I had an opportunity to play a bit of Dante’s Inferno over the weekend.  Being called ‘the next God of War’ by  many, it certainly deserves such a billing.  With a lot of hype, both positive and negative, click the jump to see if you’re ready to walk through the gates of hell.

The game ran very smoothly, and like all games of this type, was a blast to play through.  It follows the typical hack & slash formula with button mashing combos and special move unlocks as you progress through the story.  Shortly after beginning the game, you will unlock the ability to shoot cross shaped projectiles at flying or flamed demons.  Eventually you’ll also gain magic powers that come in the form of what appears to be different elemental types (water, fire, etc.).  Scattered throughout the stages will be fountains you can use to replenish the different meters (health, mana, etc.).  There are also time based button presses that trigger different moves/events.  For the smaller demons you face, you can grab them and choose between punishing them or absolving them.  These end with a special “finishing move” animation and will fill a good/evil (?) meter up.  I’m not sure how these meters will effect the story/game, but I assume that it will have some sort of impact.

Near the end of my play through, I had the opportunity to take the reigns of this huge minotaur like beast.  It was great being able to swat away tiny demons, burn them to ash with your fire breath or pick them up and chew off their heads.  A nice part of the gameplay that I hope is used often throughout the game.

I wasn’t too fond of some of the cut scenes.  Some, not all, use a cheap 2D style animation that seems to appeal to a much younger crowd.  I understand that it was meant to be stylized and fit more into the time period and lore, but they look like they were done with minimal effort.

If you’re into the hack & slash games, this game is perfect for you.  The story certainly has a lot of appeal, but I didn’t have enough time with the game to really get a good grasp on how much it would deviate from the original story.  While I didn’t have a chance to partake in any boss battles, aside from a relatively straight forward fight with Death himself (which ends in you stealing his scythe), from looking at trailers/previews, I can see that you’ll definitely be in for some epic boss fights.  In the end, the difference will be if this can evolve past the current set of hack & slash games with a solid story to boot.