Infernal is a classic action-adventure game, seen from a 3rd person view. It brings nothing new to the action scene, but has a balanced gameplay which can be played both by newbies and veterans. Infernal is the type of the game that can be played in your free time as a relaxation method. For a veteran is nothing more than an old-fashioned game without the necessity of using the brain but at the same time is a good game for a newbie. Maybe that's why after I have finished the game, I was not convinced by its quality!

Plot

So you play as Lennox the "good guy" that turns into the "bad guy". At a first glance this really sounds good, if you are sick of playing on the good side everytime. Actually you will end up realizing that none of the sides are good, Etherlight trying to manipulate the world by destroying the free will capacity, while Abyss was always on the dark side (hmm, sounds like the actual World political situation). But from the first mission you will notice that there's something cheap about this game. After a short conversation with a former colleague (a 'she' who has worked with you for Etherlight organization), you have to dig your way out of the bar through a dozen of soldiers. This is the first time will get in contact with the enemy and realize that the game has a fast pace gameplay. After you get outside of the building somebody will contact you and you will go straight to the cemetery where you will meet him. It's Black, the ruler of the Abyss organization (obviously the opposite of Etherlight organization). After a short dialog you will accept his offer and his special powers.

Special powers

At first you will receive only the ability to harvest health and ammunition out of the enemy bodies and the secondary attack which inflicts much more fire power.

The other special powers will be received along the game, and are:

Teleportation: activate it, mark the destination point, and click for the process to start. The ability lasts only a few seconds, enough to let you activate different terminals protected by energy barriers, or laser beams, in order to gain access to the next level. Later the ability will give you the power to teleport in two or three places at the same time.

Second sight: a power that enables a second view for hidden health or mana, or hidden codes for terminals.

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Telekinesis: activate it, mark the object, and point the destination. The object will be displaced at the new destination. The ability has a second level for bigger objects.

As interesting as it may seem, the game will not offer too many moments where you can use your powers at free will. The gameplay is linear as it can be, without making any exceptions.

Mana

Every use of these abilities requires an amount of mana. This can be replenished while killing enemies, or automatically in special areas (darker ones). The light and the areas where the enemy has the camp will consume the mana. There are also neutral regions where the mana cannot be gathered or consumed.

Puzzles

It's so linear that after a few hours of play, you already know where a new battle will begin or where a puzzle will appear. The puzzles are not very difficult, but are there to spice a little bit the gameplay. The puzzles consist in finding hidden access cards or codes, or finding secondary routs to the objective. But because of a not so inspired environmental design, some of the puzzles are artificially complicated. For example in the stealyard is hard to find the right way to cross the fence to the locomotive. Talking about fences. Lennox can climb only in some places fences, while in other locations the same kind of fence represents a obstacle impossible to cross.

Enemies and character control

With all these special powers and the big arsenal at your disposal, you might get the impression of invulnerability. But the game will throw in your way enough enemies that will make you thing you were wrong. But the AI is stupid, marked only by aggression. The big number of enemies is the only thing that makes you stay alert. The only things that are different from killing rivers of enemies are the level bosses. Each of them represent a puzzle and should be killed in a different manner (remembers me of old action games like Soul Reaver series). There are moments where you cannot just jump into the fire. That's why you can take cover behind crates or walls.

With a double tap on the forward button Lennox will stick to the wall. Unfortunately this command creates chaos when you actually want to roll over in front and you are near a wall or crate. Several times the character will enter on cover mode instead of making the roll over. These are the only moments (except ingame movies) where you can actually see Lennox's face. That's because the backperson view is static, moving along with the character. You can even shoot under cover. But unfortunately a part of your body will be exposed everytime you will shoot, so not always shooting under cover is necessary a good idea. Sometimes Lennox just stucks in invisible obstacles. Only a jump or a roll-over move gets you out of this trouble.

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Gameplay: 81

A classic gameplay equally to "shoot'em" all concept. The aiming mode is correct implemented, a head-shot always making sense. Don't behave as Rambo or you might never end the game. The level bosses are intriguing and give a light air of old action-adventure games. Even though is using cheap methods to go on in killing more and more enemies, somehow this game is succeeding in making you stay until you end it. This may be the cause of its simplicity mixed with high-end graphics and some easy but entertaining puzzles.


Graphics: 94

The only thing that really makes you play this game is the bombastic graphics. Dynamic lighting, particle effects, and a diversified environmental design makes this game to look amazing. Although I might say in some places the developers really exaggerated with the color palette.

You can say that the graphics have an artistic touch, but at some points the level designers didn't choose the correct architecture solution and this makes the way through the game to be somehow awkward. The game uses the Ageia Physix engine, but because of the game linearity, the potential of this engine is not exploited to the maximum. Good ragdoll and shooting effect.

Multiplayer: N/A

Sound: 78

Correct implemented with clean effects especially for the guns. The voice acting is somewhere over mediocrity especially for Lennox and Black. Some kind of heavy metal soundtrack was chosen to play in high intensity moments, but its poor quality makes you turn off the music while in the game.

Hardware: 87

Surprising how well this game is running on a low budget system taking in consideration its high quality graphics. Tested on a Pentiun IV machine with a 2,4 Ghz processor and a 9600 Radeon, the game really worked at its best parameters.