Review: Infernal third-person action game

PC gamers are quite used to an unending flow of generic, derivative games – usually in the strategy genre.

Samey, unoriginal action games, on the other hand, are something you’re much more likely to associate with consoles rather than computers.

And this fact is probably the single most remarkable thing about Infernal .

In the game you play Ryan Lennox, a kind of law enforcer-slash-fallen angel who’s trying to rid the world of hell’s minions armed with a variety of weapons and a smattering of supernatural powers.

As premises go it’s not the most imaginative starting point. And, as it turns out, just about every other aspect of the game shares the same level of cliché. Everything from the identikit environments to the way you build your health and power metres by absorbing your dead opponents’ souls has been done to death in dozens of other very similar titles.

Occasional instances of innovation scream out like beacons. Sporadic use of the game’s teleport system to solve puzzles, for example, is a refreshing game mechanic – but even this is something that was done much better in last year’s Prey.

That said, the fact that Infernal isn’t exactly a shining pillar of originality doesn’t stop it from being rather playable – especially if you’re already a fan of the third-person action genre.

The only other point perhaps worthy of note is the game’s presentation. Infernal is a very handsome looking game graphically, with a high level of detail and some nice looking flourishes.

In many ways, Infernal is the exact opposite of Resident Evil 4. Where Resident Evil 4 is a brilliantly executed console shooter that has ended up as a half-hearted PC port, Infernal is a big, dumb third-person PC game that would be much happier on the PlayStation.