Chances are, you haven't heard of Infernal, or, if you have, it was accompanied by terms such as "sub-par", "mediocre", and "third-rate". While I'm not going to promise to eschew these terms completely from this review, I will also add another adjective to this list; "innovative". I'm not talking groundbreaking, but certainly interesting. In any case, this 2007 PC third-person shooter by Playlogic went unnoticed due to unremarkable graphics and generic shooter gameplay, with only a few redeeming elements.
Meet Ryan Lennox. He's badass, has stubble, and he does not smile. Ever.
In terms of tutorials, you're dumped into the game in a first mission that acts as an introduction to both the game and the setting. You get to control Ryan Lennox, an agent of Etherlight, heaven's modern security force. After being taken off an assignment and then targeted for assassination by your former employers, you get recruited by Abyss, hell's counterpart to Etherlight. Your new boss gifts you with some hellish powers, and then you're sent on a chase to find out why Etherlight has suddenly taken a liking to killing the agents of Hell. Hoo-ah.
Now, this sounds fun - the forces of God and Satan battling it out with M4A1 carbines and missile launchers - and it is, despite being contrived to bits. Lennox is an action hero cliche incarnate, seemingly confined to the vocabulary of one who was educated only in one-liners, and the game paints your opposition and allies as fairly black-and-white; Abyss is misunderstood, while Etherlight is corrupt (this is refreshingly controversial, as making a video game where God is a bastard would probably earn you some scorn from religious groups).
As far as gameplay goes, the standard run-and-gun mechanics apply, though with a few twists. Aside from your boilerplate arsenal - and I mean arsenal, because you can carry every gun in the game at once - of modern weaponry (ranging from useless pistols to mining tools to heavy artillery), every weapon has a secondary fire consisting of an "Infernal" attack. This uses your Infernal power, which functions much like a mana pool, to supercharge every attack and make it substantially more powerful, turning even a pistol into a formidable killing machine. Of course, your Infernal gauge is quickly depleted if you rely too heavily on it, which you don't want to do, given its other uses.
Hold on, HQ, his arm just became a mass of flame, and he's pointing at me. Advise on best course of action, over.
Some of Ryan's abilities do not need Infernal power. He has a 'gravity gun', if you will, which becomes available somewhere around the game's midpoint, allowing for manipulation of objects; also, he can replenish health and restock ammo by 'feeding' on the bodies of fallen Etherlight agents, and lastly, perform stealth rolls to stay unnoticed. Lennox eventually acquires the ability to teleport himself to a location or two for a brief period of time (which also gets slowed to a near stand-still due to the ability). This is actually used in some clever ways; at one point in the game, you will be faced with an enemy type which has only one weak spot, conveniently located on its back. The only way to defeat it is either throw grenades behind it or teleport behind it, and while it turns in slow motion, peck away at the spot until you're victorious. In other more mundane uses, you will have to teleport to a switch to activate it and so forth.
While health is replenished by draining the bodies of fallen enemies, mana is harder to come by. There are two primary ways; either you find an area the game has designated as 'Hell's domain' (dark locales such as sewers or shadowy areas will slowly replenish your mana), or you activate Ryan's 'Infernal Vision' to find packets of health and mana which you can only access through this special mode. However, you will only really need mana; Ryan has the health of a Titan, even on the hardest difficulty, and can soak up gunfire for a considerable length of time. If you find yourself needing a booster, you can generally start draining the numerous, still-warm bodies of those you have slain. This will give you health, and since you replenish health much more quickly than you take damage, you can quite literally allow dozens of enemies to peck away at you while you feast on their comrades to heal yourself.
In this sense, the game is easy. It provides a puzzle here and there, but by no means is it challenging. Firstly, while the number of enemies is supposed to make the game difficult, your healing ability practically makes this work to your favour. The enemies are not difficult to kill. While you seem to require no sustenance but bullets, given your capacity for them, your enemies will give in to their injuries after one or two hits, making Infernal shots generally useless aside for the toughest of foes.
Health packs are for pussies and Gordon Freeman. Real men extract the souls from their enemies.
Where AI is concerned, you'll find your adversaries will redefine the meaning of cannon fodder, marching out into your line of fire even if you've got a steady supply of ammo and have been slaughtering their comrades for the last ten minutes. Needless to say, the AI leaves something to be desired. Sometimes, enemies will quite literally roll for no reason; you may toss a grenade at a soldier one time and he'll hug it like his daughter, while another time, as you're about to pull out a grenade, he'll roll into the nearest wall. This can get amusing, as you'd imagine.
In terms of graphics, the game is decent considering the release date. While nothing in comparison to higher-end releases such as Crysis or Far Cry 2, the fire effects are impressive and can be fun to watch. However, the voice acting is probably what takes the whole metaphorical cake. Lennox, whose lines are already lame due to their monosyllabic nature, is further made laughable by a voice actor who delivers every line with the exact same tone; likewise, the other actors provide for good laughs when delivering their line. Maybe it's the writing, which at times will make the hemispheres of your brain quake in fright and hug each other for support, or maybe the budget ran out when the time came around to cast voice actors, but this is certainly one of the most worst-acted games released in the 21st century.
Teleporting to reach switches becomes part of the daily routine, and it's better on the environment!
Overall, Infernal is fun for a mindless psychotic who doesn't mind having to swim through corpses to reach the game's finale (and don't think I'm overstating for comedic effect, because you will have to clear out more soldiers than have ever fought on the plains of Earth), with standard shooter gameplay and sub-par AI. The only redeeming features may come from the innovative use of powers and some more clever puzzles. Fun for a bit, but I'd only recommend trying it out if you've got ample reserves of patience and a very itchy trigger finger.
