The Charge
Go to Hell.

Opening Statement
Hey, you might have heard that this game is a lot like God of War. And, well, it is. But is there more to Dante than timed button-presses and orb collection?

Facts of the Case
Yes, this is based on Dante’s Inferno the epic poem, but, let’s be serious: it serves merely as a narrative framework to get you, Dante, running around Hell beating the sulfur out of any underworld denizen you can find.

The motivation for this bloodletting is the recovery of the fair Beatrice, who got a bum rap and was tossed into the flames. Now, fresh off of a traumatic time in the Crusades, Dante pursues Beatrice—and Lucifer—into the bowels of the Inferno.
 

The Evidence
Let me just get this out of the way first: I hate the fanboy drivel of accusing games of being rip-offs or knock-offs or copyright-infringers or whatever. It ticked me off when people were talking about Saint’s Row and Crackdown that way and it is just as grating to endure all the God of War bitching with this game. Is the gameplay similar? Sure. But if we are to believe games like GTA and God of War are essentially genre creators (which I do), then of course you’re going to have similar subsequent offerings.

That being said, Dante’s Inferno is not as good as either God of War game and I predict God of War 3 will also eat its lunch, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun action diversion.

And that’s exactly what it is: fun.

At his disposal, Dante has a scythe and a cross, the first the up-close-and-deadly melee weapon, the second a primarily ranged attack that also sports some cool close-up moves. Both of these methods of death-dealing are fun to use, though not all the moves are winners. As a result, you probably won’t know which additional moves are worth upgrading until it’s too late, but that’s what a second playthrough or the new game+ mode is for.

In addition, Dante has a variety of magic (the best of which by far is the Holy Armor spell, which protects you and regenerates life when fully upgraded) and special relics that offer bonuses and special abilities. That’s a lot of upgradeable stuff, and the game is better for it; I, for one, can’t get enough ability unlocking. It’s a sickness I think.

Combat is fast, visceral, bloody and fun, but once you settle on the handful of solid movies, you’ll likely ignore the other stuff you just spent souls to unlock. For the larger foes you have the option to Punish or Absolve for a finishers, both of which are brutal, but yield experience for your Unholy (Scythe) or Holy (Cross) levels. Enemies can prove challenging (especially on the Hellish difficulty level, which I started on), but variation ebbs away towards the end of the game.

Which is the prevailing criticism and it’s valid: Dante’s Inferno runs out of steam in the home stretch. The combat, mythology and nifty design of Hell carry the day at first, but once you get into the bottom circles, the freshness is gone, replaced with repetitive characters and less-than-transfixing level design. The fact that the final circle of Hell is a series of challenge rooms doesn’t help things either.

Still, I enjoyed this game quite a bit. (Full disclosure: I also enjoyed X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Conan quite a bit, too.) A pro-tip, to end on: I consider myself adept at action games, but starting fresh on the Hellish level kicked me in the groin more than a few times, especially the final bout with Lucifer, a monstrously difficult showdown that took me the better part of two hours to finally get through.

Closing Statement
It’s a good time and I’m already playing through it again. Incoming DLC, a survival/arena mode (which every brawler should have as far as I’m concerned) and the resurrection/replay mode extend the life of the Inferno. At least rent it, action enthusiasts.

The Verdict
Absolved.

Platform: Xbox 360/PS3 (360 version reviewed)
Developer: Visceral Games
Publisher: EA
Release Date: February 9, 2010
Rated: M (17+) for Mature.

The Charge
Assemble your team.

Opening Statement
The first Mass Effect blasted onto the Xbox scene and revolutionized many elements of the action/RPG experience, from its brilliantly-realized new IP, the revolutionary dialogue wheel and the pants-drenchingly fantastic graphics. Bioware’s anticipated follow-up is here and it is so, so much better.

Facts of the Case
Mass Effect 2 brings back Commander John Shepard: Space Bad-Ass, whose recent misadventures with the diabolical, genocidal Reapers led to big explosions and traumatic bodily harm. Cerberus, the radical pro-human group, led by the enigmatic Illusive Man (voiced splendidly by Martin Sheen), brought Shepard in to face off with the newest foes: the Collectors, a bug-like species that’s been wiping out colonies across the galaxy and kidnapping humans for Lord knows what malevolent purpose.

But before he leaps in the jaws of surefire pain and horror, Shepard must put together his squad, an eclectic group of aliens and humans from all corners of space who will offer him much-needed skills and talents or, at the very least, give the bad guys another target to shoot at.

