Manchester United extremist, Austrian School advocate, Tech enthusiast, all wrapped into one.
Just watch the video. Definitely looking forward to this one! The fact that I can tie a person up to an airplane and then fly it into a mountain while I make a safe escape, and watch the carnage unfold as I parachute down to earth seems kinda smile jerking!
You are Dante, a crusader who has a self mutilation complex. Your goal is to get home to your love Beatrice. Both of you had not partaken in the "joys of the flesh." Beatrice then makes a deal with the devil himself that Dante would remain faithful. The wager, her soul if she is wrong. Dante then fights his way through a castle, and ultimately gets stabbed in the back. You then battle the Grim Reaper and take his scythe as a weapon. You also obtain Beatrice's Cross as a weapon, this is your "ranged" weapon. You get no other weapons other than these two, bummer right? After some rather lackluster cut scenes later you enter Hell!
"Abandon all hope, ye whom enter here."
You then begin your epic journey through the many circles of hell. You meet Virgil who is you guide through hell itself. You collect souls to then cash in on abilities and upgrades on either the Holy or Unholy paths. Each have their pros and cons. I find Holy to edge out Unholy slightly because the cross weapon is far more effective than the scythe. You have access to relics which provide stat increases and misc goodies like auto opening of heath, mana and soul wells. These relics are both Holy and Unholy and they have requirements you must meet in order to equip them. There are also 3 Beatrice stones to collect to unlock Auto-Absolve when you meet a shade like Pontius Pilate. However playing the Guitar Hero like Absolve mini game nets you more Holy experience and souls than auto absolving them. Then there are 30 pieces of silver to collect, which give you a soul boost through the game, these offer no stat increases or modifiers at all.
Lets talk about the bad parts before the good, this game suffers from 2 big issues...
First and foremost, the repetitiveness. You meet a small family of enemies and that is all through the game. You then fight hundreds of the same enemies, and by the time you get far in the tree of your choice they are a push over even on the higher difficulties. Pull switch, jump on platform to reach another landing, fight 5 of the same enemies, open a door, turn a switch, fight, jump, door, well, save, repeat. That is the layout of the game. Throw in some rappelling, and some annoying camera angles at times and you have it.
The second issue with this game is its length. I rented this game on the 15th and had it beat by the late afternoon of the 16th, and that was a very casual play through, if you push yourself and dedicated a good 6-8 hours you can have this game beat in an afternoon. Plus past the halfway mark the game and its story just seems to drop off, I felt that the developers got lazy at times and purposely let this scene, puzzle, fight get sloppy and random. The boss battle was more of a joke than anything. I encountered swarm battles more challenging than the boss fight. So, enough of the bad talk, you are asking what about the good right? Well lets talk about the good.
The graphics are amazing in this game, the design team really put in 110%. The various levels of Hell have their own personality and flair. I really enjoyed the visuals of this game, and the soundtrack too was a fantastic compliment to the game. The details of walls, and statues was quite a scene to behold. I cannot praise the design and aesthetics of the game enough. Although I keep reading that most did not like the 2d anime style cut scenes, I can say I enjoyed them. It added a nice change to the gameplay, and provided a nice separation between gameplay and cutscene.
This game did a great job of providing the gamer with an interpretation of one of history's greatest works of literature. The base story of Dante's Inferno was a great backdrop to a game which I wish they spend a few moments more on. Going through the circles of hell and meeting famous shades and listening to Virgil was a great experience. Just to stop and listen to the cries of the damned and them trying to explain their actions was very entertaining. Good job on this, its just upsetting that the gameplay did not reach the same level that the surroundings and experiences we got simply walking though the realm of the damned.
This is a good rental, I feel buying it at full retail would be a big letdown. The game is far to short and as much as I enjoyed the ambience and the graphics, I could not justify paying 60+ dollars for it. This is 1000% an A++ rental. Its a hard sell as a buy.
Dante's Inferno gets a very well earned 3.5/5. Great graphics, awesome ambience. However, far too short and very repetitive. Since this is a game and not a movie I cannot give this one a higher score than that...
