Support NeoGAF

[John Rabbit]

Is the game fun? It is? Great, then I'll play it.

Hey look someone intelligent.

 

[cgcg]

long story short: if this was called "God of War 3", you´d be all over it.

Well, God of War 3 is a total rip off of God of War 2. So like you're totally right.

 

[selig]

And in will come a slew of people discrediting the initial post as that of a rabid God of War fan when they miss the point of the topic entirely.

It's a lost cause, really.

isnt gow3 the game that has you ripping off a guy´s head, slowly, in full detail? thats more insulting than showing nipples and whatever...just imo though

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

God of War was a completely original game and in no way was it a Devil May Cry ripoff, no siree.

The elephant in the room.

 

[robotzombie]

When I read OPs like this one, I can't help but think of Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons sitting at his computer typing it.

Personally, there's a point where I just say: What do I care, it's just a video game/movie/book/etc. More important things to get worked up over.

And yet here you are, on NeoGAF, taking the time to click into this topic, read it, and comment yourself.

 

[nyong]

"Ripoffs" don't bother me in the least if they're actually good. How many game series have been passed between different developers? Zelda? Metroid? Call of Duty? An IP is just that - an IP. There is nothing substantially different between a different studio that is tasked with creating a sequel of a given IP, and another studio creating their own similarity, albeit outside that IP and without permission. Frankly, ripoffs put pressure on the developers of the original IP to go even further with their sequels. Ok by me.

 

[MirageDwarf]

They even copied button mashing for chest openings.

The only "backfire" I have to provide is that this type of thing is nothing new in games, film, literature, art, or whatever you want to list. Like it or not, for better or for worse, it's been around for much, much longer than you or me and it is never going to go away.

People are surprised because it's coming from one of biggest and well known player of the industry. If it were by a developer people don't give a dime about, reactions will not be like they are now.

isnt gow3 the game that has you ripping off a guy´s head, slowly, in full detail? thats more insulting than showing nipples and whatever...just imo though

You are still not getting point of this thread.

 

[depths20XX]

Games like this remind me of video game movies in Hollywood. Basically what I'm saying is Dantes Inferno is the Uwe Boll movie of videogames.

 

[lethial]

It's a videogame, who cares? Welcome to the past 25 years of games.

 

[Wizpig]

I agree with the OP, the game is the new definition for "terrible bad taste."

And the reason is how it shits all over the original poem.

 

[RavenFox]

long story short: if this was called "God of War 3", you´d be all over it.

dude why did you even post in this thread?

 

[Chrange]

I can't believe the industry survived the stain of Gears of War ripping off Kill Switch (or kill.switch, if you prefer) - but those no-talents at Epic, you had to expect it from them.

 

[keithm]

I haven't played the game outside of the demo, but I agree with your overall sentiment. Plagiarism is something that's way too common in our industry. There's a difference between being iterative and building upon what's come before, and just being a hollow knock-off. As far as I can tell, Dante's Inferno brings nothing new to the table, yet many reviews seem to just be willing to just brush that aside and call the game competent.

 

[Google]

The most insulting thing is the reprint of poem with the games art.

How is it insulting?

It's a marketing move, that will ultimately get more people to read the quite brilliant original.

Who cares about the images that adorn the front and back of the book?

 

[badcrumble]

God of War was a completely original game and in no way was it a Devil May Cry ripoff, no siree.

Are you going to argue that God of War is as similar to Devil May Cry as Dante's Inferno is to God of War?

 

[Dan Yo]

Knockoffs have been around since the dawn of gaming. The trick is making the knockoff decent enough to be worth playing. From what I've heard and played, Dante's Inferno achieves that.

 

[beelzebozo]

"shitty god of war"
"just like god of war"


somehow this does not seem paradoxical to me

 

[SlasherJPC]

That's perfectly acceptable. The originality of the game isn't what bothers me; I play literally every Mario and Zelda game, which are all the same exact formula. The problem is that Visceral does not own or have any part in God of War, and they're literally stealing the game from Santa Monica studios. That's not only fucked up, it's backwards in how we should be progressing in the gaming industry. They're not just making a shitty game, they're slowing down the evolutionary process for our industry. You think I'm wrong? How many god-awful GTA clones did we have to suffer through? Those developers could have been working on something original and innovative instead of a copy-cat version of a successful franchise.

