Dante's Inferno

[Purkake]

Yes, they are making a game based on Dante Aligheri's Divine Comedy. No it's not a story-driven RPG, here's some info: (from here)

 

• The game runs at a solid 60FPS and is brought to life by the excellent animations of its enemies and protagonist.
  
• Dante Aligheri, the Florentine poet of whom the game is based upon, has been turned into a “muscular six foot knight with magic powers” to suit the tone of the game. Dante is fighting his way through Hell to save his lost love Beatrice, who has been murdered and wrongly sent to the underworld.
  
• One of the first boss encounters takes place in “Limbo”, an area of lost souls who are agonisingly close to God but can never reach Him due to a life of non-believing. It’s here that Dante fights Death himself and steals his magical scythe before plunging into the underworld.
  
• The game shares the exact same control scheme as God Of War. Even down to Circle being used to open chests.
  
• The games artist Wayne Barlowe was chosen because of his work on Barlowe’s Inferno, a collection of images based on Dante’s poem.
  
• Structurally, the game is designed to take the player through the nine circles of Hell. The first circle, Limbo, is where you will encounter Death and moving through the world areas get more horrific. Circle 5, “The Wrathful”, is where violent people are forced to endlessly fight each other. The game will culminate in Circle 9, presumably with a massive boss fight against Beelzebub himself.
  

 

The Executive Producer Jonathan Knight said:

 

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”

 

Also, I have added a picture of an action figure of Dante the “muscular six foot knight with magic powers”.

Edited February 17, 2009 by Purkake

[Deadly_Nightshade]

You know, I get the feeling that the game is going to be quite a bit different from the book...

[Maria Caliban]

Pride and Prejudice: The Game

 

You play as Elizabth Bennit, a bioically enhanced ninja marine as you cut your way through the restrictive social mores of 12th century England (as represented by necromophs) and gain an unlikely ally in Mr. Darcy, a practitioner of cybermancy. But is this ally truly a friend? And is this reality or the invention of a diabolical cabal of businessmen accessing the genetic memories of your ancestor Lizzy in the year 2110?

 

Lead Designer: "We thought it was time to introduce modern audiences to the wonders of Jane Austin's work."

[Purkake]

Pride and Prejudice: The Game

 

You play as Elizabth Bennit, a bioically enhanced ninja marine as you cut your way through the restrictive social mores of 12th century England (as represented by necromophs) and gain an unlikely ally in Mr. Darcy, a practitioner of cybermancy. But is this ally truly a friend? And is this reality or the invention of a diabolical cabal of businessmen accessing the genetic memories of your ancestor Lizzy in the year 2110?

 

Lead Designer: "We thought it was time to introduce modern audiences to the wonders of Jane Austin's work."

 

That's pretty good, have you considered a career in game design?

 

Also:

 

[Pidesco]

Pride and Prejudice: The Game

 

You play as Elizabth Bennit, a bioically enhanced ninja marine as you cut your way through the restrictive social mores of 12th century England (as represented by necromophs) and gain an unlikely ally in Mr. Darcy, a practitioner of cybermancy. But is this ally truly a friend? And is this reality or the invention of a diabolical cabal of businessmen accessing the genetic memories of your ancestor Lizzy in the year 2110?

 

Lead Designer: "We thought it was time to introduce modern audiences to the wonders of Jane Austin's work."

 

12th century?

 

 

 

Someone should turn The Old Man And The Sea into a strategy game using the new Total War engine. Epic fishing struggles are the future of gaming.

[Amentep]

Can't say that anything about this game encourages me in the slightest.

[Monte Carlo]

Furthermore, it's clearly time for a Hemingway version of computer Scrabble where you win bonus points for very. Pithy. Sentences. Naturally, it would be turn-based with extra points for words evocative of booze-laden, self-imposed exile in hot places and (naturally) bull-fighting.

 

I'd also chance my arm on marketing a Court of the Sun King game, using the FIFA 2009 Soccer Manager engine. Use your points to skilfully choose the cream of the French aristocracy and play off against rival families in a game of sarcasm, nepotism and brioche. Careful though... Too many Musketeers does not a revolution postpone! The Dangerous Liaisons expansion pack, however, pixellates Uma Thurman's butt to satisfy the Moral Majority.

 

Cheers

MC

[Slowtrain]

Tom Sawyer: Cyboog, Ninja, Assassin.

 

 

It's beyond stupid.

 

Eurogamer will give it a 10 though. It will mostly run OK.

[Darth InSidious]

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

[Purkake]

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”

They'll be even more unfamiliar with it by the time these philistines are finished with it.

 

So it's not about Dante going to hell to save his girlfriend Beatrice, because she was sent there wrongly? And he didn't slaughter the Devil himself, because he happened to be in the way?

 

Now I'm confused

 

Edited February 18, 2009 by Purkake

[Hurlshort]

I'm guessing the developers read the cliff notes on Dante's journey.

[mkreku]

I don't know why you guys are dissing this so much. To me it sounds like God of War in an inferno setting? I liked God of War.

