I just played the Dante’s Inferno Demo for about the seventh time. At first, I was against the thought of the epic poem becoming a game. Dante’s Inferno is the tale of a man traveling from Paradise to Damnation. One important thing to mention is that, in the poem, Dante is not a Scythe-wielding badass. This adaptation certainly takes it’s own liberties with the classic. There are some things that caught my eye however.

The Narration, and much of the Dialogue, is straight from Alighieri’s texts. For those unfamiliar with the tale, there is a deep and interesting story to be told. It translates well, using brutal action as it’s rosetta stone. For those totally clueless, all you need to know is this: Dante’s girl goes to hell, and he goes after her. From there, he traverses the Nine circles of Hell, with the Devil himself at the center.

The gameplay is good, albiet a bit hard to get used to. Very much like God of War, but set during the Inquisition instead of Ancient greece. The fighting comprises of button-mashing, and a lot of it. For those without strong thumbs, this game will become tiring fast. The camera angles are set, and usually rather well, but I am not without complaints. For, if you should move the right stick to fix the camera (something almost every game requires) Dante leaps in that direction. It’s a great simple way to evade attacks, but very hard to get used to.

Quick time events are rampant in this game. while the result is usually an awesomely brutal kill, if you should lack quick reflexes and hand-eye coordination, you can forget about this game right now. Not a major problem for me, but I know that many gamers aren’t Quick time event fans.

Visually, the game is stunning. The graphics really shine, especially in cutscenes, which were amazing. One thing that surprised me was the fact that they weren’t shy about showing nudity. Beatrice, Dante’s girl, is fully nude, and the only censorship was a slight glow over her most private area. This certainly promises to keep gamers drooling, especially in the circle of Lust. That should prove interesting, to say the least.

The sound is also incredible. Every scream, every hit of a weapon, and all the dialogue was seamlessly integrated into the rest of the demo. There was one annoying factor: Cutscenes were very quiet, and the gameplay was very loud. I was often playing with the volume control on my remote.

As for what the Demo actually consists of, hardcore fans of the poem may want to look away. After slaughtering innocent people in the name of God, you are sneakily stabbed in the back. Death, with a rather cool looking scythe,  tells you you are to be condemned to Hell for your sins. You refuse, and offer a counter-offer. You fight Death itself, and subsequently whoop his ass. You take his scythe as a trophy of sorts, and head home to your lady. She’s dead, and her soul is going to hell. The only reasonable reaction is to follow her, so you do. There is plenty of resistance, and little demons trying to stop you. You can either Punish or absolve them of their sins, gaining rewards for either. There is a cool mini-boss fight, and the demo ends just as you enter the gates of Hell itself.

The theology is deep, the story classic, and the action tangible. I can tell already the game seems to lack major replay value, at least for me; however, the game looks to be worth the money, and I’m impressed. I was against the very thought of this game at first, wholly turned off by the idea, but by the sheer quality of the demo. I would recommend playing this demo immediately, and keeping an eye out for the full game.

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