Still waiting for God of War 3 to bring all the blood splattering action and mythical adventure to your PS3? Why wait for the main course when you can start off with the appetizer, one called “Dante’s Inferno.”

Before I start with the topic at hand, let me first put out that this is the Death Edition, which was only released in Australia and Europe. I’ll go into more detail of the differences between the Divine and Death Editions later on.

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Story

There isn’t much to spoil when it comes to the story, since it’s your basic “save the girl and the world” with an unoriginal twist at the mid-point and end. The real focus of the story isn’t Dante so much, but rather the nine circles of Hell. Our not-so-helpful guide, Virgil, will interject opinions and tales about each of the circles as you progress through. Exploring the environments and realizing just how different each circle is from one another, the immersion into Dante’s Inferno becomes that much stronger. Although the enemies don’t really help with that immersion since they’re recycled through each circle.

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Gameplay

This is where Dante’s Inferno branches off from the traditional setup that God of War has been known to do. There are two paths to take, Holy and Unholy, both of which can be exploited if equipped with the right relics. Going on the Holy path will focus more on the usage of the cross attack and defensive options, that being relics and spells. When Dante obtains the cross, the main focus will be long range attacks to take down flying demons, but this changes quickly with certain relics equipped and upgrading further on the Holy path. It becomes a “Contra-like” spread gun, meaning that it will have that infamous wide spread effect and, if upgraded properly, can heal you each time an enemy gets killed from that attack. The spells are, as mentioned before, defensive and can be exploited all the same with the right relics equipped.

Being Unholy allows the use of the scythe to have deadly effects on the ground and in the air. Since the scythe is your only physical weapon against the legions of Hell, the upgrades will make sure that the Critical Hit rate is stacked higher and the counter attacks are more dangerous from one foe to many, if surrounded. As with being Holy, the relics that can only be used with the path of the Unholy can maximize the damage output and turn your basic attack into an unstoppable barrage of pain. The spells within the Unholy path are, of course, offensive and there are nasty Unholy spells that can easily turn the tide of battle in a matter of seconds.

However, in order to fully utilize each and every spell and weapon feature, you will have to obtain souls to level up either path. The two choices are Punish and Absolve, both of which are easy enough to figure out. Thus a question must be answered; which is better of the two? Obviously, choosing Punish will give obtained souls passage to the path of the Unholy, and vice verse for Absolving. Within this dilemma, there’s a stand alone point to be made that creates an unbalance between the two. You see, there are the Damned to consider, souls who have wandered throughout the nine circles of Hell, looking for either redemption or wrath.

Dante will come across Damned souls such as Attila, Hecuba, Orpheus and Electra, shuddering in fear and lament. The two options, Punish and Absolve, present themselves while an explanation of why they are in Hell is shown. For those considering going for the path of the Unholy must know this, Absolving will grant you more souls than Punishing. By choosing to Punish, Dante will not have to go through a “Dance Dance Salvation” mini-game and will be granted a decent amount of souls. However, if Absolve has been chosen, then the said mini-game will begin and depending on how many sins that have been captured, you will be given a generous amount of souls. This could be a problem for those who are seeking a more wrathful Dante than a pious one.

The relics are the key ingredients to help customize whatever type of warrior you want Dante to be, from total offensive to spell focused attacks. Some relics offer more provided energy for the Redemption meter, given that you are able to hit the enemy, while others up the hit counter when a successful blow is given. Also, you can level up these up with the souls obtained, but no worries on the souls being divided upon your chosen path and the relics, because each one will be given the same amount. A few relics can not be leveled up, since doing so would make it a broken feature in the game. Explore as much as you can in each of the nine circles of Hell to get a better experience out of these relics.

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Controls

I’d hate to go back to referring God of War, but the controls are just about the same when it comes to jumping, running, attacking and blocking. Not much to say within this field, except that when you are finally done fully upgrading both paths, you might have some difficulty remembering what physical combo you’d want to pull off without triggering a defensive maneuver. Again, nothing worth noting here.

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Sound/Music

Ah yes, this is another example that will set Dante’s Inferno on a different limb from God of War 3. The music is that of a Christian/Catholic choir, singing deep and often methodical songs in Latin for most of the nine circles of Hell. At first when you begin the game, it is rather subtle and doesn’t present itself too much, but going deeper and deeper in to Hell, the choir becomes more and more powerful. Being surrounded by demons known to have been seen only in Biblical literature and charging forth with the immense sound of the music playing, it really does make you fell that you’re fighting your way through Hell. Which I believe was one of the main focuses that the developers had in mind when the game was in development. There had to be something to help separate Dante’s Inferno from the shadow of God of War 3, and having a musical score focused in a Biblical tone.

And the sounds that your foes will make, be it attacking or dying, are never on the option to be muted. Unbaptized babies toddling about with their blood dripped blades and unpleasant wails upon being attacked have been worked into great detail. The voice overs for the characters are on another level, especially when it comes to Lucifer. Hearing him talk along with his almost passive movements gives you such an unsettling feeling. For Dante, it’s OK but with his actions being that of revenge and hatred, it sounds more like Kratos.

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Trophies

These are easy enough to achieve, so my guess would be that obtaining them would have the same difficulty on the Xbox 360 version. There are four different difficulties to play through, but no trophies to help support them. So you can go through the game on the easiest difficulty and get about 50% of the trophies, and go through the game again for the other 50%, since getting to level 7 (the highest level) on either path will take you one entire play through. There are 2 or 3 trophies that can only be obtained by going through a challenge mode called “Gates of Hell,” by which you must face an innumerable amount of foes and tasks.

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Graphics

While I’m not keen on playing a game because of whatever graphics are shown, this must be reviewed for your choice to buy, rent or ignore this game. Dante’s Inferno most likely can not compete with God of War 3 in terms of graphics, but the art setting for each of the circles does help it set on a different field. God of War 3, in fact the entire series, focuses on Greek myths and art, while Dante’s Inferno leans more on the Bible (be it Christianity or Catholic). The texture detail that has gone into the circles are beautiful and shouldn’t be missed as you hack your way through. Even as you climb on certain walls, you can hear the souls trapped within scream and wail about. The impaled but still moving souls give a more ghastly sight, while the ones walking towards Charon give off a more depressed view on your surroundings.

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Final Say

After giving you the nitty gritty of Dante’s Inferno, the best way to place it against God of War 3 is to say that it’s an “alternative.” Mainly because it comes out before GoW3 and it delivers something a bit different from what you’re used to seeing in a hack and slash game. Now, the difference between the Death Edition and the Divine Edition are the DLCs included for either one. The Death Edition gives you the Isaac Clarke suite from Dead Space, a making-of documentary, the real Dante history documentary, an overview of the making of the sound and music, the complete soundtrack, a digital art book, a preview of the animated Dante’s Inferno (created by the same team who did the Dead Space animated movie), and a digital reprint of the complete Dante Alighieri’s Inferno poem in English. The Divine Edition nets you the developer commentaries, a digital art book,  soundtrack, the Dark Forest level (released in March), and a digital reprint of the complete Dante Alighieri’s Inferno poem in English.

As for a score, 8/10.