Should you try out Dante's Inferno in 2025?

Dante's Inferno is a classic hack-and-slash game developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts in 2010 for the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. While it may feel rough around the edges — especially by today’s standards — there are compelling reasons to check it out in 2025.

The game is gory and ambitious for its time, and these were among the defining features that made it stand out to the fans amidst the fierce competition. The developers made a few bold choices for this project, such as loosely adapting the game to tackle heavy themes of religion and violence.

Disclaimer: Some aspects of this article reflect the writer's subjective views about the game.

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Dante's Inferno is a fun adventure across the Nine Circles of Hell

Prepare to slay anything standing in the way as Dante descends to the depths of hell (Image via Electronic Arts)

The story follows Dante — a Templar Knight — as he goes after the soul of his beloved Beatrice after she is cursed and corrupted by Lucifer in retaliation for Dante's crimes. Armed with a holy cross bestowed upon him by Beatrice, Dante blessed the cross and went through hell and back to reunite with his true love. Players will learn more about Dante's upbringing throughout his descent and how he came to be.

Dante's Inferno shows his willingness to do the impossible, similar to how Kratos from the God of War series does not let greater powers deter him from his goal. During the descent, players will encounter creatures of all manners inspired by different mythologies. Dante is a force to be reckoned with, given his past experiences of being part of the Third Crusade — making him capable of great violence.

Players will learn more about Dante's dark past and harsh childhood. It is revealed that his father was abusive, which prompted his mother to take her life to escape that life. Dante grew up with a cold and hard exterior and was given a new lease on life after a bishop convinced him to enlist in the Third Crusade and offer his services — but his violent nature got the better of him.

After killing the prisoners he was ordered to watch over, his brother, Francesco, took responsibility and was hanged for Dante's crimes. Players will realize that Dante is not a black-and-white hero with a noble quest to save a life and vanquish a great evil, and he will realize that he belongs in hell for his past transgressions. Beatrice ascended to heaven — leaving Dante in hell with a score to settle.

The combat in Dante's Inferno is similar to that in the original God of War games and the Devil May Cry franchise. Players can mash buttons to perform a chain of attacks and combos to kill enemies and perform bloody executions, reflecting Dante's violent nature and unbreakable will to dominate anything in his path.

The developers implemented a unique in-game mechanic called the Absolve system to earn more experience points that can be used to acquire new skills from the skill tree. The more enemies killed, the higher the points Dante could receive — which is a mutually beneficial exchange between damned souls and the player.

Visceral Games and Electronic Arts integrated common features for games at the time, such as quick-time events. In this game, players must press the right buttons sequentially to sever the connection between a demon and a soul. Dante's Inferno has plenty of classic action-adventure activities like environmental puzzle-solving and platforming, which makes it even more comparable to other franchises.

This game was released when there were multiple versions for a specific platform. While Visceral Games worked on the higher-end ports for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 — Artificial Mind and Movement took charge of the PlayStation Portable version.

A different team of developers worked on the PlayStation Portable version of Dante's Inferno (Image via Electronic Arts)

Dante's Inferno features the titular hero armed with a scythe as he descends through the Nine Circles of Hell, but that isn't the only weapon he can use to defeat enemies. Beatrice's holy cross is imbued with great power, and Dante can use it to fire projectiles to balance the ranged and melee combat mechanics. The players gradually become stronger as they get closer to Lucifer at Lake Cocytus.

During the climactic confrontation, Lucifer revealed that he orchestrated Beatrice's descent to drag Dante to hell. He planned to trick him into cutting him loose from his binds and stage an assault on heaven to overthrow God. After accumulating enough absolved souls, Dante pulled an impressive feat by trapping him once more and redeeming himself through his heroism.

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Verdict

Dante's Inferno is a great hack-and-slash role-playing game (Image via Electronic Arts)

Dante's Inferno may not be as visually appealing as modern games today, but it was great when it was originally released. The gameplay and combat can appeal to players interested in a fast-paced experience, and the story is decent. If you have an active Xbox Game Pass subscription, grab the game and boot your Xbox Series X for a great hack-and-slash experience in 2025.