Dante’s Inferno – MMOMFG PS3 Preview

Electronic Arts has unleashed their epic journey of Dante, a stolen soul, on a journey into the depths of the Nine Circles of Hell to save his true love Beatrice, from the grips of despair. Based on the classic poem, Dante’s Inferno places you in the shoes of the tortured hero facing punishment for a lifetime of sins during the Crusades only to be swept into the abyss of Hell to save Beatrice from the darkest of evils, including Lucifer himself.

A hero amongst Evil – The demo thrusts our hero, Dante, into a war torn Crusades’ battle fending for his life and religion. Without spoiling anything for anyone, Dante finds his demise leading to some of the most beautiful cinematic cutscenes I’ve ever seen in a game. EA has gone above and beyond when it comes to the presentation values of Dante’s Inferno. The cartoonish storytelling delivers a brief history of Dante’s sins leading to the taking of his true love’s life. Shortly thereafter, Dante finds himself in a gripping battle with Death, a fight for his life and soul.

A fighter’s chance – Facing off against Death may seem like a daunting task, but EA has put control in the gamer’s hands with a wonderful layout of controls featuring easy to access magic spells, blocks and counters, quick, strong and ranged attacks, and even brutal grasp techniques. Thrust into the action, Dante’s Inferno has a quick learning curve for even the most novice of (18 and older) gamers. Upon unlocking redeemable points (souls) by killing the already dead, Dante has access to a plethora of talents under both a holy and evil tree of abilities. The playing style, determined by the gamer, will open access to new abilities depending on whether they redeem souls or destroy them. This will open game decisions, as well as the potential for multiple play throughs. If you want to experience the action for yourself, don’t watch the below video; however, it features amazing gameplay action from the demo. Will you choose gluttony and partake the video, or stew in your jealousy of not having tried the demo yet yourself? Sinner…

Hell never looked so glorious – Despite the dark and grainy look of what one might expect Hell to be,Visceral Games has delivered the flash and artistry one would except from such an epic title. From the spell effects, to the souls, to the deadliest of enemies, Dante’s Inferno had me oohing and awing with each stage of the demo. The frame rates also matched the promised 60+ frames per second stated by EA; no disappointment on that end. Soul-shattering combos and head-splitting finishing moves keep combat fresh and exciting. As mentioned above, an enormous selection of talents not accessible during the demo taunt players as you want to access that next stage, but will unfortunately have to wait until February 9, 2010. While the game is paused, players have access to the history of Dante, the back story of each Circle of Hell, bestiary, access to moves and talents with videos of each in action, combat statistics, and plenty more.

Dante the Beast Master – I said I wouldn’t spoil anything for anyone, but the demo does feature Dante controlling one of the most bad ass beasts I’ve ever seen in a game. You won’t see it coming, or likely know how much power you have in your hands until it is nearly too late, but this portion of the demo is definitely the best. Not often does one have true ultimate power in their reins, but hopefully the full game will have additional access to beast controls similar to what is featured in the demo. Sweet Jesus (or Lucifer, depending on your decisions), Dante’s Inferno has introduced an additional masterpiece to the already incredible combat style. I’d love to describe it more, but feel you should experience with your own eyes and thumbs.

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With the free demo available for PlayStation 3 owners now, and the XBOX 360 version coming December 24, EA and Visceral Games looks to have a real winner on their hands. It should be a Hell of an adventure as Dante journeys into the pits of despair conquering the Nine Circles. A beautiful presentation (including plenty of nudity for those of you out there that are fans of it), an enthralling combat system and an epic tale should have players praising the game come February 9. No one should be left saying, “What the Hell?”

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4. Dante’s Inferno: Get Set for a Hell of a Ride
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