By Alec Meer on December 15th, 2008 at 3:12 pm.
After a year in which EA have suffered more than even the usual number of curses by beleaguered gamers, it is perhaps only fitting that they’ve announced a game set in that disagreeably toasty place o’punishment that Bible-lovin’ folk reckon the rest of us will spend our final vacation in. There were rumours of a Dante’s Inferno game earlier in the year, and now we get the official announcement, website and trailer.
Things to know:
– it’s by EA Redwood Shores, the folk who made Dead Space, which reportedly was one of the big-name games that didn’t do so well out of the Chrimbo frenzy.
- It involves hitting stuff
- Er
- Demons?
Here’s the trailer, which suggests the structure will be levels themed to the deadly sins:
Very id-y, no? Dead Space drew a few “this is what Doom 3 should have been” comments, so Redwood Shores picking a hellbound setting only increases the comparisons. The press release talks up introducing a literary masterpiece to a new generation, but the video seems more concerned with smacking demons with crosses. Poor old Mister Alighieri.
It’s also abundantly clear this is coming from the Dead Space studio. The palette seems murky, there’s much emphasis on visceral bio-horror and the apparent protagonist is wearing a stupid hat. I’ve had a few conversations in recent weeks in which there’s a vague feeling that Dead Space Dude’s tri-slitted welding mask thing, the vanguard of the game’s marketing effort, was part of its problem: it’s just not a terribly interesting image, despite a clear (or desperate) intention to be iconic. Step away from the dumb hats, Redwood Shores. They bring only ill fortune.
Oh – it’s currently down as PS3 and Xbox 360 only, but there’s a tendency of late to simply not mention the PC release. This is, of course, because publishers are dicks. Given most EA games turn on PC either concurrently or soon after their console releases, it’s worth keeping a weather eye on this fearsome little number.
And here’s a press release, albeit a fairly useless one:
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate.* An abducted soul, a lifetime of sins, a journey to the depths of despair. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today that EA Redwood Shores, the studio behind the hit horror game Dead Space™, is now working on another original property — this one based on the medieval epic poem The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. The dark fiction gave birth to the Tuscan Italian dialect and is widely considered the work that has defined the western world’s contemporary conception of hell and purgatory. The poem tells the tale of Dante who journeys through the twisted, menacing nine circles of hell in pursuit of his beloved Beatrice. Dante’s tortured and tormented world is an ideal setting for this 3rd person action and adventure of a video game, Dante’s Inferno™.
Written in the 14th Century, The Divine Comedy was published and read aloud in Italian (unlike the Bible), thereby making the poem accessible to the mass public. The poem delivers a striking and allegorical vision of the Christian afterlife and the punishments of hell. In part one, known as Dante’s Inferno, Dante traverses all nine circles of hell; limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery.
“The time is right for the world of interactive entertainment to adapt this literary masterpiece, and to re-introduce Dante to an audience who, until now, may have been unfamiliar with the remarkable details of this great work of art,” said Jonathan Knight, Executive Producer for Dante’s Inferno. “It’s the perfect opportunity to fuse great gameplay with great story.”
For more information on Dante’s Inferno, please visit www.dantesinferno.com and sign up for the newsletter and bookmark for news, features and upcoming events.
* Translation: Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.
15/12/2008 at 15:14 dhex says:
“Chrimbo frenzy”
which is what now?
i never know if you guys are dropping british-isms or your own peculiar slang, like the sort of thing creepy twins come up with so no one knows what they’re plotting.
15/12/2008 at 15:19 Larington says:
@Dhex: He simply means – Holy crap theres a lot of games being released in December.
Sounds interesting. Fear ye, the silly hats.
Looking forward to seeing how they approach the ‘lust’ level(s). Speaking of lust, that ‘World Premiere’ lady – Phwoarrrrrr.
15/12/2008 at 15:20 Alex says:
Chrimbo = Xmas
15/12/2008 at 15:21 Meat Circus says:
Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Anger, Violence, Fraud and Treachery…
Pet names for EA’s senior management team?
15/12/2008 at 15:26 Larington says:
@Meat Circus – I bet the lust senior manager is very popular, then… ;-)
15/12/2008 at 15:29 Meat Circus says:
The nine names refer to the nine circles of hell, whereinunder each of the eponymous sinners are kept. Though the eighth circle is actually called ‘malebolge’, which is a great word, and I hope the game doesn’t pass the opportunity to use it.
