This contrasts strikingly with next chapter which follows Ethan and his family to the mall, where Ethan – and the player – loses sight of one of his sons. As the crowd impedes your movement, the only indication of your child’s whereabouts is a bobbing balloon you just purchased for him. Then, in the distance, dozens of balloons fly out of someone else’s hands. The effect is one of dread and hopelessness. The conclusion only confirms those fears.

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Dante’s Inferno gets no points whatsoever for originality, but it’s such an entertaining, suspenseful and gorgeously designed videogame that it would be a shame for anyone to dismiss it based on poor marketing or the uninspiring downloadable demo. Visceral Games has proven themselves once again to make solid entertainment with striking visual aesthetics, and luckily for all of us seem to be growing a bit as storytellers as well.

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The bad guys are alien robot Nazis (effectively combining every faceless antagonist in videogame history), Will is a relatable reluctant hero and Nikola Tesla has an undeniable geek appeal as the underappreciated genius whose achievements were overshadowed by a less talented rival with a better marketing department (effectively making him the Conan O’Brien of science). But ironically for a game in which you strap a jet engine on your back, it never fires on all cylinders.

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She also wears glasses, which may pass for originality these days but is thematically appropriate because Bayonetta, like most of director Hideki Kamiya’s games, is all about spectacles: Whether you’re throwing angels into a guillotine or simply murdering God, Bayonetta will certainly prove a smashing, button-mashing over-the-top distraction from your day-to-day routine… unless of course your day-to-day routine includes playing video games, in which case it offers little, if anything, new.

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