E3 2009: EA Took Me to Hell and All I Have to Show is This Lousy Update

My tour of the EA booth felt like a trip through hell. Because it was. Seriously -- the demo for action-adventure game Dante's Inferno had us go through the various circles of Hades. See! I'm telling the truth. Uh, sorta.

Now I know there are only seven deadly sins, but the developers at Visceral Games are so damn talented, they managed to create their own sin exclusively for Dante's Inferno: imitation. Holy crap -- Dante's Inferno is God of War. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, you better believe Kratos is going to be filing a restraining order against poet-turned-demon-killing badass Dante Alighieri.

Everything (and I mean just about everything) copies God of War. Don't believe me? Well, let's compare:

Dante's Inferno: In the game, main character Dante runs around slaying the shit out of various undead demons, beasts, and other ugly creatures with a big death scythe.

God of War: In the game, main character Kratos runs around slaying the shit out of various undead demons, beasts, and other ugly creatures with two, chain-attached blades.

Dante's Inferno: Killing creatures gives Dante glowing orbs that both give him experience and replenish his magic/health.

God of War: Killing creatures gives Kratos glowing orbs that both give him experience and replenish his magic/health.

Dante's Inferno: After weakening large enemies, Dante can perform button-based quick-time events to deliver a stylish finishing blow.

God of War: After weakening large enemies, Kratos can perform button-based quick-time events to deliver a stylish finishing blow.

Dante's Inferno: The camera often pans back to show the immense scale of the environments in the game.

God of War: The camera often pans back to show the immense scale of the environments in the game.

Dante's Inferno: Strategically placed fountains give Dante a chance to replenish his health before a big battle.

God of War: Strategically placed chests give Kratos a chance to replenish his health before a big battle.

Dante's Inferno: Dante's Inferno is based on the Divine Comedy by famous poet Dante Alighieri

God of War: God of War is based on a divine game design document by famous game designer David Jaffe.

OK, so maybe not everything in Dante's Inferno is a duplicate of the soon-to-become most copied game of this generation. And, to be fair, Dante's Inferno does look like hell. Oh, and that's a compliment -- the environments, enemies, and scale definitely deserve some technical praise. Sure, this is mostly a shameless ripoff of a popular game, but that doesn't mean it won't be fun as heck to play.

(14)

Eric Schaap

June 05, 2009

I don't mind that it's a ripoff. God of War is a Great game that got a lot of things right and is a TON of fun to play, why wouldn't games try to mimick the same fun. Developers have seen a right way of doing things in this genre in GOW, nothing wrong with telling a new story in the same formula.

No one complains that racing games are too similar. Dude, Cars?, around a track? that's totally been done before. Or shooters...well I guess there is some complaining there. I'm just saying there is nothing wrong with enhancing a proven formula.

Michael Donahoe

Like I said, I still think the game is going to be mad fun, but I find it hilarious that the developers just don't outright admit they're copying God of War. I wouldn't mind so much if they flat out said they wanted to make a game like God of War. Because we all know they are.

And I don't mind when games copy each other *if* new things are added to make it standout. Originality is a good thing, my friend. Right now, that doesn't seem to be the case with Dante's Inferno. Doesn't mean I still don't want to play it, though. ;)

No doubt originality is essential. Wish I could Edit my post 'cause I'm realizing I sound like a total di*k rereading it now. I don't mean to imply you're complaining, merely pointing out similarities, which is what people want to know. It's sad if they aren't attemping to enhance the experience but just
'Ctrl C'...'Ctrl V'..ing the whole thing. Wouldn't it be ironic if a poem from The Divine Comedy turned into a joke.
Epic ~~Fail~~ Poem.

Mitch Dyer

Damn it, Donahoe! You beat me to it. I am working on a similar piece, as my notebook is full of "GOW WTF?" notes from the booth demo. It is unbelievable how similar it is -- it's not copying the game, it's literally cloning it and putting new clothes on it. Also, it's using ancient ideas like doing things in threes and scripted attacks. BLEGH

Chris Cosmo Ross

What I don't understand is why they used the Dante's Inferno license for this type of game? They had the opportunity to craft something very story-centric, instead they took the action route. Just commenting, not complaining.

Brandon Van Haren

Yo Mike!...I see your point...but... The Divine Comedy and GoW have nothing in common except for the fact that thy are both video games now.If Dante's Inferno copy's GoW like the new Castlevania many seriously intelligent gamers will be very dissapointed

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Bryan Harper

A lot of the things you mention in Dante's Inferno were done first in the Devil May Cry series, which came out before God of War if I recall correctly. The orbs, the camera panning, the running around and slicing crap to hell and back, save points before the boss, etcetera... but imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

Eric Dietz

June 06, 2009

Here's the deal. Some people don't own a PS3. In fact, a large number of people don't own a PS3 and never plan on owning a PS3. Those people won't be able to play God of War III, so why shouldn't they have the opportunity to play a God of War type game. Also, if you're going to criticize Dante's Inferno because it has undead and the camera pans out, then you'd better criticize a whole lot of other games as well.

Peter Thompson

Bryan I see what you're saying but God of War and Devil May Cry both play differently even if God of War took a lot of inspiration from Devil May Cry. I think the point of the article is Dante's Inferno takes a lot of the same things from God of War without doing anything to make it it's own game.

Kimosabae Grant

The Devil's in the details (har!).

Inferno doesn't just use GOW as a template; every stitch in its fabric seems to have been yarn yanked from Krato's tapestry.

I think it hardly matters if the quality of its duplication is high, if gamers feels as though they've played it before, it will be largely ignored. Deja vu can be a debilitating agent in regards to the overall experience -- especially if its synonymous with a higher quality and more well know franchise.

-SynikaL

P.S.

Why do blog sites hate edit buttons?

-Kimo

I know, right?

Definitely looks to be more GoW-based than DMC, to be sure. I just thought it was funny he was calling out a copy of a copy, as it shows how much more fully non-inventive the game is.

Joshua Henderson

You know when I first read about how much of a GoW copy Dante's Inferno was I thought it was a bad thing. But realizing the fact that I've never gotten a chance to play any of the GoWs because I haven't ever owned a PlayStation 2 means I will finally get to experience the awesomeness of God of War.

Patrick Williams

June 08, 2009

So far the only way it really appears to copy God of War in any significant way is with the QTE finishing blows. Complaining about running around killing undead and demons? Way to blow your credibility, buddy. Its really hard to be original about anything. Its very rare to find something that is truly original and unique from its inception.