[Musopticon?]

I guess it's okay if you've never read anything.

[Amentep]

I don't know why you guys are dissing this so much. To me it sounds like God of War in an inferno setting? I liked God of War.

 

God of War doesn't claim to be based on a novel and completely change the novel around to make a game.

[Kaftan Barlast]

The only reason this game isnt just called "Hellblaster: Apocalypse" or some such is that they're fishing for that "brand recognition" bullsh*t the corporates love so much. I think it should be illegal to blatantly exploit classic works like this, it makes me angry every time I hear of it.

[Purkake]

The only reason this game isnt just called "Hellblaster: Apocalypse" or some such is that they're fishing for that "brand recognition" bullsh*t the corporates love so much. I think it should be illegal to blatantly exploit classic works like this, it makes me angry every time I hear of it.

 

Yeah, somehow I don't think that anyone will go "Hey I liked The Divine Comedy, I'll check out the game". No one would be dissing it so bad if it was just an honest to god God of War ripoff.

 

It's great that classical works are in the public domain. It's sad that they went with the "people like to kill stuff" moneygrab and discredited any "games are a serious medium" claims. There's so much that could be done with Divine Comedy. Even a puzzle game would have more potential than a "God of War clone".

 

The stupidity is mind boggling.

Edited February 18, 2009 by Purkake

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I just sighed. The inhouse studio had a good start with Dead Space but this is beyond stupid.

 

Unless its meant as a parody. In which case it will be awesome.

[Azure79]

So will we able to fight all the people in history he runs into down there?

[Slowtrain]

"brand recognition"

 

 

In the US, at least, due to the overwhelming brilliance of our educational system (sarcasm), the brand recogniton of Dante, The Inferno, or any book that isn't about either a) celebrities or b) making huge amounts of money with no work, is exactly 0.

[Slowtrain]

It's sad that they went with the "people like to kill stuff" moneygrab and discredited any "games are a serious medium" claims. There's so much that could be done with Divine Comedy. Even a puzzle game would have more potential than a "God of War clone".

 

 

It could make a good adventure game of some sort. The enivronments could be richly realized in todays technology.

 

 

The stupidity is mind boggling.

 

 

STraight to hell! ALl of them!

[Amentep]

The stupidity is mind boggling.

STraight to hell! ALl of them!

 

Ah, but which circle of hell do they go to?

 

Dante tells us that the circles of Hell contains:

 

1st - the unbaptized and virtuous pagans

2nd - the lustful

3rd - the glutons

4th - the avaricious, the miserly and the squaderers of material possessions

5th - the wrathful, the sullen and the slothful

6th - Heretics

7th - the violent, the suicides and the blasphemers (+ sodomites and usurers)

8th - the fraudulent (pimps, seducers, flatterers, simoniacs, socerers, false prophets, corrupt politicians, hypocrites, fraudulent advisors, sowers of discord, fasifiers)

9th - traitors

[Slowtrain]

Game developers are obviously 8th circle material.

 

 

Publishers are halfway between 2 and 3.

 

 

I myself am either 5 or 6. Depending.

[Aristes]

"brand recognition"

 

 

In the US, at least, due to the overwhelming brilliance of our educational system (sarcasm), the brand recogniton of Dante, The Inferno, or any book that isn't about either a) celebrities or b) making huge amounts of money with no work, is exactly 0.

 

What, are you the magical exception to this rule? ...Or were you educated abroad and so have broken away from the trend? I don't know about others, but I was first introduced to the work in high school and then read it extensively at university.

 

Dante's Divine Comedy is freshman level reading at virtually any university that springs to mind, unless of course the university in question only admits first year applicants who attended a high school where it was required reading. Maybe you just haven't attended university yet.

 

As far as the game goes, it sounds uninspired right now, the fact that it's inspired by the literary work notwithstanding. I don't mind folks getting some sort of exposure to classical works through computer games, although sometimes the games themselves make me cringe.

 

EDIT: And I would love to see a good game based on Paradise Lost. The problem is making the game good.

Edited February 19, 2009 by Aristes

[Wrath of Dagon]

Really this is no different than God of War using Greek mythology for their own purposes. I can just imagine the project meeting now:

 

<EA marketing guy> Sony's God of War franchise is making tons of money, we need to rip it off!

<Developer> But where would we set it? Ancient Greece would be too obvious!

<Dead Space Developer> We already made a bunch of hell creatures for Dead Space, why don't we set it in hell?

<Only guy in the room with highschool education> I got it! Dante's Inferno!

[Slowtrain]

"brand recognition"

 

 

In the US, at least, due to the overwhelming brilliance of our educational system (sarcasm), the brand recogniton of Dante, The Inferno, or any book that isn't about either a) celebrities or b) making huge amounts of money with no work, is exactly 0.

 

What, are you the magical exception to this rule? ...Or were you educated abroad and so have broken away from the trend? I don't know about others, but I was first introduced to the work in high school and then read it extensively at university.

 

 

 

 

No need to take such a comment personally. I congratulate you on your extensive education.