Long before Bill and Ted or that space marine from Doom went to Hell, one guy had already taken an excursion to the underworld. He wrote a wicked poem about it.
In Inferno, the first part of The Divine Comedy, 14th-century poet Dante Alighieri toured the devil’s domain, using allegory and cultural references to comment on contemporary politics and the human condition. Little did the guy know that he was also writing a videogame design document.
It may be heresy to call Dante the world’s first videogame designer, but Jonathan Knight, executive producer of the forthcoming Dante’s Inferno videogame, suggests that by dividing hell into nine distinct circles, the poet made his job a heck of a lot easier. “He almost creates a boss for each level,” said Knight.
But in large part, the kind of narrative at work in Dante’s epic poem didn’t translate well to consoles. That’s why Knight’s team at Visceral Games chose to play fast and loose with the plot. Dante’s Inferno recasts the poet as a medieval knight who returns from the crusades to find his lover, Beatrice, dead and dragged to Hell. Under the guidance of the poet Virgil he quests to regain her soul and right the wrongs that made Bea the Princess Peach to Lucifer’s Bowser.
Recently, I got some hands-on-time with the game’s opening levels — the same demo that PlayStation 3 gamers get to play this week and Xbox 360 owners will play on December 24.
But first, I was offered a glimpse of some mid-game action. Dante hacks and slashes through Hell’s minions much like Kratos from God of War and his namesake from Devil May Cry. He encounters several Gluttons, hippo-like blobs designed by illustrator Wayne Barlowe. They’re like ticked-off, post-binge fertility goddesses, but Dante makes short work of them with his attacks.
The game design lives and breathes the ol’ good-versus-evil dichotomy. Dante can put points into two different skill trees, building abilities on either side. Weapons and relics like Death’s Scythe and the Holy Cross speak to both poles of Dante’s alignment. And in the middle of fights Dante can decide to either condemn or absolve the foes he grabs. Of course, forgiving enemies is a little more troublesome — you have to push a button rapidly to wash away their sins.
I then saw a cut-scene that depicts Beatrice, now fully in the clutches of Lucifer. She’s dressed in profane couture — a dress with a slit down the front that reveals her pale flesh. The outfit is embellished with writhing tentacles. To make matters worse Beatrice gladly gobbles a couple bits of pomegranate straight from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That’s like accepting an engagement ring from Old Scratch. The two kiss, swapping spit in a creepy, tongue-waggling display of public affection. Then the devil swoops his betrothed up like a bride and carries her away into the towering subterranean city of Dis.
Dante is not happy. He climbs atop Phlegyas — the giant-sized Styx ferryman — and uses his smoldering bulk to smash the holy Hell out of swarms of tiny enemies. This player-controlled rampage is a moment meant to break up gameplay — its more about destruction and revenge than challenge.
Then it was on to the demo. First, we see Dante repeat the homecoming scene from the film Gladiator. His beloved Beatrice isn’t crucified, but she might as well have been: Her cold corpse is laid out ceremonially, a blade deliberately squared in her chest, her dress purposefully draped to reveal an unbloodied breast.
Dante learns that it was his behavior that damned his woman. And he goes slightly nuts, stitching a cross of fabric into his chest in some bizarre form of penance. The act may be over-the-top, but the motif works. The tapestry he sews into his own flesh reveals gorgeous animated sequences that tell of Dante’s misdeeds.
Two thing strike me as I hack and slash through the game’s opening levels. Firstly, the game feels sinfully similar to God of War. We’ve touched on this a number of times here at Game|Life, but it’s true. There’s not a single riff in Kratos’ adventures that isn’t mirrored in Dante’s Inferno. The fidelity of the reflection is nearly flawless. From the Quick Time Events to the slam, juggle, dodge and grab of combat, the action works. Play the demo and you’ll see what I mean.
More interesting, to me at least, is the way that Dante’s Inferno doesn’t shy away from Christian imagery. Yes, it would have been cowardly for the gamemakers to strip the religious trappings out of the source material. But when you see a videogame character use a toppled cross as a bridge, it’s more than a little striking. Games rarely dare to touch this material. For all the heavy metal imagery sewn into Brütal Legend ‘s game world, the game steered well clear of pentagrams and inverted crosses. That’s not the case with Dante’s Inferno. If you thought the game’s PR stunts were controversial, just wait until the not-so-silent majority gets wind of the game when it ships in 2010.
