Backhand of Justice

Dante’s Inferno is probably an OK game. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s trendy to criticize EA’s grand vision of The Divine Comedy as an exploitative debacle. If you focus on just the story, that’s probably fair. What I don’t understand is why everybody is so critical of its gameplay without even having played it.

The term ‘God of War ripoff’ has been thrown around liberally of late with the release of Darksiders, and if any game deserves it, it’s Dante’s Inferno. That being said, why does that make it a bad game? Why does everybody say ‘Just wait for God of War III, that game is going to be awesome!’ Does a game get a free pass on repetitiveness just because it’s part of the franchise which originated its style of gameplay?

God of War III is a God of War Clone

Why is Dante’s Inferno any more of a God of War clone than God of War III? They’re both going to share a ton of game mechanics with the original God of War. Does the third God of War game get a free pass just because it’s part of the franchise which originated those mechanics? It’s not like it’s the grand vision and evolution of the creator; David Jaffe wasn’t even involved in God of War 2.

I could understand if critics of Dante’s Inferno said they expect Dante’s Inferno to merely copy all the mechanics that were included in God of War 2, while God of War III is going to hugely improve upon those tried and true elements. That would at least make sense, despite not being supported by any evidence.

Dante's Inferno brings nothing new to the table? Seriously? What is this shit - I've never seen this thing before. Look at it. LOOK AT IT. Crazy

That’s not what critics say, however. The critics of Dante’s Inferno come in two types: those that think the game itself in concept is an affront to good taste due to the literature upon which it is based and the exploitative elements in its art and ad campaign, and those who think it’s going to be a cheap God of War clone and therefore likely forgettable.

I have no argument with the first type of critic, except to say I don’t really care if EA raped The Divine Comedy. Unlike Star Wars, Dante’s tale was not a stalwart of my childhood. Those who claim Dante’s Inferno can’t bring anything to the table, though, have no basis upon which they make their statements. The game isn’t even released yet, and the early reviews suggest most of the negatives stem from conceptual offences, not gameplay shortcomings. 

If the Destructoid review is anything to go by, there are plenty of new gameplay elements in Dante’s Inferno, and it builds upon the God of War equation effectively. God of War III, on the other hand, is a completely untested product. There was plenty of fighting on massive titans in the second game, and other than the new ‘you tear off the head of Helios’ mechanic we’ve seen from some of the demos, we don’t know what God of War III offers.

Oh look ... Kratos stabbing somebody. I've never seen *that* before

Gamers give God of War III a free pass for being repetitive because it has the God of War title. Reviewers will use a double standard in which an HD version of God of War 2 (if God of War III adds nothing) will receive scores of 9 instead of 7.5 (like Dante’s Inferno) from most publications.

Much like the worst Zelda, Metroid or Final Fantasy game in the world will never be criticized for being derivative and instead will be seen as building upon a successful formula, God of War has been embraced by gamers who expect it to offer the best brawler action merely because it invented the genre.

Remove nostalgia and the franchise name, and God of War III and Dante’s Inferno likely have the same underlying mechanics. Most gamers will probably never give him a chance, but maybe it’s really about our expectations and Dante as a game was going to fail before it even began development.