While Dante's Inferno is clearly setting up a new franchise, we find it a bit disheartening that with all the liberties taken to the story, more was not done to change and enhance the genre's gameplay experience.

The brilliant visual depiction of Hell, The holy vs; unholy leveling system, The mature elements, both in the subject and presentation

The lack of originality in the gameplay; The repetitive combat that only feels challenging towards the end of the game; The fact other games did what Dante's Inferno tried to do better

-- Instead of shelling out the big bucks, why not give Dante's Inferno a try by renting it from Gamefly?

Properly executes the best parts of God of War's combat; Utilizes its literary roots without beating you over the head; Good vs.

Glitches suggest a slightly rushed product; Game's end battles make God of War's same mistakes; Once you strip away the inspirations; it's not very unique

When people refer to a game like Conan or Heavenly Sword as a " God of War clone," they typically mean it's in the third-person hack-n-slash genre and shares a few features like the button-pressing minigames or camerawork or giant bosses.

can quest through hell for a couple good bits of hack-and-slash fun

you anticipate an experience more compelling than a popcorn game

Tom Mc Shea hacks his way through the nine circles of hell in this review for Dante's Inferno.

Combat is bloody good fun; Some of the creature designs are gloriously vile

Final one-third of the game is lousy; Puzzles are either way too easy or just lame; Uneven difficulty too often relies on cheap deaths

While Dante slices through the belly of an undead beast with his razor-sharp scythe, traverses a crumbling bridge with a quick-time event, and overthrows the ruler of a damned land with vicious determination, a burst of familiarity might flash through your mind.

Combat is bloody good fun; Some of the creature designs are gloriously vile

Final one-third of the game is lousy; Puzzles are either way too easy or just lame; Uneven difficulty too often relies on cheap deaths

There's no question that video games can teach us things, but they mostly teach us things like "how to take cover when someone's shooting at you" or "whenever you hear radio static, the zombies are coming".

As I opened the Longfellow Inferno that accompanied my review copy of EA's newest game, I found the executive producer speaking to (or possibly with) my gravest fears regarding the project.

Dante's Inferno isn't amazing, but it's a decent enough game. Solid and un-assuming, it's different enough to warrant the purchase, especially for 360 owners who wouldn't necessarily have access to the likes of God of War.

The Trials of St. Lucia is a robust and very worthwhile DLC release for a great game. If you are into challenge arenas, you couldn't ask more. It'll be interesting to see where Visceral and EA take Dante and St. Lucia from here.

Dante's Inferno takes you (playing as Dante) on a journey through the nine circles of hell without candy coating the experience. This review was hard for me to write, not because I was lost for words on what to say, but where to start!