The Evidence
There are games. And then there is Mass Effect 2.

Bioware’s sequel is stunning on every level, and represents both a significant improvement over its predecessor and a new standard for what kind of interaction and storytelling is capable in a video game. Yes, I know this sounds like your typical message board fanboy hype/drivel, but I have to say, this game absolutely put me in the fetal position with its awesomeness.

I had almost completed the first Mass Effect, but drifted away in part because of the touchy combat mechanics and the godforsaken driving sequences. Both of these annoyances have been cleared up. The combat is much sharper and is actually fun as a full-fledged, cover-based third person shooter. When the firefights came, I welcomed them, especially the culminating battles, which were aided by an increase in difficulty, some great music and added emotional weight to the outcomes.

Shepard as multiple weapons at his disposal, from a handgun to a mini-nuke (and other assorted heavy weapons). These are upgradable and the selection is expandable and ammo is never an issue. So blast away, and if you get bored with shredding Blue Sun mercs with inferno ammo (note: you won’t), you can always slap them around with your biotic, Force-like powers. In typical RPG fashion you can improve powers and skills (both passive and active) with gains in experience and mission completion. The refreshing aspect to this character progression is you won’t feel like you’re grinding to upgrade.

Missions are fun and interesting. It’s rare that a RPG holds my attention enough to see me gallivanting around the game world doing side quests, but I was fully into it here. I knew there was going to be some bodacious shooting action to be had, a slice of cool dialogue to partake in and perhaps a tech or weapon upgrade lurking in a wall safe somewhere.

The main story is the bread and butter of Mass Effect 2 and, thankfully, it delivers. The Collectors are imposing villains, the mysterious Harbinger—who’s connected to the Reapers—turns up during firefights with the Collectors and talks enough trash to get you amped about killing him and his minions, and the shiftiness of Cerberus and the Illusive Man are pervasive question marks.

But what really grabbed me was the building of my team. On the surface, it might seem that planet-hopping to recruit characters could become a tiresome experience, but it was the exact opposite. Each squad member had a cool, action-packed story to fight through, as well as an equally interesting “loyalty” mission. As I was plowing through these missions I actually began to care about these fake polygons. Legion the Geth synthetic, Thane the assassin, Grunt the tank, Jack the insane biotic—I was genuinely concerned about these guys, and Bioware knew that I would, so that when the shiznit hit the fan and my teammates were put in danger as a direct result of my decision-making, bother, that stung!

I don’t recall another game that got me as emotionally invested in its story and characters as this one, and, for me, that is Mass Effect 2’s greatest achievement. Set aside its graphics (stunning, by the way), voice-acting (perfect), sound (is the soundtrack for sale somewhere?) and gameplay, all of which are top-shelf, just the fact that I legitimately cared about what happened to the characters represents a profound evolutionary step in the landscape of video games.

Closing Statement
Here’s all I have to say: I spent hours strip-mining planets so I could gain enough space minerals to upgrade the medical bay in my ship so I can have surgery on my aface that would eliminate the scarring that comes along with making “Renegade” decisions.   Is it too early to decree a Game of the Year?

The Verdict

Platform: Xbox 360/PC (360 version reviewed)
Developer: Bioware
Publisher: EA
Release Date: January 26, 2010
Rated: M (17+) for Mature.

This one’s been the comment bait around the video game ‘sphere.  Reuters is coughing up speculation about a possible buy-out from Microsoft.  Crazy if it’s true, for sure and brings up all kinds of questions.

What does that mean for Madden’s NFL exclusivity?  Would EA’s cross-platform juice be nixed?  How–precisely–is one Peter Moore involved?  Feel free to fan the flames below.

As Erich takes a week off to sojourn on the magical voyage of fatherhood, Dave, Steve and Jon begin the show by helping him with video game-inspired name options for his bouncing, baby offspring.  And that’s as warm and fuzzy as it gets, as the discussion promptly diverts into the realm of the bloody and eviscerated with three takes on Raven’s vicious new hack ‘n slash, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

From there, it’s on to Jon once again setting the bandwidth on fire through his nigh-erotic love affair for Capcom and their plan to bring over some PS1 classics to the PlayStation Network; Steve tossing in more grist to the rumor mill with speculation over Apple buying out EA; and Dave weighing the ethical questions of stores licensing exclusive gameplay content through their pre-ordering process.

Finally, it’s a trip around the horn sounding off about this week’s Symposiumn ad Nauseum topic: video game dogs.  Woof!

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