I see your point, I do but really this has been going on forever. What about the countless FPS games? What about the platform games that popped up everywhere after Mario 64. Hell everyone was copying the "obtain a star" type objective after that. This happens so many times. I mean, I don't mind clones of games when there good. They might not be fantastic but if it gives me a chance to glimpse into a world I haven't yet, consider me happy. (with Dante in mind, Hell has always been a setting I wanted to be focused on in a game) I mean I could call Bayonetta a blantant rip off of Dantes or Ninja Gaiden, or vice versa etc. They both have combo driven combat, gore, over the top attacks and bosses, and experience driven. The list can go on and on with what games copy each other. Some really blantly... others not so much.

Now granted if Visceral took the fundementals of what GOW is gameplay wise and made a game about some rogue titan destroyer, who was going to battle various greek mythologic beasts in a land of time he was swept up into to avenge the death of his family... I'd call extreme bullshit and it would be so obvious they were trying to ride on the tail of GOW series. So in my humble opinion about Dante, is the same I viewed Dead Space. The team at Visceral are deveolpers and avid game players and they have titles they really loved like RE4 and GOW! So they took Dead Space and made it there own version of RE4 (people bitched about this alot back when Dead Space was first announced btw) and I simple see Dantes as game aimed at the fans of GOW, regardless of how much they copied, its a new setting, and they picked a interesting adaptation (to manys peoples dissapointment). Yet its so far from the Greek Mythology thing that I don't mind.

 

[panda21]

classic work of literature that it will forever stain.

jesus its just a game. you've read a book? congrats, get over yourself.

 

[Revolutionary]

http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/759954321_E7mFJ-L.jpg[IMG]

[/QUOTE]The thing about this comic/opinion is that Darksiders actually tries to be different in the sense that it marries a ton of different concepts from different games into one. Sure some of the stuff are shockingly blatant rips (boomerang from Zelda, etc), but again, it at least attempts to put concepts from other games in there as well (there's even a TPS minigame in it!).
Dante's Inferno doesn't do this (at least, nothing I've seen or played). It's just a straight up God of War ripoff. It doesn't try to do a damn thing different.

 

[Dan Yo]

And yet here you are, on NeoGAF, taking the time to click into this topic, read it, and comment yourself.

He seemed fairly calm. I didn't feel a strong desire to ask him to chill out the way I felt with the OP.

 

[iammeiam]

Oh Please. Shitty knockoffs are made all the time.

There are really two things that make the DI/GoW situation sort of uniquely interesting:

1.) DI has a large budget.

2.) DI isn't any cheaper than the game it's hoping to compete with.

The shitty knockoff thing isn't new, but generally when the Copy/Find+Replace/Paste of the concept is as obvious as it is here, it's because the copy game is being done by a no-budget, low-profile dev who basically wants to get a cheap title out there to snag a few sales. Major studios usually play up the 'but' in the "Like Random Game X but..." comparison. Knockoffs are usually either cheaper, or trying to modify the formula in a way to allow eventually overthrowing the title being imitated. This often results in the knockoffs becoming stronger games/series, and things move on.

DI isn't so much doing this. The goal is less to evolve the GoW gameplay, and more to just see how much you can make copying known successes.

Homages in gaming aren't new; Darksiders is basically what you get if you throw a bunch of classic games in a blender, feed the mash through a strainer, pour that into a cupcake pan, and bake on 350 for an hour and a half.

The problem is that Dante's Inferno isn't trying to sell you remixed and reprocessed gameplay concepts, it's essentially taking the existing GoW product, spraying on some food coloring, crossing out the GoW name and writing Dante's Inferno in crayon, and then putting it back on the shelf.

It's not the end of the world, the game existing isn't ruining my life, but if this thing hits big it'll probably have some odd implications for future game production.