15/12/2008 at 15:32 Youatemycheeto says:
It will be terrible. I can assure you. Does anyone have any doubt?
15/12/2008 at 15:34 Larington says:
I wonder if this will turn out to be an odd cross between American McGees Alice and, erm, Doom 3?
15/12/2008 at 15:36 giovanni says:
Our neighbours in Vatican will be very pleased.
15/12/2008 at 15:41 subedii says:
This is really not a good concept to base an action game on. To be honest, I’m expecting that Inferno is just going to be a loosely tacked on skin to a mediocre game.
I don’t know, maybe the concept could have made good use of the setting if it was going to be more along the lines of “Silent Hill”, but this just looks like “Generic action game with demons we want you to think are twisted looking but they’re just overwrought really number 347″.
Maybe my opinion will change when I get to see more actual footage, but first impressions just leave me with the idea that this could have been any generic demon slaying setting for the purpose of the game, but The Divine Comedy has more name recognition so they stuck that name on the front.
Also, PLEASE do not mention to EA that The Divine Comedy is actually a trilogy. Everything else is sprouting twin sequels as it is.
15/12/2008 at 15:44 manintheshack says:
‘It will be terrible. I can assure you. Does anyone have any doubt?’
I’ll go for simply ‘meh’.
15/12/2008 at 15:46 Muzman says:
Wouldn’t it be terribly ironic if it were short.
“Hell is too much for modern attention spans”
15/12/2008 at 15:47 GriddleOctopus says:
Have these guys even read the Inferno? That trailer was so depressingly violent and nasty that I wish I could sue them to make sure they don’t use that name.
I’ll be clear about this; that trailer had nothing to do with Dante’s Inferno, which is a pensive and intelligent meditation on the status of Damnation for those born before Christ, a tour through the levels of sin (though not in the manner of the simplistic sins listed there) and a attempt to integrate classical erudition and knowledge into the Catholic faith. Years ago I thought the novel would convert perfectly into an atmospheric, educational interactive machinima, but that trailer makes me despair of the industry.
I didn’t expect anything more of EA and I know this is just a shock trailer to capture the Doom audience, but this is the first time I’ve ever wished that copyright was indefinite so they couldn’t misrepresent this. Developers should keep their hands off the classic until they’ve proved they can handle them sympathetically.
15/12/2008 at 15:48 Heliocentric says:
Where do sodomites go again? Quick time events?
Deadspace looks nice, if this is just deadspace in hell i can roll with that.
15/12/2008 at 15:54 alex_jacobson says:
And we wonder how people can be so stupid to think that computer games aren’t Art?
It’s because games like this shit over our beloved industries credibility.
15/12/2008 at 15:57 lethu says:
I hope it won’t be as cheaply ported to PC as was Dead Space… but first it would have to be a “decent” game, atleast.
15/12/2008 at 16:02 newt says:
GriddleOctopus: Well, pop culture draws inspiration from the classics all the time but I agree — this shouldn’t be called “Dante’s” Inferno.
15/12/2008 at 16:04 Acosta says:
It´s really unfortunate seeing this as an action game, I had little hope of seeing something faithful or respectful to the book when I heard about it for first time, but reality has been tougher than expected. Wish it was not called Dante’s Inferno.
I guess that exploring classical knowledge and its place on christian cosmology is not marketable enough, deep games are reserved for tiny russian teams with no real money.
I still love the new EA (the news about Brütal Legend still brings a smile on my face when I think about it), but I don’t feel really happy about this one.
15/12/2008 at 16:10 Larington says:
Hopefully we’ll get some commentary from the developers at some point that will demonstrate we’re being too quick to judge.
Hate falling back on this timeless statement, but, err, time will tell.
15/12/2008 at 16:10 dhex says:
thanks for the chrimbo 411. i’ve never heard that particular term before.
