I just got finished playing a demo for the upcoming action title "Dante's Inferno."

Pictured: "God of War Ripoff" - Ranting Pikey
Publisher EA brings us this action title from Viceral games which will land store shelves (or Amazon.com) in February 2010.
So the premise is that you take control of a soldier named Dante during the 12th century. I haven't brushed up on my history in a while, but it involves the time when the crusades (can't recall which one) tried to take back 'the Holy Land' from the likes of Saladin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin). As a native Florentine (sp), you are set to fight against the forces of Saladin with no worry about the people you kill since your bishop has pardoned all/and future of your sins in the name of the greater good of God.
Pictured: Next Gen graphics were available back in the day
So the demo kicks off with you fending off some foes as you make your way through a castle. How and why you're there isn't explained. You simply realize you have to kill them or they will kill you. After the first wave you find yourself on an open field (you can easily tell a boss battle on the way). Some random dude comes and stabs you in the back, and all of a sudden Death or "the Reaper" appears (I think the two were in on it) and a battle ensues between you and this character. You obviously realize that you have to win, given most of Death's taunts pretty much imply you are going to win: "You can not cheat Death" or "You are just a mortal, give up"

Pictured: Hell's version of American Indians; they threaten you, so you take what's theirs.
The battle (which is uber Easy) rewards you with Death's scythe and then a cut scene ensues: You flash back to your Florentine town where you enlist in aiding to Gods call. In the process you apparently make a promise to your gurl that you will return (and presumably resist the urge to find pleasure elsewhere which we know is NEVER gonna happen). You find the town and local church trashed and then you see your gurl wasn't lucky enough to be spared. Her death which then brings about her spirit being able to talk to you as it gets taken by some 'evil' force triggers the next part of the demo where you begin collecting "souls" ala Devil May Cry/God of War. As you gain these souls you can upgrade moves, your weapon and later on you learn magic.
That's the overall gist of it, at least from what the demo held. Gameplay wise, it's like any other action hack and slash game. The controls are quite responsive and actions such as blocking are well executed in the middle of combos unlike say God of War. The demo seemed to run very well with no signs of too much action going on at once which may cause some frame issues. It does very well in delivering a pleasurable experience (like your mom).
God of War Ripoff?
The quick answer: Yes and No. Though more towards the former camp. Right off the bat there's the HUD display (icons/bars you see on your screen).

Pictured: Imitation or Forgery?
It doesn't end there either, the other major resemblance was with the health/magic 'sources.' In God of War there are health/soul/magic chests that serve as replenishment points along the game. Health chests glow green, magic blue and soul red. Dante's sources of replenishment are fountains that flow different color liquids; green is health, purple is magic, orange is souls. You be the judge.
Final Thoughs:
God of War game play copy aside, the game's story is one to draw interest for those that are either fans of the works by the real Dante. The game promises a journey through the circles of hell which may prove fun and action packed. The demo, which was over 1GB in size, took me about 10-15 minutes to finish. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but I can tell that the game is easy overall, then again I was playing on the 2nd difficulty setting (other settings were not available), or maybe I've been toughened due to my recent playing of Demon's Souls.

Pictured: this game will kick your ass, feed it back to you and then send you back to the 8-bit era.
I think for newcomers to this genre (if any), the game will certainly fulfill their action needs. As a God of War follower I see it as an alternative to God of War though not one that will take its place, at least with this installment. I realize the demo doesn't show the whole game and such, but just from playing I think that it'll be a good game and if it follows along with the demo it can at least make a good statement for EA. Though the gameplay feels very contained as far as the action scenes, there's plenty going on that you are kept busy. At the end of the demo I will point out that the scenes of the game as a whole (trailer style) were quite 'bad' in that they weren't in the same quality as the CG scenes in the demo, they seemed like they were enlarged/upscaled from a 480 quality which didn't look too good. I figured as your last part of the demo, you should keep the quality high. But that's just minor, I'm sure the final product will be just as the demo.
In case you're unaware, PS3 owners will get the 'Divine' Edition of the game come February at no extra cost to the regular $59.99 tag. Why? Well, if you can't deduce that God of War III releases in March, EA needs something to entice PS3 owners. Xbox owners, well, they don't have a comparable game to God of War so this game is as close as they can currently get, thus no need to throw in the art book or extra goodies that we will find in our Divine Edition.
Next preview: hopefully Bayonetta.