 

[-viper-]

No doubt Dante's Inferno is an absolute clone of God Of War. I agree that it copied the latter down to the last inch of detail. Now I'm not saying DI is a terrible game. But I'm calling it as it is - A God Of War reskin or mod.

The camera, combat, QTEs, animations and even bosses were clearly all inspired (or taken) from GOW.

Personally I would have been happy enough to buy the game except the fact it's got tits everywhere. The gratuitous nudity is the reason why I won't buy it. It just seems like an embarrassing game to play around others.

 

[Dacvak]

I see your point, I do but really this has been going on forever. What about the countless FPS games? What about the platform games that popped up everywhere after Mario 64. Hell everyone was copying the "obtain a star" type objective after that. This happens so many times. I mean, I don't mind clones of games when there good. They might not be fantastic but if it gives me a chance to glimpse into a world I haven't yet, consider me happy. (with Dante in mind, Hell has always been a setting I wanted to be focused on in a game) I mean I could call Bayonetta a blantant rip off of Dantes or Ninja Gaiden, or vice versa etc. They both have combo driven combat, gore, over the top attacks and bosses, and experience driven. The list can go on and on with what games copy each other. Some really blantly... others not so much.

Now granted if Visceral took the fundementals of what GOW is gameplay wise and made a game about some rogue titan destroyer, who was going to battle various greek mythologic beasts in a land of time he was swept up into to avenge the death of his family... I'd call extreme bullshit and it would be so obvious they were trying to ride on the tail of GOW series. So in my humble opinion about Dante, is the same I viewed Dead Space. The team at Visceral are deveolpers and avid game players and they have titles they really loved like RE4 and GOW! So they took Dead Space and made it there own version of RE4 (people bitched about this alot back when Dead Space was first announced btw) and I simple see Dantes as game aimed at the fans of GOW, regardless of how much they copied, its a new setting, and they picked a interesting adaptation (to manys peoples dissapointment). Yet its so far from the Greek Mythology thing that I don't mind.

I agree to a certain extent, but the point here is where do we draw the line? Like, there's a difference between making a knock-off game that's similar to another, and a game that's literally a complete carbon copy in every way except the setting. Like, no one would call Banjo Kazooie a blatant rip-off of Mario 64, because it does so many things different. Sure, it's still a 3D platformer, but it has it's own character.

Dante's Inferno lacks all originality. It's not a knock-off, it's not even a rip-off... It's blatant plagiarism. How should we react to that?

 

[Tain]

It's not like we're talking Popcap versus Mitchell territory. It's a clone like any other, and sometimes they lead to better end results. In this case, I don't know or care, though!

 

[SlasherJPC]

The thing about this comic/opinion is that Darksiders actually tries to be different in the sense that it marries a ton of different concepts from different games into one. Sure some of the stuff are shockingly blatant rips (boomerang from Zelda, etc), but again, it at least attempts to put concepts from other games in there as well (there's even a TPS minigame in it!).
Dante's Inferno doesn't do this (at least, nothing I've seen or played). It's just a straight up God of War ripoff. It doesn't try to do a damn thing different.

Lets see how much Darksiders "rips off" other games.
Portal? Check. Zelda? Check. Metroid? Check. God of War? Check.

I loved Darksiders but really... it did nothing new. Not one thing. Inspiration from many games opposed to just one does not give it the "get out of jail free pass".

I agree to a certain extent, but the point here is where do we draw the line? Like, there's a difference between making a knock-off game that's similar to another, and a game that's literally a complete carbon copy in every way except the setting. Like, no one would call Banjo Kazooie a blatant rip-off of Mario 64, because it does so many things different. Sure, it's still a 3D platformer, but it has it's own character.

Dante's Inferno lacks all originality. It's not a knock-off, it's not even a rip-off... It's blatant plagiarism. How should we react to that?

Well remove the fact its a adaptation of a old popular story, and then I think half the problem goes away. Even if the game was still a blantant rip off of God Of War, but just about some dude in hell, and not labled with the Dantes Inferno stamp, I doubt there would be as much of a problem with people. So perhaps its the combination of both things thats truly has made this game stick out as a sore thumb to many people. Maybe the fact thats its EA added into those two things doesn't help either.

