Cert: 18+
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3
Genre: Action/Adventure
When a game takes it's inspiration from Dante's Divine Comedy, it's fair to assume one would not expect the experience that follows to contain the warmth, humour and attachment of a Sims title, or the cute-and-cuddlyness of virtually any title that graces a Wii. When it comes to Dante, you expect something grim. Which is exactly what EA has delivered in Dante's Inferno.
Taking the role of Dante, a soldier from the Third Crusade, and no stranger to bloodshed himself, you must venture through the nine circles of Hell in order to save the soul of Beatrice, your love, and reclaim it from Lucifer, who, we learn, must marry a soul bound for heaven in order to break free from Hell. Said Circles include Lust, Glutony, Greed and Violence, to name but a few, and each is suitably decorated in an endless array of blood-red's and browns, which, as a result, after a while makes each new stage somewhat similar to the previous. That said, the various Monsters Dante encounters along his way are all neatly done, and suitably nasty - with the originality of some justifying why the game has an 18+ certificate.
Controls are simple to pick up, but here, instead of a positive, it's actually the opposite. Why have the opportunities for endless attack upgrades when you can successfully kill one with the simplest of button presses? The logic is slightly skewed.
As a Third-Person-Slasher, it's easy for games such as these to become repetitive. Yes, initially it's fun to annihilate a plethora of villains in less than minute, but unless there's some originality incorporated later on, it's not long before it becomes monotonous and stale. If not for the source material, Dante's Inferno probably would lose itself to that same eternal abyss it houses itself within, but, ironically, it's in its dark and grim foundings that this title saves itself from coming just another God of War clone.
Rent/Buy: Rent
Graphics: 4/5
Gameplay: 3/5
Replay Value: 2/5
Overall: 3/5
Reviewed By: Simon Rubbathan
