The Inferno [rating: 4.5/5]
As regular readers of Touch Reviews will know I often like to compare the games of today with the games of my childhood and for The Inferno this is no different. After completing a few levels I can categorically say that The Inferno is a cross between fantasy-themed hack and slash 1985 arcade game Gauntlet and any of the early Super Mario Bros. games. Quite a combination but one that, in my opinion, works.
So first lets start with the Gauntlet comparison. The game is played from a top down perspective where you control the character Dante on his mission to rescue the beloved Beatrice from the clutches of Lucifer himself via the gates of hell! It’s a pretty daunting storyline but one that flows well and some of the imagery that is painted during the conversations between you and the other characters is pretty graphic too. All engaging stuff though and told with elements of humor thrown in at times too. There is no swashbuckling as there was in Gauntlet though, your task in The Inferno is to navigate the numerous levels, 121 to be precise, while avoiding all of the traps and monsters rather than directly killing them.
The traps and obstacles are the usual stuff that you would find in most 2D scrolling platform games such as the previously mention Super Mario Bros. games. You’ll find yourself running over collapsing floors, avoiding spikes sticking up through the ground, balls of spitting, spinning fire not to mention other ghouls and ghosts from the deep. The 121 levels are split over 5 environments and you’ll find yourself plunging deeper and deeper into the murky depths of Hell. Each of the levels look predominately the same but each gets a new lick of paint and style with each environment looking better and better as you progress through the game.
The levels are fast and furious with some levels simply requiring you to get from the starting point to the exit gate while other require you to collect the souls of the undead before the gate will be unlocked allowing you to exit the level.
The controls are simple to grab hold of with a couple of virtual buttons on the left and right side of the screen controlling Dante’s vertical and horizontal movement. It takes a little while to get used to especially are there is no option to move diagonally but you soon get used to that. The controls can be repositioned too giving you a choice on which is the most comfortable for you.
Dying in the game appears to be nothing more than an annoyance as all that happens is your death count rises and your are placed back at your last check point. it doesn’t even appear to effect your overall success as that is determined by how long it takes you to complete all the levels. 14 achievements give you extra value for your hard earned dollars but there isn’t any online scoring to see how you compare to other players.
The Inferno has been lovingly created and will provide you with many hours of dark, and sometime humorous, puzzling game-play, I’m looking forward to more levels and more challenges in a possible future update already!
Price: $2.99 (iTunes Link) as of Dec 30
Version reviewed 1.0.0
The Good
- Makes Hell look beautiful
- Lots of content (121 levels!!)
- Challenging Levels
The Not So Good
- Some repetitiveness on some levels
- No online scoring
Reviewed by: @CraigWillis
The Inferno Trailer for the iPhone
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxm3Zfw8zRg]