Infernal

List Price: $39.99 Discount Price: $2.33

Features:

• Software Sub Type: Action/Adventure Game
• Software Name: Infernal
• ESRB Rating: M (Mature 17+)
• Platform Support: PC
• PC DVD-ROM Software

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Same old...will kill some bored-time [Posted on 2007-07-20]
This game feels like it should've been put out in the Max Payne era. It feels like an old release to me: the models are bad--except for the full-suited soldiers--the backgrounds are like old school Half Life with just a giant, stretched jpeg. I just don't see "great graphics" in this game. I'm playing on a 7900GTX with a dual core AMD and 4 gigs of ram, have everything maxed and it looks decent, nothing great, though. If you want great graphics play the new Ghost Recon 2 (Advanced Warfighter) or watch some Crysis trailers. The sounds/music for Infernal aren't the greatest, either....the soundtrack reminds me of Twisted Metal (old PS2 game). The controls are clunky. They should've made the wall-stick a key instead of automatically doing it as you push forward near any wall. The game itself is very linear. Gameplay is repetitive with no real change...you get a few new powers in the beginning of the game, and these are pretty much it, then you lose them again at the end. The best thing is the teleportation. AI is decent. And you are supposedly an agent of hell, but if you fall 10ft off a platform, you'll die....yet, you can jump (a funny-looking one, at that) from the ladder at the same height. The soul-leech graphic gets old after a while...takes forever. And expect a few crashes here and there if you are using Vista. (Game.exe has stopped working!) Otherwise, nothing really great here. If you are a FPS fan, just buy it used somewhere.

SUCKS! [Posted on 2007-08-03]
Unless over processed effect hypnotise you, stay away from this game. It probably would have been ok, but they spent so much energy making it look "cool" that it is hard to focus on your task, which is simply KILL KILL KILL. I never made it past the first level due to the headache I got trying to see what was happening, and the sond track of some unseen dude on a mega-phone yelling at full volume to give up or you will die!! (you can't surrender)

Infernal ignites the action, but is extinguished by issues [Posted on 2008-01-16]
Hey, Gang! Tellurye is going to break it down for you. As owner of Fedora Technologies (www.fedoratech.com) we get access to lots of goodies. I decided to give this game a little dance, and what stands our company out is, yes I give you my opinion, but I will also state facts - this helps the user decide on whether they want to buy it. Not just "its good" or "bad", but also why and what you get. So let me sum up.

STORY: Set in the future, where the battle between Heaven and hell rages on. Corporations are ruling with an iron fist, either on one side or the other. They deploy opposing agents to battle it out to maintain control, whether it be good or evil, depending upon their allegiance. Fortunately, the Ethereal corporations are winning - crushing pretty much all of the Devil's agents. You play as Ryan Lennox, a fallen Angel kicked off Heaven's team (not too clear why, other than the fact you are quite brash and brazen sometimes) and kill time looking for employment; disgruntled. You're chillin' with a colleague at an upscale bar downtown, when Heaven's agents descend on the establishment and try and kill you....just as she was going to share a secret with you. When you escape, Satan approaches you (dressed in a black pinstripe suit, true to form) and gives you extraordinary powers if you do him a little favor. From there, you are given several missions to complete as you annihilate the agents of the "good" corporation. Nothin like workin for the devil.

Of course, I was a little taken by this as I did want it to be sacrilegious. If you were going around killing priests or destroying churches, then I'd have a major problem with this game. But its nothing like it. The baddies you kill are just regular humans working for the "Good" based corporations. And, not giving away the plot, but just cause a corporations are on Heaven's side, doesn't mean they are good. It's a setting where the corporations - all of them - are evil anyway, telling you how to run your life - similar to the recent game Time Shift, or movies like Equilibrium, Blade Runner, or Running Man. The first level, you are in a monastery. I think I saw one cross in the beginning, but I didn't see any religious symbols during the gun battles, so that shouldn't bother any of you. And the monks there are hardly the religious kind, as they run a vast computer system to monitor and house technology that does even more controlling of lay people. The rest of the levels are industrial, warehouses, shipyard docks and other locales. In fact, if it wasn't for the story told to you, you would think there was no religious base to this game at all.

GRAPHICS and SOUND: OMG!! This is the most gorgeous game I've seen in a long time. What will stand out the most is the volumetric lighting. A perfect example is when you are in a warehouse, and rays of light cut through the large open area. The detail is so great you can even see the dust particles in the beams of light as well! The level design is intuitive and jam packed full of items - not just a random chair or desk here or there. The sound is pretty decent - though the different punk rock music that plays during a battle can be reminiscent of Quake 2. Nothing new here. The sounds of weaponry shooting and reloading is pretty cool, but nothing you haven't heard before.