“And we wonder how people can be so stupid to think that computer games aren’t Art?”
don’t forget those philistines like myself who don’t care if games are art or not because we just want to blow stuff up and be entertained!
anyhoo, it’s the divine comedy. it has about as much popular cultural currency as other bits of really old literature about religion with a bunch of references to long dead tribal dickfights. the trailer actually sets it up with a few worthwhile factoids, which was rather surprising.
seriously, how many of us have read all three canticles? i have. creepy stalker vibes throughout. would make a terrible game if someone attempted an actual adaptation rather than the riffage we’re going to see – the big budget version would be even more ridiculous than the trailer and beatrice would be wearing a bikini, and the indie version would be too busy weeping about how hard it is to talk to girls and life and stuff to bother designing the rest of the game.
the only hope would be a completely loony rich catholic genius who has the time, funds and sufficient madness – as well as an attachment to fanciful medieval allegories.
not to mention they’d get seriously protested or potentially blown the fuck up because of a certain dude in a certain level who is a certain prophet to a certain religion experiencing a certain eternal punishment.
15/12/2008 at 16:12 AbyssUK says:
Hell, meh been there done that multiple times..
15/12/2008 at 16:12 GriddleOctopus says:
Oh. You’d be talking about both Mohammed and Ali residing right near the bottom of Hell as “schismatics”, being chopped up by a demon? That’s the sort of EA are going to accidentally leave in, you know.
15/12/2008 at 16:18 fulis says:
I already played painkiller
I liked it though
15/12/2008 at 16:20 tWB says:
So if I’m reading this trailer right, part of the game involves slaughtering unbaptized infants in Limbo, right?
Good luck with that, EA.
15/12/2008 at 16:27 subedii says:
tWB: Passing that through would probably be an absolute [i]breeze[/i] compared to some of the things depicted in Dante’s Inferno. After all, Doom III had sort of winged Cherub… things didn’t it?
15/12/2008 at 16:29 Ian says:
“Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Anger, Violence, Fraud and Treachery…
Pet names for EA’s senior management team?”
Limbo of the Lust?
15/12/2008 at 16:33 Fede says:
@tWB: actually, it’s more likely you’ll have to kill ancient philosophers and literates in Limbo.
Sadly the first paragraph of the press relase contains some mistakes, it seems they don’t really know Dante’s work so well after all :P
15/12/2008 at 16:45 Hermit says:
I think someone’s looked at God of War and thought “Are there any other mythologies we could use to lend our next third person game an air of epic?”. Not sure how they got onto Dante’s Inferno, but whatever.
Expect all of Dante’s conversations with lost souls to be replaced with repeatedly beating lost souls in the face. I also predict a Minotaur Boss.
And I’m so calling this right now: Geryon will be turned into some sort of horrible on-rails vehichle section.
15/12/2008 at 16:53 MasterBoo says:
You posted this boring trailer and forgot the new Brutal Legend’s one?!
15/12/2008 at 16:54 ghor says:
I once dreamt I made a Knytt Stories level based on the nine circles of hell.
I should get to work on that.
15/12/2008 at 16:55 Acosta says:
@dhez
The second and third canticle have more difficulties indeed and there are some stuff that can’t be translated to a commercial game from a big company, no doubt. Still there is a lot of stuff that could be used to fuel a game closed to the spirit and the idea of Divine’s Comedy. There are plenty of pure entertainment in this industry already, is really necessary to look at the classics to create more entertainment and ways to blow stuff in a spectacular way?
15/12/2008 at 16:56 Another one says:
I really wish someone held the rights to Dante’s work… and sued it into oblivion before it is released?
15/12/2008 at 17:03 Scandalon says:
I want to see how they’re going to handle the “violence” level…or will the designer/devs not even see the irony?
15/12/2008 at 17:04 cyrenic says:
Talk about missing the point.
15/12/2008 at 17:04 SanguineLobster says:
@Ian: I think we’ve all experienced that limbo.
15/12/2008 at 17:05 mrrobsa says:
Interesting, although I burst out laughing at the cross-to-forehead, ‘go to hell’ section, and I’m not sure that’s what they were aiming for.
Haven’t tried Dead Space but I hear good things.
15/12/2008 at 17:21 Fumarole says:
Still there is a lot of stuff that could be used to fuel a game closed to the spirit and the idea of Divine’s Comedy.
Typo and all – too true.
I like the Knytt’s Stories idea for Inferno, that could work.
15/12/2008 at 17:27 Heliocentric says:
The pope let all the unbaptised babies out. Whether they were released or evicted was another matter.
15/12/2008 at 17:27 Evert says:
Is that Jesus at the end of the trailer bludgeoning some poor daemon with a crucifix?
