Dante's Inferno may ring a bell with some, the metalheads recognise the title as one of the longest metal numbers ever (16 minutes of rock solid headbanging) by the power metal band Iced Earth. Other culture lovers will probably lay the link with the Italian literary work from Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia). The game of course doesn't follow the specific story, but interpretes the first part of the poetic work to own belief.

The story plays in the year 1191, the period of the third Crusade. The protagonist, Dante, travels as knight under the flag of King Richard to the city of Acre to "spread" religion and take possession of an artefact from Saladin. Unfortunately things really go wrong for our hero. During the siege of Acre a sneaky bastard plants a dagger in Dante's back. Just before he dies Death appears and states all men close in his proximity will pay for his belief in the bishops and their "holy" crusade. Dante, however, doesn't agree and with his last strength takes Death's reaper and slashes him in two.

In peace with himself Dante returns home to Florence to spend his remaining days with his beloved Beatrice but sadly enough he isn't having his day and finds his wife's body half naked, sexually molested and butchered. Beatrice's soul appears in front of Dante but quickly gets snatched by Lucifer. Our hero doesn't let things go, however, and decides to follow the king of demons to the gates of hell. Everything in his way will be punished for the evil that was done to him.

The comparison made with God of War are striking when it comes to gameplay but God of War found its inspiration with other classics and just adds some gore. The line between original and copy remains small in this genre. The controls on the other hand have received quite some innovation the last couple of years and went from the oldfashioned button bashing to more tactical thinking. Each enemy requires a different tactic and the ever increasing list with possible attacks doesn't make it easier for the player to find the ideal offensive move.

The difference with Sony's God of War III is in the little things, the intro immediately sets a tone that proves things will become a lot more bloody and gruesome than God of War, even Kratos is to good to slaughter children that weren't baptised. Another important difference is the setting. While Kratos fights in ancient Greece, here you enter the different circles of hell, each with their own interpretation and looks. How well and diverse the different levels are is what makes the biggest difference with other hack & slash games.

Another good addition is the possibility to punish or forgive. By pulling an opponent closer and then choosing "punish" you'll rip the demon in pieces which delivers unholy soul power with which you can buy new and stronger abilities or attacks. Other souls can be forgiven by starting a mini-game and winning holy soul power.

That we are looking out for this title with our eyes wide open is clear, it looks like a good competitor to God of War III, while owners of a Microsoft console will finally get to work with a similar game. Whether the holy and unholy system will be able to interest us for long is yet unclear. Dante's Inferno will for sure deliver the necessary fun until the release of God of War III but really making final statements on this new IP is something we'll only do once we get the final version before us.