Good ideas wasted
Right, enough of listing stuff, I’m bored of it now and I reckon you’ll have gotten the idea.
The point is that Infernal is a game that, had it been released three years ago, would have probably had a warm reception. But we’re not three years ago, we’re now and now is past the time when a shooter, whether it be first or third person, is past the ‘find the key to progress’ stage. Levels are less obviously linear and definitely beyond the ‘invisible barrier’ stage and please, for crying out loud, if a door doesn’t open, either don’t put it there or make it obvious it can’t be opened. I’m no super-hero but I’ve kicked two doors in and I can do it (even if it REALLY hurt the second time).
But what’s really annoying with Infernal is that there’s some nice ideas in here that, frankly, have been squandered. Reading through the instruction manual, you get quite hopeful as you discover you can wield dark powers, such a telekinesis or teleportation. There’s even a bit about how being in shadow helps charge your dark mana to let you use these powers.
Click for larger imageThen you play Infernal and find that yes, the powers are there but if you were expecting some sort of Star Wars style multi-use thing you’ll be disappointed. The whole dark/light thing is so under-used as to be near criminal as whether your mana charges or not is almost entirely arbitrary. You could be standing in bright light and watch it slowly tick up and being in a darkened area makes no difference. There’s even one level where your mana recharges quickest in a brightly lit dug-out... where’s the sense in that?
Click for larger imageThe teleportation and telekinesis skills, whilst having some use at certain points in each level, serve only to show how little interaction there is between you and the environment. You can’t pick up anything and even stuff you would have thought you could move, such as a barrel, is only movable with your dark powers. Even then, the interface is cack handed at best and too useless for any hope of it giving you an edge in a fire fight.
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