What a horrible night to have a curse…
Infernax is a game that I had never heard of until the PR landed in my inbox. The claim that it was an adult-themed take on Castlevania 2 and Zelda 2 intrigued me, but I had heard those claims before. So many games want to tug on that nostalgia to get players like me to pay attention. Ten minutes into Infernax though and I knew it was different. This game was something special. The gore is ridiculous, the game play is tight, and everything about it just screams fun. While it may look like just another pixelated indie game, Infernax is head and shoulders above anything I’ve played in a long time.
The Castlevania comparisons are evident right from the start. The game kicks off with the player, a crusader, returning to his homeland. Upon arrival you quickly discover that towns throughout the land of Darsov have been overrun with nightmarish creatures, so of course you decide to join in the fight. Each area is littered with creatures that need to be destroyed and even some moral choices tossed in. There are infected characters and rival gangs causing issues. The game lets the player decide how to deal with them. They are not empty choices either. The game has five endings with the decisions I made along the way working towards one of them.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
It might feel like a binary choice, but everything I did in the game mattered. Thankfully, the core campaign is brisk. My first run clocked in at around seven hours. So going back to complete the other endings is not a massive chore. I also appreciate that while the default difficulty can be NES levels of punishing, there is an option for an easier difficulty.
Infernax leans heavily on its inspirations. There is even a bit of Metroid tossed in as the character gains new abilities that open up access to new areas. My biggest gripe is that the fast travel system, which comes in the form of a spell, is locked away until deeper into the game. It would have been nice to have it earlier, but that likely would have dropped the play time down to questionable levels. Still I loved gaining new abilities and the game does a fantastic job of dishing them out at just the right time. The cadence is nearly perfect keeping me from growing bored or feeling stagnant through my play time.
Combat feels good as does the platforming. There is a nice amount of air control when moving between platforms. The hit detection takes a second to adjust to, but I was quickly wiping out all types of enemies. There are definitely ones that use the knockback technique to push the crusader into chasms and water, which is an instant death. All of the tropes of classic NES games are here, but never were they overly frustrating to the point I did not want to continue.
Visually the game is beautiful with nice chonky pixels and plenty of gore. This is not a game for kids, and while it is a colorful classic style, watching entrails dispense from enemies is not for the light-hearted. It is also worth mentioning that this might be the soundtrack of the year. Every song is simply outstanding and it continues throughout the game. This is a soundtrack I want to own. The game just screams quality from top to bottom.
Infernax is a can’t-miss game. I had never heard of it, but as soon as I booted it up it immediately shot to the top of my favorite games of the year. Do not sleep on this title. There is so much to love and it even has a unique mode that unlocks when entering the Konami code. Yeah it leans way into nostalgia, but it does it right. This game looks and feels great and is easily one title that will set the bar going forward.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
