The latest PC eye candy from Eidos, “Infernal” pits you as Ryan Lennox, a “renegade angel recruited by Hell to restore the balance between good and evil.”
The game is getting mediocre reviews at best, mostly because of a feeling of “been done” from reviewers, and I can’t exactly blame them. It’s a good versus evil action shooter–an entire genre of games has been build around this concept. But Infernal has a few pieces added in that might just make it worth a try.
“Infernal” begins quietly enough with Lennox, the fallen angel, sipping drinks in a bar with a buddy when storm troopers from Heaven’s Everlight Corporation burst forth and try to eliminate their former asset. Lennox escapes and is left teaming with the rival corporation from Hell. The opening act alone suggests there’s something different here, and the game does do a great job humanizing the abstract heaven and hell.
The game runs into trouble from here. “Infernal’s” combat engine isn’t great; in fact its pretty freakin’ dull. Many battles feel and look the same and the enemies rarely change–reminiscent of certain levels of Halo. There’s also no multiplayer, so replay value is basically nil.
Overall, we have a good plot, unique twists, but a “been done” combat engine.
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