The cutscenes are done with decent writing, but VERY lame acting. The characters sound like they are just reading the lines. Even Lennox's pithy one-liners or comebacks are not done with the sarcasm its meant to be. They probably didn't even hire actors for this....probably used their own in house developers who have no people skills at all. Don't get me wrong, sometimes the best actors are lay people who have no desire to be actors and are quite natural. However, the folks they used sound like they are bored out of their mind...which doesn't help a typical 3rd person shooter game like this.

GAMEPLAY: The gameplay is a typical 3rd person shooter, with controls similar to Max Payne. Its very responsive aiming wise, and you do have a cool defensive maneuver. However, the cover system is counterintuitive as it makes you more vulnerable than if you ran around just ducking. If you flatten up against the wall, you can aim your crossairs so that when you step out, you are dead on the bad guy. Problem is, Lennox's reaction time using this technique is so slow, he makes grandma move like Jackie Chan. There is a noticeable delay when popping out and back in for cover, that the enemies have time to put a few rounds in you. It makes more sense to just stand or crouch behind cover. The bosses are challenging, and the puzzles are pretty darn creative - though it may take you a while to figure out what the heck you are supposed to do on some of them. But some are unique. I got frustrated in a few areas on medium level, but I think that's cause of me, not necessarily unfair AI. There's hardly any option for stealth - you may run into a guard or two who has his back towards you. Unrealistic, seeings how you are one guy, I don't think making a bunch of noise or calling attention to yourself like Brittany Spears is such a good idea. But hey...I guess disgruntled fallen angels want attention too.

I only ran into an issue where I had everything I needed to advance, but the trigger wouldn't work for me (opening the door to get on a train). Research on the net lists just about every person has this issue. I never found a fix other than going back to several earlier saved games until I found one that worked. On the forums, there are TONS OF COMPLAINTS. Most are having issues graphically, in general, or freezing crashing...even on XP. I never experienced these issues, however. I'm not sure if the newer CDs were updated, but I can find no patch that was released for this game. Does it just work on my system, or did they fix them in the later copies? Also, the FORUM even has problems. I couldn't even join the darn thing! So, I'm glad I didn't really have terrible issues; stands to reason I wouldn't get any support anyway. And posts from other users ripping on this game and being unable to contact and / or get any email or call back from support is just overwhelming. I think the developers have turned their back on this project.

Its such a shame, as this game shows so much promise. It definitely could have been the sleeper hit of the year. The graphics are phenomenal, story - semi-unique, gameplay -basic. However, marred with bugs, problems, poor delivery and no support, it's a waste of the developers and publishers talents, and a waste of gamers time.

I gave this a medium rating, which is WAY more than anyone else did, only because this game worked for the most part for me, and I could advance in areas where stuck (either on puzzles or thru the bugs). So I would stay away from this one. And even if you still want it, I would download the demo and make sure it works (that's what I did before even installing the full game) and I would SO wait till this dropped to $20...and that may be a stretch depending on your tastes and patience. Save this game for when your woman is out of town or you are sick / rainy day - I wouldn't plan any gaming time for it. With so many other choices out there (Like El Matador - now that they fixed most of the bugs with the patch), there are other 3rd person shooters that are more worthy of your attention.

Hope this helps, contact me with any questions!

Tellurye
Got 3D?
Fedoratech.com

Machine: Intel DG31PR, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 Ghz, 2gig RAM, Windows XP Pro, WD SATA 150 G HDD, GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB

Cheese story but Good fun! [Posted on 2008-02-15]
Even though the actual story dialogue to this game is kinda cleche and at some points, overstylized, but the actual gameplay itself is pretty fun. Good way to kill some time.

Graphics are decent in gameplay, cinematic graphics lacked a lot of next-gen animation such as facial characteristics and realistic bodily movements. Not a lot of work was put into this game.

Overall, this game is a good timekiller and nothing more. Also, those with Physics cards get a great graphical and interactive boost since this game is compatable with Ageia PhysX.

This is a very enjoyable game. [Posted on 2008-02-28]
I really enjoyed Infernal. This game brings some very cool new features to the standard third person shooter genre. You have certain powers such as teleportation and the ability to move things around that would normally be too heavy to move. This adds a puzzle aspect to the game that I enjoyed. Each time you enter a new area you must think of how best to proceed by deciding which powers to use.

The story is really good keeping you wanting to find out what happens next. I like the ability also to restore health from the enemies that you shoot. Each level brings a different environment that keeps the game interesting. The boss fights are excellent with good challenges.

The graphics are really, really good too. This game has a problem with screen tearing due to no vsync feature in the game options. But, there is a way to virtually eliminate this problem. Run Riva Tuner's D3D Overrider in the background while playing the game so that the triple buffering and vsync can work together for this D3D game. Also, turning off the reflection in the game options helps this too. I played the entire game with Riva Tuner running and only experienced some screen tearing on the very last levels and it wasn't bad at all.

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