Electronic Arts may be planning fewer titles next year, but that won't stop EA Redwood Shores from sending players straight to hell. The Dead Space developers have officially announced their next hellish project, dubbed Dante's Inferno.
Little is known about the upcoming third-person action title, other than it will be based upon Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy. Jonathan Knight, executive producer on Dante's Inferno, simply notes that "the time is right" to adapt the 14th Century literary work into a game, though with Universal tapped to twist the game into a movie, clearly the time is also right to make lots of money. A teaser site and embedded video have also been released, and after playing through Dead Space it seems that we might soon abandon all hope of sleeping through the night.
Reader Comments (40)
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 8:48AM jorojoserojas said
Yeah, those guys really went out on a limb with Dead Space, and it paid off. I just hope they can recreate that magic again with a licensed property.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 8:49AM Peter Moore said
'"the time is right" to adapt the 14th Century literary work into a game"
Oh yeah, but why stop there?
How about 'The Decameron; An Activision Game'
Or,'Ubisoft presents: Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.'
Some real exciting stuff.
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Oh yeah, but why stop there?
How about 'The Decameron; An Activision Game'
Or,'Ubisoft presents: Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.'
Some real exciting stuff.
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 3:59PM (Unverified) said
Jude the Obscure DS?
The Tennant of Wildfell Hall 360?
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The Tennant of Wildfell Hall 360?
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 9:02AM (Unverified) said
@ jorojoserojas
That pun was intentional, right? :p
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That pun was intentional, right? :p
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 9:07AM (Unverified) said
dead space was dissapointing if you ask me.
clunky controls and a generic story (event horizon anybody.it wasnt an awful game and better than 90% of the crap EA put out. i hope they can produce somthing that is actually scary this time rather than just going for the odd shock.The genre is SURVIVAL HORROR so lets have some horror this time please.
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clunky controls and a generic story (event horizon anybody.it wasnt an awful game and better than 90% of the crap EA put out. i hope they can produce somthing that is actually scary this time rather than just going for the odd shock.The genre is SURVIVAL HORROR so lets have some horror this time please.
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 9:57AM Boffo the Sock said
(event horizon anybody.
No. Just no.
Event Horizon - a faster-than-light ship built to create a black hole in order to travel great distances disappears, and then reappears with some supernatural stowaways.
Dead Space - a violent alien species living on some distant planet is released when an artifact is removed from said planet.
The only thing Dead Space has in common with Event Horizon is that they both take place on a ship, and they both are meant to be scary.
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No. Just no.
Event Horizon - a faster-than-light ship built to create a black hole in order to travel great distances disappears, and then reappears with some supernatural stowaways.
Dead Space - a violent alien species living on some distant planet is released when an artifact is removed from said planet.
The only thing Dead Space has in common with Event Horizon is that they both take place on a ship, and they both are meant to be scary.
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 4:00PM (Unverified) said
I hope Virgil doesn't end up looking like Vin Diesel.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 9:28AM KarlW said
Abandon all hope, ye who are looking forward to the movie.
If it was based on the poem, sure it might be good (and if it had Peter Jackson directing). A movie based on a game of a poem is just bound to be lame.
I hope the game's good, though. It'd be a first for EA.
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If it was based on the poem, sure it might be good (and if it had Peter Jackson directing). A movie based on a game of a poem is just bound to be lame.
I hope the game's good, though. It'd be a first for EA.
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 9:33AM KarlW said
Oh my god! I just watched the trailer.
This is going to be like "Winston Churchill: The Hollywood years" or Eternal Sonata (you know, Chopin lying on his death bead, dying of tuberculoses, fighting people with a conductor's baton). Dante would turn in his grave to learn that he's gone from a monk to a bad-ass action hero who impales those who are already being punished (for eternity) with christian bling.
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This is going to be like "Winston Churchill: The Hollywood years" or Eternal Sonata (you know, Chopin lying on his death bead, dying of tuberculoses, fighting people with a conductor's baton). Dante would turn in his grave to learn that he's gone from a monk to a bad-ass action hero who impales those who are already being punished (for eternity) with christian bling.
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 9:38AM (Unverified) said
the game is based on dante's work. It doesn't "star" him.
I'm ceptical about this game, but since this is coming from the same guys who did the excellent Dead Space... I'm willing to give it the benefits of the doubt.
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I'm ceptical about this game, but since this is coming from the same guys who did the excellent Dead Space... I'm willing to give it the benefits of the doubt.
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 4:01PM (Unverified) said
.....but Dante was the main character in the poem.
EPICLITERATUREFAIL!!!
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EPICLITERATUREFAIL!!!
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 9:50AM (Unverified) said
I've been meaning to read The Divine Comedy, especially Dante's Inferno. Maybe now I actually should so I know what the original thing is like before I let a game twist my perception of it.
Admittedly, Dante's Inferno seems like a bit of an odd choice to adapt into a video game, but I loved Dead Space dearly, so if those guys are behind it I will be keeping an eye on this (but I'd better still be getting a Dead Space sequel!)
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Admittedly, Dante's Inferno seems like a bit of an odd choice to adapt into a video game, but I loved Dead Space dearly, so if those guys are behind it I will be keeping an eye on this (but I'd better still be getting a Dead Space sequel!)
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 10:15AM (Unverified) said
Whilst I watch them obliterate a masterpiece. It's a crying shame that various industries take something great and make it rubbish. Watch this game fall off the face of the earth 3 months after being released and the inevitable Yahtzee rape.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 10:17AM (Unverified) said
From what I remember of Dante's Inferno, it reads more like a casual tour-guide of hell, stopping occasionally to look at some famous figure from history who ended up in hell (usually a pope--I'm not kidding).
