In December of last year, Electronic Arts announced that they are making a video game adaptation of the 14th Century allegory, Dante’s Inferno. EA’s Jonathan Knight, executive producer for Dante’s Inferno says, “The time is right for the world of interactive entertainment to adapt this literary masterpiece, and to re-introduce Dante to an audience that, until now, may have been unfamiliar with the remarkable details of this great work of art. It’s the perfect opportunity to fuse great gameplay with great story.”
Dante’s story isn’t the only great work of art featured in the game. New screenshots, concept art and a trailer prove that the game itself is a work of art. Dante traverses all nine circles of hell; limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery. Each circle complete with uniquely disturbing characters and enemies. Dante himself will be a muscular armor-clad hero wielding a massive scythe and demon destroying cross. This is a welcome change from the timid and scrawny Dante led by Virgil in The Divine Comedy.
Gameplay is being compared to Sony’s God of War. In fact Dante’s Inferno has been called God of War in Dante’s Hell, made by the people who brought you Dead Space. While Dante’s Inferno is coming to both the Xbox 360 and PS3, we will also see an adaptation of the game coming to theaters. Universal has secured rights to produce a movie based on the game and allegory. The movie is to be released around the same time as the game. One can only think that EA is hoping all the movie and game co-marketing will help Dante’s Inferno beat out God of War and the inevitable comparisons.
Inferno is part one of The Divine Comedy written by Dante Alighieri. Many people have had to read all or part of The Divine Comedy throughout school, but wouldn’t it have been more fun to just play the game? Given that Dante also penned Purgatory and Paradise, there could be other installments of Dante’s story coming to consoles in the future, maybe a trilogy? Will we also begin to see more video game adaptations of literature?
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