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 On 11/01/2015 at 10:08 PM by BrokenH See More From This User » |
I remember Dante’s Inferno got “flak” for being a God Of War clone and I also remember Greg Bannen (One of our resident friends whose patronage goes back to the 1up era) defending it by saying it was still a really good game.
Being God Of War 2 is perhaps one of my favorite action plat formers of all time, I understand “why” people love it so! Still, I kinda resent how every other game in GOW’s respective genre is called a “clone” and those claiming that rarely ever give good reasons to defend their argument. (Beyond the game “looks” like GOW and tries to mimic those really big grandiose boss fights. Then again, what action plat former ever went without big grandiose boss fights? Screen filling baddies with ridiculous amounts of health & weak spots were a staple as far back as the nes when Samus went up against Ridley and Kraid!)
Regardless, from what I’ve played of Dante’s Inferno it’s “not” GOW. I mean sure, it’s gratuitously gory, flashy, has quick time events, and the main protagonist has a cool “main weapon” but beyond that the mythos, narrative, and mechanics stand on their own as unique. (To be frank, Dante’s Inferno reminds me more of a much more serious “Ghost & Goblins” mixed with the grim magna Berserk than it reminds me of God Of war but I digress!) As one would expect from a journey into hell, Dante can choose to punish or absolve the tortured souls he battles. In turn he begins branching out into different “heaven” and “hell” powers depending upon his actions throughout the game. Additionally the story is told with these really beautiful moving 2D graphic novela type illustrations dispersed amongst the cgi. It’s a small detail but does lend itself to making the game that much more of its’ own hellish beast as opposed to a simple knock-off.
Keep in mind I’m playing the psp port which is a bastardized “little brother” of the 360/PS3 version with a few things removed (Such as a puzzle boss fight with the ferry man of souls, Charon) but even then the game is very enjoyable. I’m also surprised by just how good it looks!
This is one of those typical instances where a decent game got “destroyed” by the game reviewing scene for ummm, well, I don’t really know why! Considering it was made by visceral (a good developer that also brought us Dead Space) it’s a shame the game didn’t get more love.
I've always wanted to play this. I have a copy now, just need to find the time.
It probably doesn't matter, but I just read The Divine Comedy again. Not sure how much of the game is really from the book, but it should be interesting to see anyway.
When it was compared to GOW, I thought, great! I could play a good GOW clone. GOW is like the best. Glad to hear it's a bit different though.
Yup, I aleaready knew it was based on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. Matter of fact, I believe this book later influenced how Christianity would interpret & describe hell as well.
I mean you're right as rain of course,the game has similarities to GOW but I was pleasantly surprised it also had more of its' own style than reviewers at the time gave it credit for!
Check this out. I scanned this two page ad from a magazine when the game was coming out.
There was also a tie-in comic. I only got the first issue though and scanned the cover.
Well I'm part of the game reviewing scene, and I didn't ruin this game. But then, that's mainly because I didn't review it! :) Sorry, excuse my attempt at lame humor. :)
PS: Go read my blog, there are spooky games in it. :)
Dropped by m8,even if it's at a weird hour. lol. Still,I paid my respects with a comment!
I think I bought this for a couple of dollars on PSN but I never got to it. Yes, I just checked and I have the Ultimate edition with all the DLC. Think I'll download it soon.
I'm enjoying it alot,Peter! I mean it's not a game that profoundly changed my life or anything but is still has good gameplay, fun combat,interesting areas to explore,and feasible character motivations.
Not my style of game, but I respect they gave a shout out to Dante. Weird freaking book.
That's aight,Matt. To each their own,bromosome!
Back in the day, I was signed up with Playstation and they'd send me free demos and swag sometimes and I got a demo disc of the original God of War. I didn't care for it all that much, so when I hear "God of War clone", I usually avoid like the plague. That said, I've never looked down on any game for being a "clone". Just because something happens to be in the same sort of style doesn't mean it's bad or even unoriginal.
Haven't played it unfortunately. I heard it was like God of War but where you can be killed by a vagina. That sounds fucking awesome.
The problem with "clones" is that at the time people decry them, and then we don't have any more of that type of game and then we want more. Games like Singularity get flak for being derivitive of Bioshock, and yeah I kind of agree but if you're going to copy from someone, copy from the best! It does mean that years later we get to go back and discover awesome games we missed though. a 7 out of 10 becomes a solid 8.5 in a few years.
I've been putting off this game for years. The next time I see it, I'll get it.
I was never a fan of God of War, so I passed on this one on the assumption that it would be another "clone". I had a roomate who was super addicted this game as well as the God of Wars though. Good to see you doing well man!
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