Dante's Inferno

Dante's Inferno - (Xbox 360, PS3)
Developer: Visceral Games
Format: Xbox 360, PS3
Genre: Action


Go to hell for a spell



A bit of a literature lesson - what are the nine levels of Dante's hell? Thought not, here you go: limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. That's quite a lot to get through as Dante himself, a veteran of the Crusades, thrust into the entrance of hell itself in order to chase and rescue his slain love Beatrice, from the horned grasp of Satan.

This express lift, going just the one way, is a hell of a ride. Armed with a Scythe made from a spine and not one to shy away from a little argy bargy, Dante takes to the demon-slaying task with a vengeance. Slain demons' souls are collected for power-ups while Beatrice's cross gives you the power to cast spells and punish or absolve those unfortunates you meet in the ever-increasingly grim levels of hell; vomiting fat guys, unbaptised babies - the stuff of nightmares!

Throughout the experience the design is slick and menacing with the tension cranked up at every turn and you get a real sense of descending, of the next level being worse than the last, until the ultimate end of level boss himself.

There's an element of repetition in some levels but the enemies design and the grisly atmosphere that pervades everything will keep the nerves on edge. There's also plenty of combo-XP-type collection to be done, along with different combos and outcomes of magical abilities; a good bridge between RPG and pure action worlds.

Buckle up; it's as hot as hell.