Dante's Inferno (Xbox 360) Preview
Posted by Todd Vote on 01.28.2010
I go hands on with the recently released Dante's Inferno demo. Come inside to see my thoughts on the not quite finished product...
The anticipated Dante's Inferno demo recently hit Xbox Live. Come in to see my thoughts on the early build of the game.
Dante's Inferno is the game based on the part of Dante Alighieri's epic poem the Divine Comedy. Inferno is the first part of the 14th century classic. In the poem Hell is identified as nine separate circles within Earth.
And open please...
Once the demo starts we are treated to a nice looking cut-scene using a mixture of CG, and storyboard style animated pictures. Think God of War and you have an idea of what I am talking about.
Once in the game, I immediately started smashing bad guys with Dante's halberd. It's interesting that I had to mention God of War right away, as the gameplay immediately reminds me of GoW as well with a light and strong attack, a dodge function mapped to the right stick and magic abilities. If I am remembering correctly, the games controls are even layed out similarly to that of GoW. Not that this is a bad thing, just something that I noticed right away. Anybody that has played God of War will draw the same comparisons.
After Dante dispatches of the enemies, we move on and are treated to another cut scene. This one of someone or something (Lucifer?) taking Dante's fiancé Beatrice's soul, shortly after her death. We are also treated with her talking about Dante breaking some sort of promise. Not long after dispatching some more enemies, We come up against what I think is the first boss fight... or sub boss fight. Either way, you are staring Death himself in the face and getting ready to battle. One thing I noticed about this battle is at the end, when Dante has victory firmly in his grasp, (you can tell because of the button mash sequences) death turns to a whiny bitch; begging Dante for mercy that he himself would not have shown if the battle had turned out differently.
The power of Christ compels you!
Upon defeating Death, you now have his scythe as your primary weapon. The demo ends shortly after here but not before giving you a chance to try out the new weapon.
In addition to the scythe, Dante has the power to absolve souls, or punish them. From what I understand this ability will create some changes in the game, though I am not sure yet what they could be.
If EA can tighten things up here, they will have something that gamers can sink their teeth into. Sure the game will be considered a God of War clone by many, but since God of War has been released, what 3rd person action game doesn't get compared to Kratos? if Kratos is the benchmark for this type of game, Dante's Inferno could be very close to reaching this mark.
Dante loves to fly kites in his spare time
One thing I would like to see improved is the camera angles. It just seemed like the camera was always so far away from the action in the game. I hope this is something they are able to fix before the game launches later this year. It tends to suck you out of the action with the drawn back camera. I'm not against fixed camera angles, but I think the game would definitely benefit from closing the distance with the camera.
Other than the camera, it looks as if EA is looking to deliver another fomulaic, yet solid game for us all to enjoy. Be sure to check it out when the game drops next month.
OK, one of the reasons I read 411 is for the reviews. I don't have to worry about industry spin, etc.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed by this one. I played the demo on the PS3 when it was released, thinking to get the hype out of my system. Instead, I am hooked by the dark, nuanced narrative portrayed in the cut-scenes. The review glosses over every plot aspect of the demo reducing it to a GOW clone more than anything.
I don't know if the XBox demo is cut short, but the final battle, where Dante "rides" a behemoth creature for a short battle was creative. The choice of what to do with souls and the benefits you can purchase is a nice feature as well. It takes the morality from Bioshock the next logical step. It actually piqued my interest enough to play the full game.
Regardless, the plot revealed in the cut scenes revales aspects from disturbing (sewing a cross on your chest?) to touching (kneeling over his beloved's body) to cinematic.
All in all, a good button masher, wrapped in a cinematic worth of Squaresoft.
Posted By: HalfABubbleOff (Guest) on January 28, 2010 at 01:58 PM
Not the greatest review in the world my friend, sorry - I too played the demo on PS3, thinking it would just be hype, but I'm hooked and cannot wait to explore and destroy the circles of hell. I think that, while the combat system is quite well done, and even creative in some respects, it isn't the main focus of the game. I feel that most players will enjoy this game due to the fact that you are put right into the pits of hell, and so it creates kind of a mystery and awe factor.
Posted By: Chris (Guest) on January 28, 2010 at 05:14 PM
This was a preview, not a full game review.
Posted By: Jeffrey (Registered) on January 28, 2010 at 05:57 PM
The opening cutscene - where Dante's sewing the cross into his flesh - and the one in which he's riding a horse and discovers his fiance's body, are visually breathtaking. The style is reminiscent of photorealism and the textures and lighting are really remarkable. I enjoyed the gameplay but those two cutscenes were very impressive.
Posted By: BK (Guest) on January 28, 2010 at 08:15 PM
not a review guys, it is just a preview. I even said I expect the game to be solid even if it is somewhat formulaic. What I was trying to say by that is that every 3rd person action epic that comes out lately seems to try to hard to be like God of War. The cutscenes may look spectacular, but thats not going to change the fact that the game is going to have to do something drastic to seperate itself from the pack. The soul harvesting may be just that. Contrary to what you folks took away from the preview, I am looking forward to playing the final game if for nothing else, the incredible story that will be brought to life.
Posted By: Todd Vote (Registered) on January 29, 2010 at 11:10 AM
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