He looks a lot more beefy than usually depicted, but I think I can see a crown of thorns, though it is hard to see, the view keeps on changing.
Other then that – Oh my God. What an awful looking game. I realise I am one of the few in my demographic to have read the Divine Comedy (yes, all three bits), but the basic errors in the press release and the terrible trailer deserve widespread ridicule.
15/12/2008 at 17:33 phil says:
It’ll be a real shame if the ‘long dead tribal dickfights’ get left off the design document – just like Milton gave us a heroically Cromwellian Satan, half the fun of the Divine Comedy is spotting bad tempered Papal politics super imposed on hell.
A CRPG, perhaps not a million miles away from the PS:T endgame, would have been the best choice for a game ‘inspired’ by the book but for our sins we’re probably going to get Painkiller redux with shinier stakes and a frozen Satan endboss.
15/12/2008 at 17:45 Ben says:
Here’s an idea, guys:
What if the protagonist is not who we are assuming it to be. Perhaps we have the little confrontation at the end all reversed, and whatnot.
I guess I’m saying they might be taking a more pensive, potentially frightening approach to this material than you’re giving them credit for, placing the player in the shoes of a nigh-powerless wisp in a world of crazy-hat cross-wielding bastards.
It probably still won’t be accurate enough to please the literary set, but I think it could be unique and interesting enough to be a worthwhile game.
Of course, this is all assuming I’m right about the little trick they may have pulled with this trailer.
If I’m wrong, then, well, abandon all hope.
15/12/2008 at 17:46 Skurmedel says:
Please don’t do a shooter adaption of a book classic… really please don’t. It’s worse than a shitty movie adaption of a book.
15/12/2008 at 17:49 Petazzo says:
It seems like EA has obviously choosed the wrong poem. In fact the Divine Commedy contains so many autobiographical parts and simbolisms that even the most important scholars can’t make head nor tail of some parts of it.
I’m wondering who might be that muscular guy at the end of the trailer… Hope he’s not Dante or Virgilio.
Also this part of the press release is even worse than the trailer: The poem tells the tale of Dante who journeys through the [...] nine circles of hell in pursuit of his beloved Beatrice – maybe “lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate” is referred to the game itself.
15/12/2008 at 17:54 BooleanBob says:
In This Thread: People who have read the Divine Comedy make it absolutely clear to everybody else that they have done so.
I say this mostly in jest; I have to read it myself for next term’s seminars, so I won’t stick around for spoilers. Whoop whoop!
15/12/2008 at 17:57 JulianP says:
Oh man. This has got to be one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard.
15/12/2008 at 18:09 Calabi says:
It doesnt look that great from the trailer nothing like what I’d imagine a Dantes Inferno game to look like. It should at least look something like that painting(cant remember what its called). With huge numbers of people being tortured or transformed.
A proper game of Dante would be cool. Where you are just there to observe and ask questions. Your given a gun, but if you use it all in the game, or do anything untoward then demons immediately swoop down and drag you off to be tortured with the rest(which is an hour long fmv).
15/12/2008 at 18:14 Ben says:
“It should at least look something like that painting(cant remember what its called). With huge numbers of people being tortured or transformed.”
Just so you know, you pretty much just described every painting by Hieronymus Bosch.
15/12/2008 at 18:17 Subject 706 says:
And several feet underground, in Ravenna, Italy, Dante Aligheri is spinning in his grave.
Seriously, shit like this makes me wish with almost religious fervor, that all mainstream games publishers crash and burn. Violently. And go to hell.
15/12/2008 at 18:20 Pags says:
Coming soon from EA:
Thomas Hobbes’ ‘Leviathan’ – God game where everyone ignores your orders because civil law takes precedence over divine law as no one person can ascertain infallibly whether another has truly heard the word of God.
15/12/2008 at 18:33 phil says:
@BooleanBob – Read it? Now you mention it’s possible I glanced at it once or twice. I might have noticed some commentaries on the subject, might not.
Seriously though, considering how much the Divine Comedy has inspired right up to the present day it might actually be a sign of the medium’s maturity that a major publisher is stepping up and producing gaming’s take on such a cultural touch-stone.
Unless we accept that either EA = cack or that games automatically cheapen their subject matter, neither proposition I accept, there’s a faint chance this will be brilliant.
