Fresh off their work on the sci-fi horror thrillers Dead Space and Dead Space: Extraction, developers Visceral Games have abruptly gone from the highest heights of space to the lowest depths of Hell in their new action title Dante’s Inferno. Bloody, violent and shocking, Dante’s Inferno closely replicates classic hack-and-slash video games like God of War and Devil May Cry—perhaps a little too closely, in fact. So while its gameplay may not be the most innovative, Inferno still delivers the goods with an ostentatious panache that will thrill even the most jaded of gamers.

Dante’s Inferno is very, very loosely based on Dante Aligheri’s 14th-century poem The Divine Comedy. You play as Dante, a war weary veteran of the Crusades who arrives home to find his lover, Beatrice, murdered and her soul damned to Hell. Dante isn’t entirely thrilled by this turn of events and pursues Beatrice into the bowels of the underworld, smashing his way through the nine circles of Hell until he reaches Lucifer himself.

Though Dante’s Inferno’s story will probably infuriate literary purists, the script (written by Hollywood veteran Will Rokos) is tight and keeps the game moving. Inferno‘s re-imagination just might be a little sacrilegious, but it’s definitely intriguing on its own terms.

The gameplay inDante’s Inferno will be immediately recognizable to anyone who’s played any action game developed in the last ten years. You control Dante through linear levels, encounter bad guys and hack and slash away (either using Death’s scythe or a Holy Cross for ranged attacks) until you’ve successfully dismembered everything in sight. Once your enemies lie in small, bloody pieces, you’ll be rewarded with souls that allow you to purchase upgrades and new abilities.

There are two sets of skills you can invest in: holy and unholy. By absolving your enemies, you earn holy points. Punish them, though, and you’ll be given unholy points. The two skill trees offer a diverse selection of abilities, and, fortunately, you can dabble in both without being penalized.

Combat is fast and incredibly visceral, but the game still maintains a sense of coherence. Strategy is important to stay alive during more heated encounters, but, for the most part, you can pretty much button mash your way to success.

And therein lies one of Dante’s Inferno’s biggest problems. It’s fun,sure, but it’s too safe. While they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, it would have been appreciated if the gameplay in Dante’s Inferno tried to break the conventional mold instead of so staunchly adhering to it. Diversify comes in the form odd puzzle and platforming element, but they’re hardly anything exceptional.

Where Dante’s Inferno excels, though, is in its level design and art direction. In short, Dante’s Inferno is one, twisted and messed up game. Hell is a terrible, terrible place, and the developers pulled no punches in effectively integrating its horrific nature into each of its nine individual circles.

It’s hard to fathom the mind that could design some of the truly awful, deranged things you will see along the way. You’ll encounter rivers of blood, tortured souls wailing in despair and blind, stillborn babies screeching in agony. It’s eerie, scary and simply has to be seen in order to be believed.

Dante’s Inferno unabashedly embraces its Mature rating with a gusto seldom seen. There’s both male and female nudity, tons of blood and gore and enough disturbing imagery to perturb all but the most desensitized individuals. Still, despite it’s graphic nature, Dante’s Inferno uses its source material well to avoid appearing gratuitous. Dante is, after all, in Hell. It’s not like they routinely hand out modest togas on the way down to the lake of fire.

Dante’s Inferno offers replay value in the same way that practically every action game does. You can replay through the story mode again using all the skills you unlocked the first time or you can unlock a harder difficulty mode. There is downloadable content planned for the future, but, until those get here, expect around 8-12 hours of gameplay from your investment.

Final Verdict

Dante’s Inferno stumbles in areas, but there’s a whole lot to love from this dark and depressing action-packed title. Granted, the repetitive gameplay is too reminiscent of past hack-and-slash titles, and there’s not a whole lot in the way of replay value. But, if you can ignore the fact that it’s not entirely original in that particular department, prepare to be startled and awestruck by the developer’s twisted interpretation of Hell. It’s shocking without being tasteless, horrific without being excessive.

It’s an incredibly raw, unsettling experience that few games have ever been daring enough to capture.

Grade: B

Dante’s Inferno is developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts. The version reviewed was for Xbox 360 and it is available February 9th for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.