Playstation 3

Dante’s Inferno

Dante’s Inferno is based upon the epic poem “The Divine Comedy” by Dante Aligheri. In the game, you are in control of the title character, Dante. Armed with Death’s Scythe, you fight hordes of the dead in the nine circles of hell to rescue your murdered wife from Lucifer’s clutches. In addition to the scythe, you also have a holy cross to help you dish out the damage. Scattered througout the game are mana and energy pools in which you can restore lost health and magic. During gameplay, a quick time system is used where Dante is able to either absolve or punish his foes with a series of button imputs, but just a little warning: the incorrect imput will get you countered and wounded.

Upon defeating your foes, you receive souls, which then can be used for upgrades to either of the two categories: Holy(cross) or Unholy(scythe). The more souls you obtain, the more experience you gain, which allows you to upgrade your weapons. A lot of your experience can also be obtained in absolving or punishing many famous figures in history, triggering a mini game where you have to capture the particular characters sins via more button imputs. The amount of experience gained depends upon the number of sins captured.

I have to say that upon starting the game for the first time, you figure out that this is definitely not a game for anyone under the age of 18, or the weak of heart for that matter. There is painstaking attention to detail, from the landscapes down to the characters and clothing. There are little interludes in the game with less graphic art, but I think it only adds to the game as a whole. Gameplay does get a bit daunting when you are pitted against seemingly impossible amounts of foes, it even borders on annoying but due to smooth controlling, it’s easy. You definitely do not get a break in this game due to constant environment-based puzzle solving and large sections of platforming in which you have to jump, swing, and climb across treacherous terrain where one slip-up means your life.

Although the hours of gameplay itself are relatively short ( 7-10 hours), it’s a fun hack-and-slash trip through hell. You can always downoad add-ons or choose another difficulty to experience the story all over again and revel in all of the  graphic rich material. Nudity is prevalent here in this game, so if you can’t handle it, don’t play it. If you can, you will receive some shocks. I don’t recommend looking down on Lucifer though…

I give it a 9.5 out of 10

SOCOM 4

For many fans of the original SOCOM series you’ll be glad to hear that we know have some information about the upcoming title Zipper Interactive SOCOM 4.  This time it looks like they plan to take the single player campaign a step up from the first three games and make it much more enjoyable this time around.  Apparently a militant revolutionary has taken control of a South Asian country and it’s up to you and your squad of five elite soldiers to stop them.  The single-player experience will take place you through many different environments including jungle and urban environments.

Mass Effect 2 on PS3

Mass Effect 2, the critically acclaimed action RPG, will find a new home on the Playstation 3 console. According to EA, the game will come with “hours of bonus content.” The new content has not been identified as of yet. The game will release in late January of 2011. No information has surfaced as to what if any graphical improvements will be made to the PS3 port or whether or not the original Mass Effect will make a similar transition onto Sony’s console. Mass Effect 2 is currently available for the Xbox 360 and PC.

PlayStation Network Plus Advantages

With the addition of Playstation Network Plus for the PS3 people have been wondering what advantages they would get from going to a free online experience, to one you would have to pay for.  Well today James Thorpe, PSN’s Product Manager, has started to get into specific perks the Plus member will have.  Here are […]

Socom 4 Pushed Back to 2011

The title says it all really; Socom is being pushed back to early 2011.  Obviously it isn’t too much of a push but it is still disappointing.  For anyone cursing out Zipper for making you wait longer, just think about how angry you would be if you got the game earlier and it had a lot of bugs or didn’t feel polished, so whenever a game pushes its release back for the benefit of quality it’s kind of a good thing.  They want to take the time to make the perfect for all of their fans before it comes out.