 

[riceandbeans]

Blah, blah, blah. So what? If it's fun, nobody gives a shit. Look at Uncharted 2. It borrows the best from just about every game out there, lacks originality but gives a fantastic experience. Next time blog about it then wasting people time with your rant.

And for the record I hated God of War and the shitty context sensitive "PRESS X NOW!" crap it made you go through. Give me Ninja Gaiden Black over that crap.

 

[PuppetSlave]

That's perfectly acceptable. The originality of the game isn't what bothers me; I play literally every Mario and Zelda game, which are all the same exact formula. The problem is that Visceral does not own or have any part in God of War, and they're literally stealing the game from Santa Monica studios. That's not only fucked up, it's backwards in how we should be progressing in the gaming industry. They're not just making a shitty game, they're slowing down the evolutionary process for our industry. You think I'm wrong? How many god-awful GTA clones did we have to suffer through? Those developers could have been working on something original and innovative instead of a copy-cat version of a successful franchise.

You sound conflicted. Don't worry I am sure Santa Monica is filled with big boys and girls that can handle themselves(or have lawyers to do it for them.).

Lighten up. If it bothers you that much, go play some Conan. It's pretty good, it's kinda like Dante's Inferno.

Don't want to comment too much since I haven't played the demo. Don't know exactly how much of a carbon copy it is. So I will stop here.

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/759954321_E7mFJ-L.jpg[IMG]

If I recall, much of GAF had the same problem with the first Saints Row. Personally I'm never going to crusade against "more of a good thing" until I get tired of playing it.



How many of the GTA clones are TRULY awful? If we're splitting hairs here, Crackdown, Infamous, Saints Row 2, and Just Cause are GTA clones. The original True Crime at least had free look aiming, years before GTAIV.[/QUOTE]

God are u serious? r u just playin devil's advocate? you just said every sandbox game is a GTA clone....

a difference between "copy" and "inspiration", simple:

-Dead Space clearly in the same vein and genre as RE4 but its not a copy or "rip-off".
-Dante's Inferno not just share the same genre check list, but many God of War specific check list. Its a fuckin counterfeit.

 

[robotzombie]

I see your point, I do but really this has been going on forever. What about the countless FPS games? What about the platform games that popped up everywhere after Mario 64. Hell everyone was copying the "obtain a star" type objective after that. This happens so many times. I mean, I don't mind clones of games when there good. They might not be fantastic but if it gives me a chance to glimpse into a world I haven't yet, consider me happy. (with Dante in mind, Hell has always been a setting I wanted to be focused on in a game) I mean I could call Bayonetta a blantant rip off of Dantes or Ninja Gaiden, or vice versa etc. They both have combo driven combat, gore, over the top attacks and bosses, and experience driven. The list can go on and on with what games copy each other. Some really blantly... others not so much.

Now granted if Visceral took the fundementals of what GOW is gameplay wise and made a game about some rogue titan destroyer, who was going to battle various greek mythologic beasts in a land of time he was swept up into to avenge the death of his family... I'd call extreme bullshit and it would be so obvious they were trying to ride on the tail of GOW series. So in my humble opinion about Dante, is the same I viewed Dead Space. The team at Visceral are deveolpers and avid game players and they have titles they really loved like RE4 and GOW! So they took Dead Space and made it there own version of RE4 (people bitched about this alot back when Dead Space was first announced btw) and I simple see Dantes as game aimed at the fans of GOW, regardless of how much they copied, its a new setting, and they picked a interesting adaptation (to manys peoples dissapointment). Yet its so far from the Greek Mythology thing that I don't mind.

Well first of all your Bayonetta example is simply horrible, due to the fact that it was created by the creator of the original DMC, where all of these stylish action games spawned from.

