2010 is shaping up to be a super year for gaming, especially in the genres I’m interested in playing–namely fighters and brawlers. Games like Bayonetta, Darksiders, and God of War 3 will be giving my brawlers’ itch a major league scratch. Personally, I can’t wait.
Now comes the demo for EA’s Dante’s Inferno, one of the brawlers I was looking forward to early next year. After playing the demo however, I do have some concerns….

First, lets get the obvious out of the way. Dante’s Inferno will be a God of War clone. Aside from that, the demo shows that it borrows heavily from Castlevania: Lament of Innocence as well. Being a clone doesn’t make this a bad game. There are actually some elements in the demo that are kind of twists on brawler genre basics–at least as far as how God of War did them. For example, kill an enemy and you’ll collect souls to upgrade your weapons. However, punishing, or absolving an opponent builds power either in your cross, or Death’s scythe.

In the PS3 timed exclusive demo, you have access to two weapons–The Cross (a huge cross belonging to Dante’s wife) that sends cross shaped beams of light energy at enemies, and Death’s scythe. The scythe is the weapon you take from Death after he fails to claim Dante’s soul after a murder attempt during his tour of duty in the 3rd Crusade. Both weapons can be used in tandem–similar to Konami’s Castlevania: LoI building up some slick combos–even with the limited abilities available on the weapons’ skill trees. Combat is simple–like God of War. Based on the demo, button mashing will get you through, but the limited advanced moves given during the demo hint at deeper combat available in the final game. Hopefully there will be enemy types and bosses that will require a mastery of your skill set to beat them.

Graphics are sharp. There are no differences between the Animations are top notch. EA and Visceral Games (the developer) claim 60 fps. Another element that is top notch is enemy variety. The demo showcases several enemy types during the course of the short demo, including a large lumbering beast that you gain control of toward the end of the demo.

My concern about this game is two fold. First, EA’s marketing team has been acting like d-bags when it comes to marketing for this game. From staging a Christian protest of the game at E3, to setting up lame phony church themed blogs about the game tick me off. Just in case the marketing savants at EA are reading–Dante’s Inferno (the poem your game is based on) is an allegory of a righteous person’s rejection of sin, and moving closer to God. Elements of the Christian faith are used to tell the poem’s story. Nowhere in biblical scripture is Hell described as rings, populated by certain people guilty of certain sins. The Bible says that we are all guilty of violating God’s law, which is why He sent Jesus. If you want to learn more, look up John 3:16 in the New Testament. Thats why the poem is an ALLEGORY. Consider that your Sesame Street word of the day, EA. Trying to use the stereotypical angry Christian to gin up hype about your game is an idiotic idea, and I’m glad it backfired. EA wouldn’t even THINK about doing anything along those lines with the Muslim faith, Budhist faith, or even Scientology for that matter. Okay–dismounting soap box now.

My second issue is the use of nudity in the game. Sure, games like God of War, and lesser action titles like Conan used them, but Dante’s Inferno throws it in your face like a shovel full of funk–and I don’t mean the good kind, either. DI puts it front and center and keeps it there. There is no real reason for it, in my opinion. There is even a cutscene where the ghost of Dante’s wife is speaking about Dante. Instead of doing some cinematic camera tricks to make the scene intrigueing, all you see is her funbags heaving as she’s talking, taking up the majority of the screen real estate. It serves no purpose, adds nothing to the story, and tells me that certain developers like Visceral Games are still playing that old cliche of gamers being unsocialized boy bundles of teen hormones whose only hope of getting close to a woman are the bump mapped boobies they provide. Gee guys, welcome to 2001.

So, I have to say the demo is entertaining to play, and shows that the retail product may have a lot to offer. If you like God of War, and the high end clones the series has spawned (i.e. Wolverine), you’ll no doubt dig what the demo has. However, EA’s insulting marketing screw-ups and no-rhyme-or-reason nudity are substantial turn offs for me. Right now, I’ve got Bayonetta and Darksiders on pre-order. I’m going to have to think about whether or not there will be shelf space for Dante’s Inferno.