14:21

"Don't buy into the propaganda that has been surrounding this game, making it out to be this "God Of War Killer" that the game so gracefully fails to be" - or maybe gamers are trying to be too pseudo-intellectual by making this a war between two franchises when it's just a fucking GAME.

LaughingMan
01 Mar 2010, 14:40

BEDLAM-BURNS hit the nail on the head: "And what is so wrong with mimicking a game play style? Then Modern Warfare 2 ripped off Doom or Quake because you walk around in first person shooting things?"

Okay, so the game mechanics of Dante's Inferno are almost a 'carbon copy' of God of War. Normally I'd scream and rant about something being a blatant rip-off, just like I did with the 'hit movie' Avatar for following a specific movie formula.

For Dante's Inferno, people bitch and moan about the game mechanics being identical to God of War. What's your point? It happens all the time in video games: A formula is proven to work, and everyone else jumps onboard. What about "Streets of Rage" being a rip-off of "Final Fight"? Or what about the dozens of fighting games that use the weak/medium/strong attack scheme from Street Fighter II? Why aren't first-person modern shooters Doom rip-offs?

Why the fuck don't people realize that God of War is a rip-off of Devil May Cry? Same 'soul collecting', same basic mechanics sans the button sequences, same sort of 'giant boss fights', same weapon swapping, and same "collecting artifacts for lifebar/magicbar extending". Hell, God of War even has "Rage of the Gods" which powers up Kratos just like "Devil Trigger" powered up Dante. Why the fuck don't people realize that God of War is a rip-off of Devil May Cry?

Because each game does something a little bit different.

For Dante's Inferno the game play is extremely similar to God of War, I admit from what I played with the demo, but what about the Absolve/Damnation leveling system where you have holy vs unholy powers to strengthen? That's completely original from God of War. And Dante's Inferno's Beast Master (beast riding) beat God of War 3 to the punch.

What about the story and the overall theme? What about actually HAVING a decent story that involves deep characterization and overcoming inner demons, instead of just a bald-headed convict killing everything in the name of revenge?

Whatever, there's no use trying to convince fanboys to see another perspective.

Kenny Farino
01 Mar 2010, 14:43

It's like Sonic the Hedgehog fans defending their franchise when half the cast is copy-pasted copies of Sonic or Knuckles, and the storytelling is progressively slipping into fan-fiction territory with every new sequel.

Iron Monkey
01 Mar 2010, 14:54

CHRIST HOW BLIND ARE YOU PEOPLE?

You wrap a blender in different colors of paper, but underneath its still a fucking blender!

Kenny Farino
01 Mar 2010, 14:58

Tell us WHY we're blind by giving us details as to WHY it's bad to copy a gaming format if it's proven to work. Provide us with EXAMPLES, like, in my case, the success and praise for Deadspace even though it aped Resident Evil 4's gameplay to the tee! Make an argument, don't just sit there with your gob glued open screeching the same sentence in succession!

Kenny Farino
01 Mar 2010, 16:04

Here's another example: Banjo-Kazooie took Super Mario 64's gameplay mechanics to the tee, but they also added something new to the table to make their game different - the aesthetic was different, the characters were more developed with a sense of humor all their own, and they made some additions to gameplay, like flight. Banjo-Kazooie and its sequel, Tooie, are now considered great games. Isn't this the same case with Dante's Inferno? ..... YES.

derelictionaddiction
02 Mar 2010, 15:16

I don't see what the damned problem is. If it is a fun game then it is a fun game. If it isn't a fun game then avoid it. Why is everything a damned war between fanboys?

Kenny Farino
02 Mar 2010, 15:36

I dunno, derelictionaddiction, that's what I've been trying to figure out DB.

Mike K
04 Mar 2010, 09:57

The Dante's Inferno haters pretend like God of War was the first game to do those things. It's the genre; they all do it.

What really sets this apart from God of War is the setting. Dante's trip through hell is more unpleasant.

Alex J
04 Mar 2010, 10:20

God War wasn't an original game, from a gameplay standpoint, but it did what it did really well. So if Dante's Inferno follows suite then I see no problem with that. At least if it actually did rip off a game, it ripped off a good one.

Read more: http://www.cheshirecatstudios.com/forum/reviews/dante-s-inferno-review-t367 -50.html#p4485#ixzz0hEHVV8yn

perfectdarkgamer
07 Mar 2010, 22:09

Dante's Inferno is a poorman's God of War. Dante's Inferno is on suxbox 360 and playstation3 and God of War is on only playstation3. The console wars are won. Sony rocks!

Kenny Farino
07 Mar 2010, 22:53

And... your point is? Explain your opinion, tell us WHY it's a poorman's GoW! :P Otherwise, I'll keep my opinion, thank you!

D. Peterson
18 Mar 2010, 17:58

Kenny Farino

Dante's Inferno is a poorman's God of War because it does everything exactly like God of War while not improving anything and it is packaged together with a ton of extra features in the Divine Ed. So that is the same thing as a walmart brand soda. It is exactly like Coke but not improved on and walmart has to add extra value to get people to drink it because it don't have the brand name. It is an off brand God of War.

D. Peterson
18 Mar 2010, 18:01

God of War fans have every right to be pissed when something steals so blatantly from them. I did like the review tho.

Kenny Farino
03 Apr 2010, 10:21

Praise the gods! Someone finally gives an actual justification for their opinion in this thread! Other GoW fans, you could learn something from D. Peterson up there!

Chris Thompson
17 Apr 2010, 23:04

Don't play Dante's Inferno. It's literally exactly the same as God of War but just worse in every single way.