Secondly, the difference between other games coping a gamestyle (sandbox game, cover shooter, collectathon 3d platformer) and this is that Dante's Inferno honestly didn't even try to make a remotely different game. I mean it goes down to how you open up a treasure chest. Really? They had to actually copy how treasure chest opening works in GoW? It makes no sense that they didn't even bother trying to differentiate itself

 

[TheFatOne]

Blah, blah, blah. So what? If it's fun, nobody gives a shit. Look at Uncharted 2. It borrows the best from just about every game out there, lacks originality but gives a fantastic experience. Next time blog about it then wasting people time with your rant.

And for the record I hated God of War and the shitty context sensitive "PRESS X NOW!" crap it made you go through. Give me Ninja Gaiden Black over that crap.

This is pure bullshit. uncharted 2 lacks originality :lol :lol :lol :lol

 

[Dacvak]

Blah, blah, blah. So what? If it's fun, nobody gives a shit. Look at Uncharted 2. It borrows the best from just about every game out there, lacks originality but gives a fantastic experience. Next time blog about it then wasting people time with your rant.

There's the key difference.

 

[-viper-]

Lets see how much Darksiders "rips off" other games.
Portal? Check. Zelda? Check. Metroid? Check. God of War? Check.

I loved Darksiders but really... it did nothing new. Not one thing. Inspiration from many games opposed to just one does not give it the "get out of jail free pass".

eh? Darksiders may borrow concepts from other games (just like all games borrow concepts from other games) but it isn't a 1:1 clone to Zelda or Metroid or GOW.

Uncharted uses third person cover. OH NOEZ, IT'S A GEARS OF WAR/KILLSWITCH RIP OFF.

 

[lethial]

I agree to a certain extent, but the point here is where do we draw the line? Like, there's a difference between making a knock-off game that's similar to another, and a game that's literally a complete carbon copy in every way except the setting. Like, no one would call Banjo Kazooie a blatant rip-off of Mario 64, because it does so many things different. Sure, it's still a 3D platformer, but it has it's own character.

Dante's Inferno lacks all originality. It's not a knock-off, it's not even a rip-off... It's blatant plagiarism. How should we react to that?

By not playing the game and not caring. We're not the ones who would go to court over plagiarism. It's pretty fucking simple.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Lighten up. If it bothers you that much, go play some Conan. It's pretty good, it's kinda like Dante's Inferno.

And it's a fun game too.

 

[Mayor Haggar]

I dunno, I think Aligheri would be down with it.

 

[Interfectum]

I hope this game sells millions.

 

[spandexmonkey]

Maybe I'm just not getting it, was God of War so horrible that anything that copies it will be just as bad?

I liked Diablo 2, played the hell out of it. When games like Titan Quest, Sacred, or even Torchlight come about, I know they're rip offs, but different setting, tweaks here and there, more great Diablo gameplay. When Diablo 3 comes out, I'll still buy it.

I liked God of War, was a lot of fun. Dante's Inferno is like God of War but uses Christian mythology, neat, more GoW gameplay for me.

In the end, I think God of War is strong enough to stand on it's own merits, games that copy/emulate it just speak to how great it is.

 

[Dyno]

Anyone actually playing the game? Sixty frames and an already established move-set in striking environments with a variety of enemies seems like it could be fun regardless of what the context is.

Impressions?

 

[SlasherJPC]

Well first of all your Bayonetta example is simply horrible, due to the fact that it was created by the creator of the original DMC, where all of these stylish action games spawned from.

Secondly, the difference between other games coping a gamestyle (sandbox game, cover shooter, collectathon 3d platformer) and this is that Dante's Inferno honestly didn't even try to make a remotely different game. I mean it goes down to how you open up a treasure chest. Really? They had to actually copy how treasure chest opening works in GoW? It makes no sense that they didn't even bother trying to differentiate itself

Your picking those two out though, what about Ninja Gaiden? Sure overlook that obvious similar title.

Uncharted uses third person cover. OH NOEZ, IT'S A GEARS OF WAR/KILLSWITCH RIP OFF.