That said, I’m suspect everyone’s cynicism will be justified; “Go to Hell” as the tag-line doesn’t suggest there’s going to be thought involved in making the game.
15/12/2008 at 18:34 Noc says:
Calabi: The Garden of Earthly Delights by Heironomous Bosch?
If this game features a man with a giant strawberry up his buttocks, I will buy it.
I’m also sort of with Ben in this one, I think. It occurs to me that a survival horror-ish game in the vein of of Dead Space that has you fighting your way out of Hell wouldn’t really center around you beating up on lost souls.
Unless they’re just ditching the horror thing, and making a straight beat-em-up. Which is a little unclear. And after all, the funny-hatted fellow at the end was the only character really featured prominently in the trailer at all . . . but that still doesn’t rule out him being a trademark antagonist. Or the lost-soul-y fellow being a demon, for that matter. Hmm.
Anyways, until I hear more about this I’m going to assume that it’s Planescape: Torment 2 – Kicking Ass and Taking Names.
15/12/2008 at 18:38 Konky Dong 1000 says:
Dead Space was a very good game, so I’ll keep my eye on this one.
15/12/2008 at 19:08 unclelou says:
EA, always with the sequels.
I am old enough to remember that. :-(
15/12/2008 at 19:11 Tei says:
I guest this is nothing like the original book. We need a name for poor translations… …”extersemiotic defacement” ?
15/12/2008 at 19:29 Solario says:
God, I hope this game was made by an atheist. That would actually explain why a lost soul, a prisoner condemned for nothing more than being born too early, is getting beaten up by the protagonist.
15/12/2008 at 19:30 Solario says:
Actually what I meant was someone opposing organized religion, not an atheist. I can believe they might view it as a critique against the Church.
15/12/2008 at 19:45 Bhazor says:
I’m feeling sorry for EA for the first time ever after their attempts at originality failed (apparently in the case of Dead Space and Mirrors Edge but deservedly so in the case of Face Breaker) on release.
But goddammit putting their damn name as “Electronic Arts Inc” tells a lot. I can’t help but picture like a dinosaur in an Armani suit stamping through Jurassic earth and being a dick. Eff off EA.
15/12/2008 at 19:49 Bhazor says:
Reply to Solario
You mean anti-thesist then.
15/12/2008 at 19:49 Calabi says:
Ah thanks Ben and Noc thats the one. It would be a game worth playing once, if they had a scene like one of those, which you could walk through and interact with in some way.
And I think they need more twisted artwork, giger esque like stuff, with meaning.
15/12/2008 at 20:08 dhex says:
Thomas Hobbes’ ‘Leviathan’ – God game where everyone ignores your orders because civil law takes precedence over divine law as no one person can ascertain infallibly whether another has truly heard the word of God.
i would totally break my “screw rts games” rule to play this!
It’ll be a real shame if the ‘long dead tribal dickfights’ get left off the design document – just like Milton gave us a heroically Cromwellian Satan, half the fun of the Divine Comedy is spotting bad tempered Papal politics super imposed on hell.
in a perfect world all games would be filled with historically nerdy in-jokes that don’t revolve around douglas adams novels; but in that perfect world we would most likely not be talking about EA, at least not in this particular…incarnation.
speaking of classics, you know what would be a particularly decent jumping off point? an (j)rpg-ish adventure game based on don quixote. take the whole lonely hero trope and kick it in the ass. games are a few hundred years late to that party but you get the idea.
15/12/2008 at 20:23 Alex says:
I would prefer the version by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle featuring sci-fi author who drunkenly falls out of a window during a convention and whose guide through Hell is Mussolini.
15/12/2008 at 20:34 Larington says:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/12/15/
This just out and relevant to this topic.
15/12/2008 at 21:07 Leeks! says:
I really love the idea that someone at EA thinks they can play this off as “introducing a a classic to a new generation.” They should make that a series. Next, we’ll have a Grapes of wrath game where you play a family of wizards with laser-shooting cyborg arms that must battle an invading army of wrathful grapes on their way to California.
15/12/2008 at 21:10 hydra9 says:
Ahh, now I have that ‘King Of Limbo’ song stuck in my head!
15/12/2008 at 21:40 Pattom says:
I’m rather hoping that the man stabbing the crucifix into the creature at the end of the trailer is not actually Dante, but rather a demon of some kind torturing a human soul, or something. It probably won’t happen, but it seems more apropos for you to be witnessing scenes of violence and such rather than participating in them. Also, I’m curious what role Virgil will play: if the character in the trailer is Dante, then it doesn’t seem like there’s much need for Virgil.