Brilliant video! I for one say the game would be just as good as it was and is to this day. Would love to see a remake eventually though...
So the cat is out of the bag folks, these are officially the first announced Pokemon of the next generation of games! With a dark type being announced before the starters which are typically fire, grass and water. Could this mean we have new starter types to chose from? Probably not, but I would love if you could pick a different type other than the typical 3; say Dark, Psychic and Flying. Keep looking here for more details as they roll out.
Here is some info on the newest Pokemon...
"The first new Pokémon being added to the next game has been revealed. The silhouette belongs to Zoroark, a new Dark-type Pokémon described as a "Monster Fox Pokémon." It evolves from the smaller and cuter, but evil, Zoroa." (Via Serebii.net)
Above we have a silhouette of a new Pokemon that will be appearing in the next generation of the Pokemon world. This is all we have at the moment of a new generation of the Pokemon franchise. This is very exciting news considering the fact that, like myself included, we thought Gen IV was the last installment into the Pokemon world. I guess Nintendo and Game Freak have proved us wrong, in a good way! Look here for more details as they roll out.
P.S. Be sure to stop by your local Gamestop and get your "Pikachu Colored" Pichu to help you access a special treat in the new Heart Gold/Soul Silver games! The giveaway goes until Feb 15th!
Since I have signed up for GameFly, I now enjoy gaming at a much faster rate than if I had purchased all these games. First, its a money saver! Also, I enjoy the titles I would have shied away from due to prices and mixed reviews..I have played a few games and as always want to offer you the readers some insight on the following tittles.
Wolfenstein (PS3): 2/5 - Not a great game, the camera work can get you motion sick at times. The Occult and Nazi mix just does not work. I got half way through the game and sent it back. Keep this at the bottom of your queue as a filler title when you main titles are finished with... Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (PS3): 3.5/5 - OK game, The gameplay and controls were great to work with, however there is just something about this game that fails at keeping the player hooked and in turn makes it a chore to progress through the game. Again a decent filler game for some decent western shoot 'em up action. UFC Undisputed 2009 (PS3): 4/5 - Fun game, who doesn't want to control some of the worlds best fighters and beat some people to a pulp? Can get repetitive though. Might be worth a buy, it's worth renting for sure! Controls could use some work, the ground game is a bit tough to get down. Most of the time the fight ends in a KO (Great animation though)! WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010 (PS3) 4/5 - Same as UFC but in the WWE world. If you are a fan of wrestling, rent or buy this title. Story mode keeps you occupied and there is much more beyond that. Always something to do in the game for sure. Refined feel, good control scheme. I have no issues with it, other than it might get a tad boring after a long session. Expect more game reviews in the future!In other news...SyFy is hosting it's annual New Years Twilight Zone marathon. It's always good to enjoy some quality TV and nothing beats the Twilight Zone. What is/are your favorite episode(s)? Mine are Perchance to a Dream, Obsolete Man and A Game of Pool. Google is launching its Nexus One which will cost $530 without a plan and $180 with a TMobile plan. Good move, however I think Google is risking saturating the market and, isn't this just a Google branded HTC handset?!? Good to see the Goog' trying though! iPhone Killer?! Thoughts?! The NFL season is drawing to a close and the Post season starting in a couple of weeks! With the Saints slipping the NFC could be anyone's game. I would not mind seeing the Eagles and the Vikings as a potential NFC Championship game. The AFC in typical fashion has the Colts and the Patriots. Choosing one of these teams is always a safe bet for the Super Bowl. Do not rule out the Chargers though! What teams do you see in the Super Bowl? Go Eagles!! January 3rd, 2010: Mark this date down in your calendars folks. History is made as Super Chef Emeril Lagasse makes his Kitchen Stadium debut and tags with Iron Chef Mario Batali to do battle with Iron Chef Bobby Flay and White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford! The secret ingredient is of national importance! For all you Iron Chef fans both old and new this is a battle you cannot miss! I'm going with Lagasse/Batali to win. Agree or Disagree?? Much more to discuss but, it will have to wait for another day..So STAY TUNED!!!