Ummmm but they all play mechanically very similar. Uncharted just added in some platforming. And oh yeah the Tomb Raider series say hello! You know the chick that did the whole looking for treasure and temples and boopie traps before Uncharted. Shit and they just copied Indiana Jones, and that copied... get my point? Oh wait but thats right Naughty Dog just merged Gears of War and Tomb Raider together, and so in essense we got an extremely original title. (like the half tuck look) Go figure. (btw I enjoy all these games I'm mentioning fyi)

 

[Defcon]

What the hell is the obsession with hating on this game? It's like the hundreds of other games released a year that copy another successful game.

 

[Interfectum]

What the hell is the obsession with hating on this game? It's like the hundreds of other games released a year that copy another successful game.

Pseudo intellectuals who are 'offended' by the use of Dante's Inferno in game form.

 

[keithm]

Why do people think that claiming "it's been like this forever" is a decent defense? Yeah, it has been like this forever, and look at the state of the gaming industry. Modern Day Shooter 27, WWII RTS 34, or Space Marine game 56.

If people don't start calling out the blatant knock offs, the gaming landscape is going to become more and more homogenized.

 

[Calcaneus]

Blah, blah, blah. So what? If it's fun, nobody gives a shit. Look at Uncharted 2. It borrows the best from just about every game out there, lacks originality but gives a fantastic experience. Next time blog about it then wasting people time with your rant.

And for the record I hated God of War and the shitty context sensitive "PRESS X NOW!" crap it made you go through. Give me Ninja Gaiden Black over that crap.

Uncharted has an atmosphere that at least to distinguish it from other games. DI jacks nearly everything it can from God of War. I'm convinced they decided to use the poem because the had nowhere else to go after they realized they couldn't actually put Kratos in their game.

 

[Interfectum]

Why do people think that claiming "it's been like this forever" is a decent defense? Yeah, it has been like this forever, and look at the state of the gaming industry. Modern Day Shooter 27, WWII RTS 34, or Space Marine game 56.

If people don't start calling out the blatant knock offs, the gaming landscape is going to become more and more homogenized.

:lol You think 'calling them out' on a video game message board dwarfs the massive sales these games get? You have no power, sorry.

 

[Dacvak]

Pseudo intellectuals who are 'offended' by the use of Dante's Inferno in game form.

Yeah, that's literally exactly what we're talking about.

Spoiler

Or try reading.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

There are really two things that make the DI/GoW situation sort of uniquely interesting:
1.) DI has a large budget.
*snip*

DI isn't so much doing this. The goal is less to evolve the GoW gameplay, and more to just see how much you can make copying known successes.

Hmm. So it's the exception to the rule. I can dig it.
I just don't see where "offensive" comes in to play.

 

[black_vegeta]

What the hell is the obsession with hating on this game? It's like the hundreds of other games released a year that copy another successful game.

It's like someone dick slapped their mother in the face or something.

Some people have nothing better to bitch about...

 

[robotzombie]

Your picking those two out though, what about Ninja Gaiden? Sure overlook that obvious similar title.



Ummmm but they all play mechanically very similar. Uncharted just added in some platforming. And oh yeah the Tomb Raider series say hello! You know the chick that did the whole looking for treasure and temples and boopie traps before Uncharted. Oh wait but thats right Naughty Dog just merged Gears of War and Tomb Raider together, and so in essense we got an extremely original title. Go figure. (btw I enjoy all these games I'm mentioning fyi)

What about Ninja Gaiden? I didn't overlook it at all. I would be the first to say Ninja Gaiden really took an insane amount from DMC, but it's still not at the level of Dante's Inferno. I mean it is literally the exact same game as GoW. You keep making it a blanket "games copy from each other thing" when that isn't what this is about. Of course games take ideas from each other, sometimes a lot of ideas. But the Dante's Inferno to GoW ratio is astounding, without even the tiniest emphasis that they are trying something different. That is the problem and that is what you keep avoiding.

If you can't see the difference between what Uncharted 2 does with its "borrowing" and what Dante's Inferno does, then I guess you really can't comprehend the issue.

 

[LosDaddie]

I hope this game sells millions.

Me too....and I'll be doing my part by picking up my copy next week.

Maybe I'm just not getting it, was God of War so horrible that anything that copies it will be just as bad?

IMO, people are worried about DI taking away some of GoWIII's sales.