Also, sudden flash that could make this an action game while still being intelligent: perhaps the story has been tweaked so that Dante himself is being punished for something, and the only way to atone is to punish other beings in hell?
15/12/2008 at 22:17 Dave says:
EA to gamers: “Go to hell.”
Gamers to EA: “Eff off.”
Sounds about right.
15/12/2008 at 22:18 hydra9 says:
After watching this, I also viewed the new Brutal Legend and Watchmen trailers. So I can definitely say: EA’s ‘world premiere’ thing is lame as hell! (oops – no pun intended)
15/12/2008 at 22:34 Sartoris says:
I hate the “bam….bam….bam….bam..bam..bam.bam.bam.bambambambambam” structure of every second trailer for both movies and games that has become so popular. It is disgustingly unoriginal.
Also, I hate them for doing this to Dante.
15/12/2008 at 23:44 Bob says:
I hope they leave out the parts about there being special places in hell for jews and homosexuals… :\
16/12/2008 at 00:46 Alexander says:
This is great, NOW IS THE TIME. Indie game pirate developers should jump from their seats hearing this. They are trying to make an IP out of non-copyrighted material, THE IP IS FREE. The whole concept can be ninja-ed, all their marketing and PR piggybacked.
Damn how I would love to suddenly see 615 Dante’s Inferno games, some mediocre, some great, and EA’s drifting along in the shitstream because indie shows it wins.
They painted a football field on their balls.
16/12/2008 at 01:23 IvanHoeHo says:
I don’t see how there can be a decent hell-themed action video game without it being banned everywhere (dead babies, rape scenes, extreme violence, etc.), so I’m prepared to be disappointed.
Of course, they could also go with a more cutesy interpretation, but just I don’t think it’s going to happen in an action game.
16/12/2008 at 01:31 Digit says:
I liked Painkiller, those guys know how to make a game and oh man, were the secret areas hard to find, some required super juggling skills to reach and huge physics abuse.
As to this… well, ewwwwww!
16/12/2008 at 04:16 Digit says:
Also to add, I am not sure saying that Bible-lovin folk think people will end up in hell. I sure don’t, and I reckon I can make a pretty good case against saying that it’s mentioned anywhere in fact, in the Bible at all. :p
16/12/2008 at 04:56 solipsistnation says:
People didn’t like the slitted helmet? I thought it was a fantastic image…
16/12/2008 at 05:02 waffles says:
So if dead space was what doom 3 was supposed to be, than is this what dead space was supposed to be?
Does that make this what doom 1 might be?
16/12/2008 at 05:15 waffles says:
“I hope they leave out the parts about there being special places in hell for jews and homosexuals… :\”
personally i think it would be amazing if EA did, and maybe had Jesus as a unlockable character, and gave you the option to beat up Plato and the learned by throwing holy water on them or something.
Maybe have the twist be the pope is a zombie nazi ghost, the possibilities are limitless.
16/12/2008 at 05:45 jonfitt says:
Oh no, I’m terrified of the Heresy level. You’ll have to mash quick-time events to avoid being sucked into Scientology discussions.
Then horror of horrors… fraud! Watch impotently as a shopkeeper offers you a big sword for 400 gold and then it turns out to be smaller than it looked in the picture.
It’s also at this point we find out that the semi-nekkid princess can only be freed by paying off some officials with gold, but it doesn’t matter because the princess is good for FORTY MILLION GOLD.
16/12/2008 at 07:48 N says:
Hm, this really isn’t a new idea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnsWceYWNpQ
Anyway, the game will probably be a hunk of shit, reminds me of devil may cry for some reason, yeah, the flying whale level reason methinks…
16/12/2008 at 08:28 ET says:
It could be interesting if that squirming lost soul in the end is YOU, actually.
What are the chances of that, though.
16/12/2008 at 08:41 James T says:
Fuck Dante; I want a game adaptation of Twain’s Letters from the Earth! Lucifer, saving humanity by beating up the first blameless smallpox bacterium!
(Read ‘Letters from the Earth’. It’s awesome.)