If anything I bet this game will be more like a hellish Pokemon Snap or that PSN game Afrika.
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If anything I bet this game will be more like a hellish Pokemon Snap or that PSN game Afrika.
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 10:50AM (Unverified) said
There are quite a few religious people in hell according to Dante.
Hopefully along with anyone who balls up this great story.
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Hopefully along with anyone who balls up this great story.
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 12:47PM (Unverified) said
Dante wrote Inferno as a scathing allegory about the corruption of the church at the time, as well as throwing in his personal and political enemies.
That said, a literal translation of the poem would be ridiculous, as it's just two old men walking around looking at things. When I picture a game made out of it, I'm picturing Pokemon Snap in Hell.
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That said, a literal translation of the poem would be ridiculous, as it's just two old men walking around looking at things. When I picture a game made out of it, I'm picturing Pokemon Snap in Hell.
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 11:22AM RagnarokSword said
I cant possibly see this being any good wile remaining faithful to the source material. There was no conflict in Dante's Inferno. At all.
They'll have to adapt it to such a degree that obtaining the license was a waste of time. Pretty sure "Hell" is open license.
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They'll have to adapt it to such a degree that obtaining the license was a waste of time. Pretty sure "Hell" is open license.
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 12:29PM Pipp said
There doesn't need to be conflict in the game. Dead Space shows that they have what it takes to make a fantastic survival horror with some nice twists. It was a nice change of pace, and it looks like they may try again. You might not be jumping in with a chain gun or a laser cutter, but I'm pretty sure they'll have you doing other things in its place.
More than likely running away from everything.
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More than likely running away from everything.
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 12:12PM (Unverified) said
Knowing the Dead Space devs are working on this game has officially piqued my interest.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 2:04PM dantebk said
I'm interested, but will feel really awkward the whole time playing a game with my name in the title. I have a similar problem with Devil May Cry. I wonder if guys named Mario feel weird playing Super Mario games.
To shift gears a second: I'd play a Don Quixote graphic adventure in a heartbeat. Same for Gulliver's Travels. How about it Telltale?
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To shift gears a second: I'd play a Don Quixote graphic adventure in a heartbeat. Same for Gulliver's Travels. How about it Telltale?
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 2:07PM MycenaeanKing said
Everyone should read the Divine Comedy, especially if you can read it in the original Italian. That being said, this does not seem to be very true to the source material, but then again as one of the earlier posters said the Inferno is mainly Dante and Virgil walking through hell sightseeing, but I hope they keep some of the encounters from the original intact, such as when Dante meets Aristotle and Plato in Limbo, and they should find some role for Virgil in the game.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 2:18PM (Unverified) said
I really enjoyed the Divine Comedy.
I'm going to go along with a lot of the posts above me though, and remain extremely skeptical on how a game and a movie can be made using the story.
I can see how producers/writers can BASE their works on the Comedy, but using Dante's name in the title seems like it would be extremely misleading to general public.
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I'm going to go along with a lot of the posts above me though, and remain extremely skeptical on how a game and a movie can be made using the story.
I can see how producers/writers can BASE their works on the Comedy, but using Dante's name in the title seems like it would be extremely misleading to general public.
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 4:14PM (Unverified) said
The general public, as a rule, doesn't seem to care.
I could present you with a list of classic stories that have been completely raped, and it would be a long, long list.
Sadly, this is yet another fantastic piece of art that people will eschew in favour of the movie based on it.
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I could present you with a list of classic stories that have been completely raped, and it would be a long, long list.
Sadly, this is yet another fantastic piece of art that people will eschew in favour of the movie based on it.
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 4:40PM (Unverified) said
Has everyone forgotten about the existence of Devil May Cry? Sure, it's not Dante's Inferno, but the game's story is based a lot around the mythology of the Divine Comedy. The third game definitely has a lot of references (like all the various sins are made into demons) and the artistic style draws a lot from some of the Doré illustrations.
I think a game directly based on Dante's Inferno would work if it was a very subtle puzzle game or based on atmosphere, like Fatal Frame or Silent Hill. An action game just ain't gonna work. Stabbing demons with a cross through their head, pshhaah. It sounds like a cheesy Hollywood flick.
"Dante thought he was just going on a walk through Hell... little did he know, he was visiting the Hell... FROM HELL!"
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I think a game directly based on Dante's Inferno would work if it was a very subtle puzzle game or based on atmosphere, like Fatal Frame or Silent Hill. An action game just ain't gonna work. Stabbing demons with a cross through their head, pshhaah. It sounds like a cheesy Hollywood flick.
"Dante thought he was just going on a walk through Hell... little did he know, he was visiting the Hell... FROM HELL!"
Posted: Dec 15th 2008 6:28PM ch3burashka said
Great that Dead Space guys are dealing with the demonic theme of Inferno, but I all I saw at the VGA was a Diablo clone. Hopefully, they actually incorporate some of the actual book and make a half-decent adventure game (we need more adventure games!)
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Posted: Dec 20th 2008 5:27PM (Unverified) said
I'm surprised no one's said it yet but... I'd love to see American McGee involved in this project.
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Posted: Dec 16th 2008 5:56PM (Unverified) said
... and in limbo, Dante will find a copy of Road Rash and a 3D0 to play it on.
Seriously EA, what's the fucking holdup? Road Rash revival + Criterion developing it + ??? = profit!
I gotta calm down now... excuse me, I have some Soundgarden to listen to...
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Seriously EA, what's the fucking holdup? Road Rash revival + Criterion developing it + ??? = profit!
I gotta calm down now... excuse me, I have some Soundgarden to listen to...
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