Inspiration is a funny beast. It can strike from anywhere and turn some of the most unlikely subjects into spectacular works of art. So when Vicarious Visions took opening section of Dante’s poem ‘The Divine Comedy’ as the basis for a 3D action game that trawls through the eight circles of Hell the most pertinent question is, “Why?”, quickly followed by,  “Eh?”, before being topped off with a, “That’ll never work”. And it’s true, it does not work. However on the flip side it does not entirely fail either and during play shows that while the overarching theme may be derived from one of history’s most celebrated poets, the actual mechanics are from far more recent times.

At the heart of this game lies linearity, a series of corridors, arenas and moving platforms ferrying the Crusader knight Dante between set-pieces and bosses until the final battle is reached. Sound familiar? That’s because it is. In fact it is the same template used by gaming’s other well known fantastical/pseudo historical brawler God of War, and whatever Kratos can do Dante is more than willing to attempt. So in come the button mashing combos, the slow motion specials and main event boss battles that normally culminate in a set of QTE button presses.

To give the developers their dues, the combat portion the game is a tremendous amount of fun. Finding out the different combinations of ranged, close quarters and aerial attacks is very satisfying and every impact manages to carry a sense of weight and force behind it. When in full flow it can be a spectacular sight with bodies flying everywhere and demons being ripped in half with the combo counter continually rising well into the hundreds. But for all the enjoyment that carries with it, it never manages to achieve that feeling of being something other than a well crafted imitation of it’s competitors. While there is nothing wrong with flattery it’s normally accompanied by some attempt to separate the present from the past, a factor that disappointingly missing from this particular adventure.

There is at least one attempt at some originality: Dante can vanquish his foes through an absolution or punishment mechanic that takes the form of a brutal finisher that earns either holy or unholy points which translates to increasing either’s level. The basic rule is the higher the level the more moves and abilities available for purchase. Both paths do offer distinct differences in abilities, one upgrades the scythe moves while the other takes care of the ranged attacks, and there are real decisions that need to be made in what is carried out during the adventure. Those upgrades are paid for with the almost universal currency of any mythological game, souls. Released by the bodies of the recently deceased it’s the familiar tale of white for currency, green for healing and purple for magic all, something that’s become so clichéd its actually comical. Possibly realising most gamers’ completionist nature, your fully tooled-up character can run through hell again with all the acquired abilities once the game has been completed allowing those upgrades missed the first time round to be salvaged.

Where the title really shines, or possibly fails, depending upon your tastes, is the art direction. Some of the sights throughout the journey are grotesquely magnificent. From the giant, naked female representation of Lust that spawns enemies from it’s nipples, to the flowing golden lava pools of Gluttony, everything looks incredibly dark and grim. It creates real impact on first viewing, the care and attention taken is very impressive while the scale always appears to be huge, a factor helped by no loading screens ever being present. For some it may be a little too ‘out there’; battling babies with blades for hands and running through the Woods of Suicide turning the action on screen into somewhat of an embarrassment rather than something to be savoured but then the promotional material has hardly been shy in stating what should be expected when the game is loaded up.

The most unfortunate thing is that while Dante’s Inferno manages to ape the combat of GoW to a decent level, the rest of the mechanics, specifically the platforming, fail to match the developer’s ambition. The reason is simply the frustration that is encountered while navigating through the game, specifically in regards to the common and unwelcome return of instant death moments. Anything outside of solid ground appears to kill Dante straight away, even when the impact appears relatively minor. This leads to more moments of irritation and frustration than should be expected in the modern era. Worse is that more times than not it simply feels cheap and unimaginative, a tool to fall back on when it was too difficult to plan for real alternatives. The well spaced checkpoints manage to alleviate this issue slightly but this is offset by the transition areas between each of the different circles almost feeling like death runs, with just one false move resulting in a swift return to the start to attempt the same moves all over again. The slightly woolly jumping control does not help and the hero’s ability to fall off just about any edge without attempting to hold on only compounds this problem.

The story is handled through a range of media but never managed to find any resonance with this player. It simply turns into a series of pretty CGI, hand-drawn animation and in-game cinematic cut-scenes that try to tell a yarn that became boring as soon as the action started. In some ways it helps when the end draws in, the ham-fisted way the conclusions are handled does not feel quite so painful when hardly any attention has been paid to what was being said. In many ways it stands as a metaphor for the game itself, very stylish but also very throwaway.

The game suffers from a painful feeling of déjà vu throughout it’s nine hour lifespan. It begs and borrows from it’s contemporaries without really managing to live up to their high standards. This in itself does not make it a bad game, but it never feels like it’s own game, like it’s managed to surpass being described as anything other than a rehash of what has gone before. The advertising may ask the player to ‘Go to Hell’, but in it’s final reckoning Dante’s Infeno rarely rises above or dips below limbo.

6/10

Xbox 360 version reviewed

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