See, if they left it in, they could address it in interesting ways, but… yeah, right. Even if they did have the inclination, and I can’t imagine them possessing that much creativity, the tabloids would easily put paid to it with the usual smears (before returning to their own bigotries the next week).
The Brutal Legend trailer rather underwhelmed me, which is sad, ‘cos I’m totally on Double Fine’s side. Of course, it’s not showing much, but is that a great idea on the eve of your biggest publicity opportunity? Hope it works out, anyway.
16/12/2008 at 08:45 James T says:
…Actually, I think Double Fine could make a much better Inferno game. The eighth circle would be like the Milkman level! Untruths everywhere!
16/12/2008 at 10:32 kenoxite says:
I just clicked this article blindly thinking it was about a remake of Day of the Tentacle.
Damn ambiguous image of tentacle mummies…
16/12/2008 at 11:08 clive dunn says:
Top secret EA project for 2012 release….
THE BIBLE MMO
Work your way up from lowly carpenter to level 80 Messiah. (Extra content to include Epic Mule Mount)
Be a Roman soldier and grind 10,000,000 sheckels for that +10 spear of destiny for the Big Boss Showdown on Golgotha.
God, i was only joking but you know something, i think this could actually work!!!
16/12/2008 at 11:29 Bubble-Bobble says:
I don’t know where you got your [mis[information from but EA’s Dead Space did very well (maybe not on the PC but the horror genre never faired commercially well on the PC to begin with) & a sequel is already in the works.
http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_scene/2008/12/ea-sports-escap.html
16/12/2008 at 11:29 mashakos says:
um, wasn’t the novel a satire? Makes a horror spin of the story ridiculous…
16/12/2008 at 11:31 Psychopomp says:
@ James T
“I am the devil. My sins are delicious.
16/12/2008 at 11:34 Jochen Scheisse says:
My sins are fortified with what the world wants! What the world DESERVES!
16/12/2008 at 12:00 James T says:
“So Jesus, ready to be crucified yet?”
[Not yet.]
[SLAP]
“How ’bout now?”
16/12/2008 at 12:23 Rei Onryou says:
Reading about Dante’s Inferno on the Wiki reveals he’s being shown hell, rather than suffering it, and ends up in heaven. I don’t see the link between that and ramming crucifixes into demon’s heads. Especially since he was considering suicide (a sin).
I expect this game will begin with the warning “This game was made by members of a wide variety of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. Except Catholics.“
16/12/2008 at 12:40 Psychopomp says:
@Rei
“…And scholars. As a matter of fact, if you are either, turn around now. We don’t want you having a rage induced heart attack.
You might sue us!”
16/12/2008 at 13:15 luphisto says:
In my opinion making this game would be a sin. Come on, how can you ever expect to make a game that does justice the themes and content of any book let alone a well known master work like Dante’s Inferno? I could definitely understand a game that’s based on it but to use the title “Dante’s Inferno: the game” strikes me as arrogant and wrong.
(while Deadspace was fun I thought it lacked a compelling story, it was mainly: aliens, kill them all, OMG wife.)
16/12/2008 at 13:50 Chis says:
I wonder if this will turn out to be an odd cross between American McGees Alice and, erm, Doom 3?
So iffy gameplay, and crap weapons?
16/12/2008 at 15:19 dhex says:
for what it’s worth, my dear wife – a scholar of literature – laughed her ass off at the trailer.
you have to admit that stabbing a dude in the head with a cross and then flashing “GO TO HELL” on the screen is pretty awesome, all told.
16/12/2008 at 16:39 Andrew says:
I can’t wait to see how they deal with all of the controversial aspects of The Inferno. I mean, most of the people that are in Hell in his comedy are people he personally hates. Such as Popes! Yes some Popes certainly should go to hell but they could get in trouble with tight knit Christians.
16/12/2008 at 22:49 Grandstone says:
So, what other classics can we pervert through video games?
I heard Paradise Lost. Eugene Onegin might be good. Death of a Salesman, anybody?
18/12/2008 at 08:49 BoltingTurtle01 says:
This is hideous. I spent the summer teaching Dante. I don’t think I will ever be done reading The Comedy. There is simply so much there. And in a trailer of about one minute’s duration, they manage to completely corrupt what we have for good reason dubbed Divine.
note: Dante never called it the Divine Comedy. It was simply “The Comedy” until the rennaisance happened. And it happened because Dante wrote this Poem.