Kenny Farino
20 Apr 2010, 09:53

Becaaaaaaaaaaaaause? Chrissyboy, if you don't bring forth an actual justification but just teabag a game for taking someone else's gameplay without acknowledging what it does better (like story, a character you can actually like, the sound and scene design, etc), or justifying why it sucks, then yoooooou can suck my balls :P.

Samantha :]
28 Jul 2010, 03:40

So, I normally don't ever leave comments on anything particularly because I just don't give a fuck, but I feel like I need to put in my two cents on this one. I've played both games. I've read the Inferno and I very much loved it. I didn't like the game for the fact that it strayed away from the story line of the poem. Dante wasn't a hero, he was a little bitch. Yes, it would have needed to be adapted to be a game, but some things I just didn't like. He didn't fight any demons, he was passing through. I didn't like the game because it was boring. I didn't like the way anything looked. I prefer God of War because, 1) The graphics are beautiful 2) I felt like it had a deeper story, 3) I fucking love badass characters, 4) Kratos did actually do good in the end despite his vendetta against the Gods, and 5) Every thing in Dante's Inferno felt like God of War, just with a different packaging. Sure thing, you're entitled to your opinion, go ahead and speak it. But, don't shove it down my throat. I wish you would have reviewed the game instead of telling everyone to get Kratos' balls out of their mouths. If I wanted a review of Kratos' balls I would google it. I'm sure crazy little fanboys have drawn up some interesting things on deviantART. I came here for Dante and I'm leaving surely disappointed. Thanks.

Samantha :]
28 Jul 2010, 03:44

Oh yeah and, PLAY God of War before you bash it. You should have a standpoint behind BOTH games before you run and tell people how shitty one or the other is. With that said, GOD OF WAR > DANTES INFERNO.

Kenny Farino
28 Jul 2010, 10:50

Say all you want, but I could have been convinced IF it didn't seem like you just read the GoW fanboy bashing bits and not the rest of the review (See: Graphics, Sound). But hey, if you get upset that I'm bashing GoW, then I'm doing my job and getting more pageviews :).

LaughingMan
28 Jul 2010, 11:15

I actually agree with Samantha quite a bit. I didnt like the first God of War, but God of War 2 was a masterpiece and I have a copy of God of War 3 on my way via Amazon.com. The series is really good overall IMO.

As far as the blind God of War bashing, when Ken wrote this review he told me that he wanted to retaliate against the GoW fanboys who HAD NOT played Dante's Inferno, but were going 'with the flow' of mainstream reviewers in the Dante's Inferno bashing, rather than judging the game by its own merits. I believe that the purpose of this inflammatory review was to turn the tables and write a section where Ken compares Dante's Inferno against the God of War, which he never played.

As far as finding a review on Dante's Inferno, everything from THE CHARACTERS down is a pretty solid game review from the point-of-view of someone who can't compare Dante's Inferno to God of War, but instead judges the game based on its own merits and faults.

Thanks for reading, and your input is always welcome. :)

Kenny Farino
28 Jul 2010, 11:28

And sorry for the seemingly catty response before LaughingMan, but he is right: the inflammatory bits were for GoW fans who had not played Dante and were still hating on it, so I did the same thing as a perspective of a non-GoW player so I didn't have any bias. However, you are absolutely right in some of what you say, and I respect your opinions. And I don't have a PS2 or PS3 so I don't have the opportunity to play any GoW games since they are PS-exclusive. Maybe when I pick up a PS2 can I play GoW2, so we'll see what happens.

Samantha :]
29 Jul 2010, 00:11

I read the whole thing, but it just seemed like all you were interested in was being an ass about God of War. I understand that the two are really similar in a LOT of ways, but still, you were writing a review on Dante. I suggest you do get a PS3, because the developers remastered the games for it, and you can buy one and two together for kinda cheap. GOW2 is the best.

Kenny Farino
01 Nov 2010, 09:36

Haters gon hate~

Whocares
27 Apr 2011, 17:30

If you guys think GoW is SO good, then think that, but there is no reason to bash on another game with the same basic game style. I like GoW, but I also like Dante's Inferno. Why? Because they are both fun. The main part of either of those games is fucking shit up in the settings you're in. GoW was not the first game with it's fighting system, or it's "currency" system, so GoW fanboys need to stfu. Dante's Inferno has the same one, but it also has one MAJOR difference, cross attack. Where the fuck is that in GoW? Nowhere, because it was something new. Also, instead of lvling up weapons, you have holy/unholy. That is WAY different from GoW's lvling system. So just SHUT UP and play the games you like, ignoring the ones you don't.

Kenny F.
27 Apr 2011, 17:48

@ Whocares: AMEN!

zimes
30 Apr 2011, 22:22

@whocares: no we should make fun of the games that we dont like. that way it is more fun.

Lunatic6615
13 Jun 2011, 11:38

Seeing as how God of War came out way before Dante's Inferno, there was obviously a large following for the game/series, myself included. And I do absolutely love the GOW series, but I also really enjoyed Dante's Inferno. When I tell friends and family about video games, I highly recommend The GOW series for the plot, grapics, gameplay, etc and just becuase the series was incredible and managed to hold my attention and praise. Dante's Inferno is also an excellent game. I loved DI for the same exact reasons I loved GOW. Kenny, I would strongly suggest you play the GOW series, though, when you get a PS3, which I also highly recommend just for versatilities sake. Anyone that loves boobs, blood, badasses, and amazing visuals will/should love both games. Totally different both equally entertaining stories, very similar gameplay, where's the problem here. Hope this can help both sides of the battle, ;)

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While the Dante's Inferno video game is a blast, hating God of War fanboys are a Circle of Hell all their own.

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