At Least Heat Miser Would Be Proud

Inferno—it’s the Italian word for Hell. Dante Alighieri knew it, and he warped the first part of his Divine Comedy around the concept and all its nasty little nooks and crannies.

Dante's Inferno But four different years inspired movies with the same title: first a 1924 silent film; then a 1935 loose interpretation remembered for its depiction of hell rendered by director Harry Lachman, an established post-impressionist painter; a 1967 television film about another Dante (Gabriel Rossetti) and his relationship with Elizabeth Siddal; finally a modern update in 2007 complete with paper puppets. Inferno saw its days as a Coney Island ride, an album by Transmetal, and a song by Iced Earth. Now the fiery hell Dante so vividly unraveled is being cemented as a next-gen video game by developer Visceral Games. Dante’s probably sick and tired of rolling over in his grave, so we might as well bring on the heat!

A demo of the re-imagined classic will ignite the PlayStation Network come December 10—unfortunately, Xbox goers won’t get a stab at the game until the 24th, two weeks later. Demo players will have access to the full first level, in which Dante passes through the Gates of Hell after the soul of his deceased lover. With the scythe of Death at his side, Dante can judge and damn the monstrosities and sufferers he encounters in the depths of hell.

“The world of Alighieri’s Dante’s Inferno is such a rich, detailed, and often alarming universe, that all of us at Visceral Games put our hearts, and dare I say souls, into creating something truly intense and exciting,” says producer Jonathan Knight. “We hope gamers enjoy this tease of hell, and come away from the experience lusting for more when the game comes out on February 9.”.

Are you for or against a video game edition of Dante’s Inferno? What’s next, Macbeth? Or do you think the fresh attention to Dante’s work could actually work in a positive way?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 12:21 pm and is filed under Gaming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

SnakeLinkSonic Says:

December 2nd, 2009 at 12:40 pm

Personally, I think they’re setting themselves up for a fall. The marketing push exclaims that they aren’t going for the psychological and pensive journey that the poem was. This leaves it as best — a God of War clone in my eyes. That’s not going to be bad for some people, but considering what MY preferred hack and slasher is, I think I’m safer avoiding it.

That’s Devil May Cry by the way — campy, stylish, and only showing loose influences from the Divine Comedy. That’s a lot more enjoyable than something actually aiming to shove a shunt in the poem.

I don’t think gamers are ready for a psychological journey yet, but I’m not ready to give this game my blessing either; not because I’m religious or anything, simply because I’m personally attached to Devil May Cry. It has strong art design (with automatically shows reverence to its influences), exceptional Japanese game design (something America is still trying to emulate for itself), and an overall acknowledgement of being self-aware. In other words DMC knows what it is and won’t try to be anything more; I don’t know WHAT Dante’s Inferno is quite yet.

Frankly, I’m just going to wait until January when Bayonetta releases (which I think will crush this game honestly). At least I know what I’m getting there. Hideki Kamiya’s titles do more for subliminally awakening interest in the work than what something like Dante’s Inferno looks to glorify.

Maybe I’m totally off the mark too. I hope I am, because it would mean the industry is maturing — if even only a little.

~sLs~

Matt Says:

December 2nd, 2009 at 5:54 pm

I haven’t read the Divine Comedy myself, wow big surprise I know, but I can’t help but feel sad when what is considered a lit classic is now being adapted into the latest big push out of The Beast that is the EA Marketing department.

In terms of the aforementioned psychological journey I’m not holding my breath. The game is a hack and slash at heart, not to say that I can’t feel for these characters, but I don’t think it’s a prime forum to explore deep thought provoking ideas.

I’m also sad that in the opening you didn’t reference Kevin Smith’s Clerks, which is a great movie that was designed to loosely follow the orignal Divine Comedy.

WITA Says:

December 3rd, 2009 at 1:38 am

@SLS Interesting take! You’re right, it’s difficult to tell what Dante’s Inferno will add up to, exactly. Hopefully it’ll hold more weight than a hack and slash, but who knows. As far as psychological journeys go, I’m all for ‘em. Silent Hill, anyone?

@Matt No biggie, neither have I, actually. I want to take Dr. Cox’s class next semester, but it’s all filled up and she only teaches it ever other year. Maybe people will drop, or I can convince her to squeeze me in, haha!

Really? Eh, well, I couldn’t list ‘em all. ;D

What’s this aversion to psychological journeys? I’ll say it again: Silent Hill. But it’s true: Maybe this game won’t be much more than a simple hack and slash.

December 3rd, 2009 at 8:43 pm

Get her to sign you into it, an instructor override is all you need, and if your not confident enough that words alone will do the trick cookies always work for a bribe.