Video Game Review: Infernax

Developer: Berzerk Studio

Publisher: The Arcade Crew

Genre: Action Platformer

Reviewed On: PlayStation 4

Also Available For: PC, Switch, Xbox

After a bad experience with another super gory side-scrolling platformer title recently, I was admittedly a little wary of Infernax, especially upon seeing its opening disclaimer. “THIS GAME CONTAINS MATURE THEMES THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE, RANGING FROM SAUCY LANGUAGE, ACTS OF VIOLENCE IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE, COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF GORE, AND HALF CLOTHED DEMON PEOPLE OF VARYING DEGREES OF ATTRACTIVENESS,” it read, which sounded uncomfortably reminiscent of that other game I refuse to name. Thankfully, though, Infernax is not only much more tasteful with its content (or less distasteful?) but is actually a genuine delight to play, and I had a hard time putting it down even after I finished my first playthrough.

The Basics: Infernax is a Metroidvania that places a bit more emphasis on the -vania part of the portmanteau, in particular drawing inspiration from early Castlevania titles such as Simon’s Quest. The player assumes the role of a young duke returning from the crusades by the name of Alcedor (or whatever else the player might choose to call him instead) who discovers immediately after getting off the boat that his homeland is beset by a plague of monsters, demons, and cultists. He gets caught up to speed on the situation by his right hand man and the local priest, told he needs to break five seals located within dungeons and guarded by bosses to take on the ultimate evil and cleanse the land, etc. It’s a pretty standard setup, but it has enough personality by way of numerous side-quests and occasional moments of off-beat humor to keep things from feeling dull or otherwise uninteresting.

The gameplay is, despite its simplicity, oddly addicting; Alcedor can’t do much besides jump and whack baddies with his mace. As the game progresses, he gains access to various magic spells, armor and damage upgrades, and a (very) small pool of traversal upgrades that opens up more of the world map, but the core of combat remains the same. The player can also upgrade their power, health, and mana at the save shrines across the map using experience gained from defeating enemies. Passing by save shrines also automatically restores health, mana, and any extra lives the player may have bought from merchants, a system I thought was a clever way to offset the difficulty of the platforming without compromising the way a game over requires the player to start from their last save. I don’t mean to imply that the platforming is unfair – quite the opposite, in fact. The controls are tight and responsive, and allow for a great deal of precision once you get used to them. Each death by drowning/lava/acid/bottomless pit, while occasionally frustrating, serves more as a learning experience than anything else, and if the player has any lives remaining they only have to start from the beginning of the room they died in rather than from their save statue.

On that note, deaths in Infernax are punctuated by stylish mini-cutscenes during which the screen turns red and black and Alcedor is shown being destroyed in specific (and often quite gruesome) ways depending on what actually dealt the killing blow. In general, the game has a very strong sense of artistic direction, with a clear and crisp visual language even in the low-res graphical style it employs. Boss designs in particular are quite compelling, and despite the disclaimer mentioning “half-clothed demon people of varying degrees of attractiveness” there’s really only one that’s in any way sexualized. Without listing any spoilers, I will say that there is actually legitimate historical and artistic justification for the creature in question’s design, one which should be immediately recognizable to those even passingly familiar with demonology, occultism, or tarot. The game also features a number of splash screens during key moments which showcase a more detailed but still relatively low-res art style and add to its sense of visual style in a very effective way.

Oh, and the soundtrack absolutely slaps.

One thing that caught me by surprise as I started to play Infernax (though largely due to going in pretty blind, as this is advertised quite clearly across various promotional materials) is that it has multiple story paths and endings. Making certain choices at various points or completing certain side-quests will shift Alcedor towards good or evil. Aside from giving access to slightly different versions or upgrades to spells, this system means there are six and a half endings in total across two or three main routes, depending how you count. Each ending unlocks fun bonus materials and reveals to the player special codes that can be entered into either a cheat menu or used as special names on the new game screen that unlock special game modes. One, for example, turns Alcedor into a wizard with regenerating mana and a long ranged magic missile attack but greatly reduced defense.

Between the differing routes, special “class swaps”, and a few clever little easter eggs there’s lots of replayability in Infernax and plenty to keep you around well after you beat it once, and it’s been quite some time since I played a game that did such a good job balancing between “tough” and “fair”. It may not be the most memorable or intellectually stimulating story out there, but Berzerk Studios made such a damn fine action platformer here that it doesn’t really matter.