Coming from Visceral Creations, the team that brought us Dead Space late last year, Dante’s Inferno is already looking to be smoking hot. Sending Dante, the poet-turned-warrior, straight into hell to save his beloved Beatrice from the clutches of Satan himself, players must traverse the seven levels of hell in all their glory to save her. Besides sounding absolutely gargantuan as a plot, much of the dialog, scenery and characters draw directly from the Divine Comedy, undoubtedly in more ways than we were shown today.
There are a few basic things you should know about the game to begin with. The gameplay style is similar to God of War, with a far 3rd-person perspective of a very powerful individual using exceptional weapons. Dante uses two main weapons, Death’s (or the Grim Reaper if you prefer) Scythe, which is magically imbued and has many functions, and a cross.
Right now, the game is running at a constant 60 frames per second, and the team intends to stick with that speed. Through the entire playtest we witnessed, gameplay was smooth and steady. There are also character choices players can make. Virgil, Dante’s guide through hell, can tell the story behind the game or players can completely disregard his existence. Some characters are those who were damned to hell, and Dante has the opportunity to punish them for their sins or absolve them. What consequence that has is unclear at this point, but we’re promised that it is not for nothing.
Little else is known about the title. I took a second look at the book, since it’s been awhile since my last read, and indeed there are more than just similarities. Levels are represented by the different levels of hell, meaning that there are nine (or perhaps ten, depending on how you look at it) in the game, with Satan being the final boss. Such creatures as Cerberus, Centaurs and Minotaurs will make an appearance, as will special characters based specifically around the level of hell they were damned to. Gluttony, for instance, has horrendously fat creatures who belch poison and attack Dante by trying to eat him.
What we do know is that if you’ve read the book, the game won’t ruin it for you, but perhaps reinforce the idea that some ideas are indeed that good. While we were all skeptical about Dante’s Inferno originally because of its namesake, the gameplay, art direction, scope and general mechanics leave us asking to play it just for a little while. Yes, we’d go to hell for it.
Dante’s Inferno releases in 2010 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable.
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