Dante's Inferno

Despite its visual aspect that was a bit below the standard ofn the genre, Dante's Inferno is able to provide fun and hold you until the end of the game. For some it can become repetitive and uninteresting, but it is a great choice for lovers of the genre.

Despite its refusal to innovate, its blatant copying from the God of War rulebook, and its missed opportunities, Dante's Inferno is nonetheless a solid title. At the very least, it's an engaging prospect for Xbox loyalists who've never played a God of War game. However, with the likes of Darksiders and Bayonetta on the market (as well as God of War III in our sights), Dante's Inferno is the weakest proposition of the bunch.

Ultimately, our issue is simple - if you’re going to shamelessly riff on a formula popularised and pretty much perfected by another massive game title - yes, God of War in this instance - you better be damn sure you do it better. And, sadly, aside from its excellent combat system, Dante’s Inferno misses the mark in almost every way.

There’s nothing broken about Dante’s Inferno, and much that’s enjoyable, but it’s more an act of homage than a game in its own right. Like the shade of the Roman poet Virgil, the Ghost of Sparta keeps Visceral company throughout its underworld adventure, but unlike the former, Kratos casts a very long shadow.

Dante’s Inferno features some interesting aspects (like its combat), but early innovation loses out to repetition. The game’s biggest strength – Visceral’s recreation of hell – wanes during the second half. Some entertaining unlockable content adds to the replayability, but for most gamers, Inferno doesn’t have enough new ideas to warrant a return trip through hell.

A Kratos in Crusaders clothing, Dante's Inferno isn't much more than a carbon copy of the God of War series, which is a pity since the setting is impressive and the series has a lot of potential. Dante said it best himself: "I cannot well repeat how there I entered, So full was I of slumber at the moment. In which I had abandoned the true way".

A nice action game with a great setting, but far too similar to what we've already seen in the God of War franchise.

A ballsy take on literature that worships at the altar of God of War.

Dante’s Inferno would be a much better game if it had spent a bit more time in development. The last half of the game isn’t very imaginative, the final two levels are just terrible, enemies are reused far too often and it really feels like there should have been two endings (one for each alignment).

It sets itself apart with its story and environment.

Overall, I see Dante's Inferno as a noble effort and interesting spin on a made-for-gaming body of work that falls short of the rarified air enjoyed by other legendary action titles.

Dante's epic quest loses momentum long before you reach the end.

As it is, we have a solid and very playable game which will no doubt entertain genre fans, but never dares to do much more than parrot good ideas that came before in a slightly grosser way. It’s hard to dislike, but for the same reasons hard to love, too.

The fatal flaws of Dante’s Inferno are not even its dated graphics or depressing lack of originality. It’s monotony and endless repetition that will drive you nuts.

Dante’s Inferno copies God of War in every way possible, except the part that makes God of War really good: the epic scale, the fantastic build-up and original puzzles. These elements are simply lacking in Dante’s Inferno, and what remains is a brown version of the game that it was inspired by. EA could have done better with the source material.

Dante’s Inferno fails to rise above its peers, the punishment for which is not damnation, merely a place in limbo.

It fluctuates in both difficulty and quality, never quite realising the potential of such a ghastly setting.

You can see glimpses of what could have been, but it is spoilt by some bad choices and a sloppy ending.

But these hopes were dashed in the final third where poor design, repetitive waves of enemies and button-bashing gameplay took all that my enjoyment and curdled into a numbing disappointment.

It’s a game that doesn’t commit any great—wait for it—sin, but it’s so dead-set on copying a superior game that it’s destined for mediocrity.

The game is filled with lots of good and well-executed ideas, but they all seem to exist independently of one another. It's a popcorn movie that clearly took a good deal of talent to pull together, but comes up short of creating the grand adventure that it seems to be trying for.

Another major annoyance is the save system. You can only save at designated statues, and there are only two or three per level.