To Hell And Back With Dante's Inferno

It isn't often you feel the need to grab that old collegiate crutch Cliff's Notes for a quick refresher as you're running out the door to check out a new game. Luckily, EA already had copies of of the Cliff's guide to Dante's Inferno waiting for assembled press members as we arrived to check out the Redwood Shores studio's gory video game interpretation of that literary classic. The EARS team isn't exactly reinventing the wheel with this combo-based fast action game, but nonetheless I'm really curious to see what EA does with its unusual choice of source material.

Those of you who have read The Divine Comedy will know how aptly the medieval epic's structure should map to the components of an action game. You've got grim, vivid descriptions of the nine levels of Hell which will probably translate nicely into nine discrete action stages. Every level has plenty of gnarly monsters laid right out for you to base your enemy designs on. Even some of Hell's more notable residents like King Minos are being turned into readymade bosses. And heck, you don't get much more "last boss" than the devil himself. As unlikely as a Dante's Inferno game sounded initially, you can't really blame EA for plying this material into game form; it seems like someone else inevitably would have, otherwise.

Of course, some concessions have to be made. After all, in the original story you've got Dante and his fellow Virgil walking through Hell, and then exiting Hell, and...that's about all. In EA's version, Dante isn't a poet but a hardened hero returning from the Crusades to find his love Beatrice slain and her soul kidnapped by Lucifer. After vanquishing Death himself and taking his rude-looking gigantic scythe, Dante descends into Hell to pursue his woman. Or at least, his woman's ghost. Literary purists might find all of this a little silly, but it's easy to see why these sorts of changes are being made, within the context of the genre EA is going for here.

Gameplay-wise, this will be extremely familiar territory to veterans of Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, and (especially) God of War. Dante can wield his scythe with light and heavy attacks that chain into really flashy combos that end up spinning in circles, launching enemies into the air, pounding the ground to knock all enemies down, and so forth. There's a grab move. You can bust open health and mana dispensers. When you kill enemies, glowing experience orbs come out of them and get sucked into your character. Quick Time Events and button-mashing show you all kinds of gory, stylish cutscenes and such. It looks like topless women will abound. You've definitely seen this sort of thing before; the question is whether EA can show it to you better.

There were a few noteworthy moments in the extremely short playable demo. While riding on the back of Charon, the boatman who ferries Dante across the river Acheron, I got to fight and then take control of a giant and then stomp all over a bunch of lesser enemies, before launching into a QTE in which the beast ripped Charon's head right off and hurled it into the distance. Later on, I rolled into a room full of demonic infants running at me with miniature scythes for hands. The game seems to have plenty of grisly imagery and a dark, gothic tone even at this early stage.

Dante's Inferno is extremely early; the team says it won't be out this year and isn't talking publicly about a ship date yet. As such, the playable demo lacked the sort of detail and refinement you expect from a finished game, including some key animations and ambient effects. It seems to have a sound, consistent aesthetic to build on over the next year, though. I got to see a brief example of a level that's had much more visual polish applied, and that little subterranean section of bridgeway featured swirling smoke and gusts of wind blowing over guttering torches set into the stonework--the sort of life and detail you look for in a game running on current console hardware, in other words. I'm also glad to hear the team is making a rock-solid 60 frames per second an utmost priority.

EA is pouring an impressive list of talents into the Inferno. Creative director, exec producer, and co-writer Jonathan Knight has a Master's degree in theater and displays a palpable appreciation for the source material in talking about the game. The game's other writer--who EA isn't naming just yet--has been nominated for an Oscar. Wayne Barlowe, longtime Guillermo del Toro collaborator and Hellboy artist, is contributing to the visual design. And of course, since the game is coming out of Redwood Shores, it will feature the talents of many of the developers who made Dead Space such a fine action experience last year.

Actually, Dead Space is the best comparison I can think of here in justifying Dante's Inferno's blatant display of its inspirations. EARS' last game is another one that was frequently accused of being a shameless copycat during its promotional cycle ("Resident Evil in space" was a phrase I heard often). But if the Dante's team follows the same formula--skillfully distilling a genre's best ideas into an eminently playable and entertaining experience--this game could certainly follow in Dead Space's footsteps as a truly great member of the modern action genre.