Dante’s Inferno Review

Dante’s Inferno is a third person hack and slash action RPG loosely based on the book The Divine Comedy.  You start the game as Dante, a holy warrior fighting in the crusades.  Who after battling death returns home to see his father and his lover Beatrice murdered.  In order to save Beatrice’s soul from Lucifer Dante must venture thought the circus of Hell to redeem not only Beatrice's soul, but also his own.

The story starts out with Dante trying to save Beatrice’s soul from the clutches of Lucifer.  The game quickly changes setting from being in a chapel to the entrance of purgatory.  As you venture further into hell you encounter a guide in the form of Vigile.  Vigile will offer you aid in way of give you relics and explanation of the what is the represented by the level you are in.  Dante’s Inferno really uses its M rating to the very limit nudity, gore, and disturbing images of torture  and mutilations.  Visually great with each level depicting each sin with extreme detail gore and horror.

Game play is strong though you may want to try it on some of the easier setting for the first time. Combat is flows well, but you will become annoyed with being interrupted in the middle of a combo.  To assist with combat you are able to choose between either a holy or unholy power upgrades.  Holy will upgrade you ranges attacks along with some health and magic upgrades as well as some support upgrades.  Unholy will upgrade you melee and offensive skills along with the other half of you health and magic.  

Dante’s Inferno good for some unadulterated gore and violence with a story of redemption and very hellish enemies.  This is not a game for the faint of heart or for the young ones.

Bastion (Xbox Live Arcade)

Bastion was released as a part of xbox summer of arcade 2011 on July 20th. Bastion is the first game by Supergiant Games and what a first game.  Bastion is both visually stunning and with a masterpiece of a soundtrack.  You will have to fight tooth and nail for this new shattered world you find yourself in.  Bastion’s story is a quest to save a fragmented world.  

 The main character is simply referred to as “The Kid”.  The game literally does not start until you get out of bed and find yourself in what little remains of the world after an event called "The Calamity".  The only way to say this fragmented world is to restore the only hope left "The Bastion".  In order to restore the Bastion city cores must be found within the ruins of the old world.  The Bastion uses the cores to create building that can be used for personal upgrades and power for the restoration of the world.  The Bastion is used as a hub to other zones in order find their crystal cores to power the rebuilding of the bastion's resources.  With a wide array of weapon you can use on unique and challenging enemies.  Special items are scattered all over, which can be use to add upgrades to your weapons like increase damage dealt, crit change, reload speed and firing speed.  

 The narrator has a great sound with a deep a raspy sound that vocalizes the emotional effects of the calamity.  The music really conveys the changing moods of the game.  The Game play is top down view with a fixed camera.  The controls are very smooth and responsive it does take some time to get perfect timing for some weapons can perform a power shot which deals massive damage.  Bastion’s landscape forms at your feet which makes exploration a must to find all the hidden paths.  There are some special zones that are used to reveal some back-story to the game.   

 Bastion has a rich style of narration with never know too much of the story until it is needed.   For only 1200 Microsoft points in the Xbox arcade Bastion is a beautiful and entertain must buy game.

Psychonauts (PC & Xbox)

  Psychonauts is an action adventure third person plat-former. Created by Double Fine, it was released in April of 2005 for Xbox, playstation, and Windows.  It received very high reviews; unfortunately the sales did not reflect the greatness of this entertaining, unique, and fun game. Psychonauts is about a summer camp for kids’ psychic powers, which is used to train them on how to use their psychic powers. The game is centered on a boy named Razputin (Raz for short) who runs away from his acrobatic circus family to begin his training to be a psychic secret agent. 

  Raz joins other kids whom also share in having special psychic powers, at whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp.  Raz is tasked with completing all the summer camps’ psychic training and earn merit badges which allow him to use his psychic powers.  So how do you train at a summer camp for psychics?  You astral project yourself into the camp counselors’ minds and enter a completely unique zone.  The first part of the game is getting your basic psychic powers which are used to find clues to an unraveling mystery of strange dreams and missing kids.  Psychic powers include psi blast, levitation, invisibility, and many others which are either unlocked by completing training levels, found merit badges, or by increasing your psi level.  Psychonauts is a one of the most unique games I have ever played.  Each mind you enter is completely different from each other (no two are the same).

  The minds you enter range between a war zone, to a groovy dance party, to being a giant rampaging Godzilla style monster. Combat can be customized by setting the psi power to one of three hot keys.  Set an enemy on fire from a distance, or get up close and hit them with a psychic punch.  Every npc in this game is fully voiced and has their own personality to interact with.  The music sets the tone of each zone perfectly.

  If you want a game that offers something different in a sea of sequels, or a just want to have some fun with a retro game, pick up Psychonauts on Steam for Windows and Macs at the low cost of only $10, and at the Xbox 360 marketplace for just 800 msp. This game is also available on the Playstation 2, so check your local bargain bins.     

The Introduction of Me

I am Raul Garza. A gamer, computer tech, and lover of cool things.  I have known the team here on TadpoolTech for a while. I was on the first podcast here.  I am grateful for CJ giving me a chance to write for Tadpool Tech as an editor.  I will be writting about anything I find intresting and/or cool.