IMO: Dante's Inferno

I have to really commend EA for the change it has made over the past few years, its gone from the sequel churning machine I used to despise to the great third party publisher who is making sure new IP's see the light of day on the shelves. In the last few weeks, I've picked up 2 EA games, one being a sequel to a franchise that consists of 'Bro'in up' and the other a brand new IP. I'm a little worried lately that all the hard work EA put in a little while back is starting to disappear if these 2 titles are a sign of things to come. So, lets get to my honest opinion about the new IP today, Dante's Inferno.


I should first start by saying I didn't know very much about Dante's Inferno outside of what I had played in the demo (which I was happy with) and was hesitant to pick up a copy. With a bit of a gap in the release calendar that week, I decided to go through with my pre-order and my copy arrived a day later (Shopto.net shout out.. fucking great site) but as I played through the game over 3 nights of what I would call taking it slow I found a poor and unfortunately rushed game that was sorely lacking in the 'fun' department.


Dante's Inferno was a great premise for a video game and my earlier writings on Visceral Games, the creators of Dead Space, should get across how highly I hold the developer but I'm unsure of a lot of the choices they made along the way. Why are some of the circles of Hell so short? why exactly are there puzzles everywhere? why aren't there more people for me to kill? and why is there boobs EVERYWHERE? fuck, I've seen strip clubs with less tits.


As I sit on my sofa, pad in lap, watching the credits roll down my TV, all I can think to myself is 'Why?'. Why did VG decide to take a great idea and put a bunch of mediocre ones in it? because I think if they stuck to their combat mechanic and good plot they could of been on to a winner here. Instead, I'm given a 5 hour (it did actually take me 5 hours 24 minutes to finish the game) game of which 40% is greatly enjoyable combat and the other 60% is crap puzzles, unexplained 1 hit kill traps and jump sections with badly placed cameras.


I think lots of people will agree Portal was a great game, it took one mechanic and put a great 5 hour experience round it ending up in a stellar title. Dante's Inferno takes one mechanic and fucks it up til its barely visible and releases it at £40. 


A missed opportunity, Lets hope Dead Space 2 isn't treated the same