Infernal

Go to hell in a hand basket... with a gun.

Heaven and hell. Right and wrong. Good and evil. There have been some great stories made about these concepts and the grey areas in between. Most games do not allow the hero to adopt the philosophy of the end justifying the means. Traditionally, especially in the action/adventure genre, one is charged with simply blowing away the bad guys, your morality limited to this constant display of visceral justice. It is with this established game mechanic that Infernal attempts to fiddle with.

You play the role of Ryan Lennox, a man once employed by a company called ‘Etherlight’. Etherlight is a militant organisation that enacts heaven’s will on Earth. Lennox was recently dismissed – despite his number one ranking – due to his unorthodox methods. Now he has to fend for himself on Earth. However, he gets approached by the ‘Abyss’, the hellish equivalent of Etherlight and is offered a job. Abyss is losing the battle and needs Ryan to even the odds.
He accepts.

Working for the Devil has its perks. Ryan can charge his bullets so they deal additional damage and can perform short-ranged teleportation to virtually any destination he can see. He also has ‘Infernal vision’, which can be used to find powerups and see things written in the Infernal vision-equivalent of a UV pen. Finally, he can teleport human-sized objects with the same restrictions of his own teleporting abilities. Using his devilish powers comes at the cost of mana, which can be restored by killing and lingering in ‘Infernal’ locations – for example dark caves and shadowy corridors. This energy is also drained from ‘Holy’ locations like churches and such.

The twist to combat is being able to teleport around, surprising soldiers by suddenly appearing behind them and their cover. Later on, you are able to teleport multiple times in quick succession, adding further confusion for your enemy. If you’re feeling particularly evil, you can teleport enemies to deadly heights and let them fall to their doom.

Infernal starts with what looks like it will be a great plot, but sadly it takes little time for it to unravel. Ryan is chatting with a female friend of his who works for Etherlight and they’re discussing what could of been, what happened and what is. Just as she is about to tell Ryan something very important, Etherlight troops burst in and attempt to capture Ryan. Fortunately he manages a narrow escape and it is at this time Abyss approaches him with the offer of employment.



After this point, the story disappears, and it becomes a repetitive third-person shooter with some neat powers and the occasional puzzle. Your friend from the intro pays you a visit intermittently and keeps saying she has something to tell you, but for some reason she keeps running off before actually telling you what it is. There is also the odd battle of wits between Ryan and enemy bosses, but they walk a fine line between entertaining and frustrating.

On the graphics side, the game looks quite nice and runs smoothly. The environment isn’t very interactive though, save for a few explosive barrels, so it isn’t as impressive as first glances would indicate.

Infernal starts with great potential. The plot is interesting, the combat is fun and you get introduced to new powers bit by bit to keep it fresh. But ultimately Infernal feels like you’ve watched the first three episodes of Lost, gotten drawn in, then suddenly all the plot hooks vanish as they combat wave after wave of the Others, and you ask yourself if you can really drag yourself through the boring bits just to find out how it finishes.


For: Infernal powers; looks and runs smoothly; seems interesting…

Against: …at the start; becomes repetitive; boss banter becomes frustrating.