Oh, and would anyone mind some creative critique on my writing style and so forth? This is the first review I've ever actually worked on for more than 15 minutes, so it would be appreciated. Thanks.
Meet Ryan Lennox. He's badass, has stubble, and he does not smile. Ever.
In terms of tutorials, you're dumped into the game in a first mission that acts as an introduction to both the game and the setting. You get to control Ryan Lennox, an agent of Etherlight, heaven's modern security force. After being taken off an assignment and then targeted for assassination by your former employers, you get recruited by Abyss, hell's counterpart to Etherlight. Your new boss gifts you with some hellish powers, and then you're sent on a chase to find out why Etherlight has suddenly taken a liking to killing the agents of Hell. Hoo-ah.
Now, this sounds fun - the forces of God and Satan battling it out with M4A1 carbines and missile launchers - and it is, despite being contrived to bits. Lennox is an action hero cliche incarnate, seemingly confined to the vocabulary of one who was educated only in one-liners, and the game paints your opposition and allies as fairly black-and-white; Abyss is misunderstood, while Etherlight is corrupt (this is refreshingly controversial, as making a video game where God is a bastard would probably earn you some scorn from religious groups).
As far as gameplay goes, the standard run-and-gun mechanics apply, though with a few twists. Aside from your boilerplate arsenal - and I mean arsenal, because you can carry every gun in the game at once - of modern weaponry (ranging from useless pistols to mining tools to heavy artillery), every weapon has a secondary fire consisting of an "Infernal" attack. This uses your Infernal power, which functions much like a mana pool, to supercharge every attack and make it substantially more powerful, turning even a pistol into a formidable killing machine. Of course, your Infernal gauge is quickly depleted if you rely too heavily on it, which you don't want to do, given its other uses.
Hold on, HQ, his arm just became a mass of flame, and he's pointing at me. Advise on best course of action, over.
Some of Ryan's abilities do not need Infernal power. He has a 'gravity gun', if you will, which becomes available somewhere around the game's midpoint, allowing for manipulation of objects; also, he can replenish health and restock ammo by 'feeding' on the bodies of fallen Etherlight agents, and lastly, perform stealth rolls to stay unnoticed. Lennox eventually acquires the ability to teleport himself to a location or two for a brief period of time (which also gets slowed to a near stand-still due to the ability). This is actually used in some clever ways; at one point in the game, you will be faced with an enemy type which has only one weak spot, conveniently located on its back. The only way to defeat it is either throw grenades behind it or teleport behind it, and while it turns in slow motion, peck away at the spot until you're victorious. In other more mundane uses, you will have to teleport to a switch to activate it and so forth.
While health is replenished by draining the bodies of fallen enemies, mana is harder to come by. There are two primary ways; either you find an area the game has designated as 'Hell's domain' (dark locales such as sewers or shadowy areas will slowly replenish your mana), or you activate Ryan's 'Infernal Vision' to find packets of health and mana which you can only access through this special mode. However, you will only really need mana; Ryan has the health of a Titan, even on the hardest difficulty, and can soak up gunfire for a considerable length of time. If you find yourself needing a booster, you can generally start draining the numerous, still-warm bodies of those you have slain. This will give you health, and since you replenish health much more quickly than you take damage, you can quite literally allow dozens of enemies to peck away at you while you feast on their comrades to heal yourself.
In this sense, the game is easy. It provides a puzzle here and there, but by no means is it challenging. Firstly, while the number of enemies is supposed to make the game difficult, your healing ability practically makes this work to your favour. The enemies are not difficult to kill. While you seem to require no sustenance but bullets, given your capacity for them, your enemies will give in to their injuries after one or two hits, making Infernal shots generally useless aside for the toughest of foes.
Health packs are for pussies and Gordon Freeman. Real men extract the souls from their enemies.
Where AI is concerned, you'll find your adversaries will redefine the meaning of cannon fodder, marching out into your line of fire even if you've got a steady supply of ammo and have been slaughtering their comrades for the last ten minutes. Needless to say, the AI leaves something to be desired. Sometimes, enemies will quite literally roll for no reason; you may toss a grenade at a soldier one time and he'll hug it like his daughter, while another time, as you're about to pull out a grenade, he'll roll into the nearest wall. This can get amusing, as you'd imagine.
In terms of graphics, the game is decent considering the release date. While nothing in comparison to higher-end releases such as Crysis or Far Cry 2, the fire effects are impressive and can be fun to watch. However, the voice acting is probably what takes the whole metaphorical cake. Lennox, whose lines are already lame due to their monosyllabic nature, is further made laughable by a voice actor who delivers every line with the exact same tone; likewise, the other actors provide for good laughs when delivering their line. Maybe it's the writing, which at times will make the hemispheres of your brain quake in fright and hug each other for support, or maybe the budget ran out when the time came around to cast voice actors, but this is certainly one of the most worst-acted games released in the 21st century.
Teleporting to reach switches becomes part of the daily routine, and it's better on the environment!
Overall, Infernal is fun for a mindless psychotic who doesn't mind having to swim through corpses to reach the game's finale (and don't think I'm overstating for comedic effect, because you will have to clear out more soldiers than have ever fought on the plains of Earth), with standard shooter gameplay and sub-par AI. The only redeeming features may come from the innovative use of powers and some more clever puzzles. Fun for a bit, but I'd only recommend trying it out if you've got ample reserves of patience and a very itchy trigger finger.
Oh, and would anyone mind some creative critique on my writing style and so forth? This is the first review I've ever actually worked on for more than 15 minutes, so it would be appreciated. Thanks.
