I'm normally a very calm and patient gamer. I've never broken a controller in anger or rage-quit from a game. If I actually believed in the source material, the act of playing Dante's Inferno would have landed me firmly in the outer ring of the Seventh Circle of Hell. I'd be suffering eternal torment in the Phlegethon -- a river of boiling blood -- alongside the other violent sinners.

I endured the brutally difficult early years of gaming, but I can't remember the last time I was so thoroughly annoyed at a game. Some of the things I encountered on this journey through hell were such an affront to my gamer's sensibilities, I'd go so far as to call them sins against gaming.

Sin Number One: Trial and Error Should Not Be a Major Game Mechanic

The entirety of Dante's Inferno follows the same basic pattern: You first get trapped in a room by some sort of physical or supernatural barrier, and you're forced to kill everything in it to proceed. You then travel down a short corridor and are presented with a puzzle in which failure causes instantaneous death. Once you die numerous times trying to figure out the puzzle, you eventually succeed and earn passage to the next room with enemies to kill. Rinse and repeat, ad nauseum.

After enduring several of these puzzles, I actually found myself wishing for more combat. From beginning to end, I died a grand total of two times in actual combat. However, I would estimate my total number of deaths at around 200. The rest of these are instant deaths from falling off of ledges, falling in various liquid substances, or coming in contact with spiked surfaces.

Sin Number Two: Inconsistent Level Design

This goes hand-in-hand with Sin Number One. The repeated and arbitrary deaths are exacerbated by the frustratingly inconsistent level design. On one screen, unseen barriers prevent you from walking or jumping off a cliff, and on another one you'll accidentally take one too many steps forward and fall to your death. Even when the game is nice enough to provide railings or physical obstacles, you can jump over some of these, and others extend magically and invisibly to the ceiling.

Hell is also full of spikes. The confusing part is that some of these spikes won't even scratch you and others will kill you instantly if you just brush up against them. Fire is also a fickle enemy. Sometimes it will just hurt you, and other times it will cause you to immediately drop dead. Not sure which way it's going to go? There's only one way to find out.

Sin Number Three: Inability to Explore Such an Awesome Setting

I am horribly disappointed in the linearity of Dante's Inferno. I feel like the game was one huge missed opportunity to become immersed in the grandeur of a legendary setting. Instead of exploring the epic landscape of Hell, you're confined to rooms and corridors that only rarely branch to dead-ends for the purpose of item collection.

The only times you really get a sense of the scope and scale of Hell is when you watch the cut-scenes, which are few and far between, and when you play though a few action sequences which involve you controlling a giant creature. Otherwise, you're limited to small, confining areas which are only generally differentiated by the amounts and colors of both light and liquid present.

Sin Number Four: Game-ending Bugs

I've already detailed my experience with a game-ending bug in Dante's Inferno, so I won't repeat the details here. Suffice to say, a bug that halts progression and forces you to replay about one-third of the game if you don't have an earlier save is inexcusable in such a big-budget release.

Sin Number Five: A Ranged Attack That Causes You to Move Towards Your Enemies

This is one of the most counter-intuitive design choices I've seen in a long time. Normally when you resort to ranged attacks, it's because you want to stay away from your enemies. In Dante's Inferno, however, each time you use your ranged (cross) attack, you advance upon your foes.

Later in the game, as you unlock combos for the cross weapon, you'll find that mashing this button can take you halfway across a room. This is especially inconvenient when it runs you into spinning, invulnerable enemies or environmental hazards, or off the side of a cliff.

Sin Number Six: Interacting With Objects Requires Button Mashing

This is another entry from the "What were they thinking?" department. Dante's primary weapon, the scythe, will destroy large stone and metallic objects that are several times larger than he is. However, when I encounter small fonts that contain magic and health orbs, I need to stick my cross in them and mash the A button until they explode.

You encounter a similar dynamic with the doors that separate certain areas. You ostensibly need to kill the demon on the door to open it, but, again, you can't do this by just swinging your weapon. Instead, you have to engage in a button-mashing contest of strength with the demon before you defeat it and the door opens.

Both of these instances just make the numerous deaths from puzzles more annoying. It quickly becomes arduous to open a door and refill your health every time you die, because you have to mash buttons numerous times to accomplish what should be simple tasks.

Sin Number Seven: Combat Affords Many Options But Ultimately Requires Little Skill

Dante's Inferno offers many different combos and special attacks to unlock, and some of these are certainly fun to play with. However, I found that once I unlocked a scythe attack that repeatedly smashes the ground with heavy attacks, this single move allowed me to clear nearly every remaining fight in the game while taking virtually no damage.

Sure, certain enemies require you to use your cross occasionally, but this single attack proved almost too effective. I was even able to defeat the end boss, aside from the final quick-time-event button combo, with this move alone.

Judgment

Ultimately the presentation boiled down to an inconsistently designed, linear exercise in trial and error that failed to capture the magic of one of the most iconic and legendary settings known to man. Dante's Inferno repeatedly offers you the choice to punish or absolve souls as you progress through the game. If offered the same binary choice for the game itself, I'd have to say this experience was deserving of punishment.