Welcome to Part 4 of a week-long series at MMOMFG.com where we’ll be spotlighting some of the biggest and most original titles slated to drop during the first few months of next year.  We believe that new intellectual properties (IPs) are the life-blood of the video game industry and the studios and publishers willing to take a risk on a new idea or story deserve much praise.  After all, it takes a successful new IP to establish a franchise and churn out those money-grabbing sequels…not that there’s anything wrong with that.  For the next five days we’ll be posting a rundown of what to expect from some of the most highly anticipated original titles of the first quarter of 2010.  So far we have previewed Alan Wake, Split/Second, and MAG. In Part 4, we look at Visceral games demonic hack n’ slash title, Dante’s Inferno.

Dante’s Inferno
Release Date:
What is it? An action game based in the Middle Ages, Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s vision of the 9 circles of Hell.  Technically, Dante’s Inferno represents Visceral Game’s adaptation of Dante Alighieri’s interpretation of Hell…confusing, no?  This title has your hero on a quest to fight through the 9 circles of Hell in order to save his love.  Environments are abstract, demonic, and disturbing; the combat promises to be fast-paced, gory, and satisfying.  While it may not be a completely original Intellectual Property, Visceral Games is taking a serious risk adapting a canon so abstract and steeped in conservative religious rhetoric.

Why it could hit
Hack, slash, and baptize – Take one part known success and one part interesting historical fiction, and you’ve got a real chance at a hit.  Dante’s Inferno looks to have taken many cues from previously blockbuster franchises like Devil May Cry and God of War when it comes to stylized combat.  This game will have you slashing denizens of the deceased and demonic until your thumbs bleed.

They know what they’re doing – This game is going to be freakin scary.  How do we know?  Visceral Games is the studio behind Dead Space.  Have you ever played that game with the lights off?  If not do it, and bring a damn diaper.  These guys know exactly how to use shadow, sound effects, and music to create grizzly atmospheres, a sense of helplessness, and generally scare your pants off.  It’s also going to look great, as the developers busted their humps to get the game running at a gorgeous 60 frames per second.

Diversity is a good thing – A critique I often make of games is a lack of enemy diversity.  Too many games have you wiping out wave after wave of identical foe.  The possibilities for many different and wide-ranging enemies in Dante’s Inferno makes me think this isn’t a problem I’ll have with this title.   With different bad guys for each circle of hell – at one point you end up battling the demonic representations of children who died before being baptized- players of this game should be pleased with the variety.

More than mashing – Dante has two weapons in this game, a holy cross and Death’s scythe, and the choice of which weapon to finish off a foe is a serious one.  By using the cross Dante’s absolves the sinner or demon, but by using the scythe Dante punishes them further, sending them farther down into hell.  This introduces morality decisions at nearly every turn.  While there may not be friendly NPCs in the game to recognize you as either good or evil, depending on your preferred method of destruction, your weapons increase in power and strength the more you use them.

Why it could miss
I need a name for you – It’s an action title, but beyond that can we call Dante’s Inferno historical fiction?  We’re not really sure.  Visceral isn’t exactly spinning a fictional narrative in a historically accurate time period, but are literally taking a piece of fiction written way back in history and adapting it into a video game.  You can easily call God of War historical fiction, but Dante’s Inferno is more like an adaptation of a piece of fiction…really really old fiction.  The point is that this gray area could end up meaning an identity crisis in the hands of the gaming public. Placing the player in a setting that is recognizable and easily connected to is often an important factor for crafting an immersible experience and the abstract nature of this title may turn away players who crave more than a button-mashing, demon-slaying experience.

What about Dante? – Sticking with the God of War connection – how marketable is Dante?  Central to GoW’s success is it’s protagonist, Kratos, a character that’s been marketed to great effect. Kratos is of the “badass hero” mold, an uncompromising, violent, take-no-shit kind of guy.  Details on Inferno’s main man have been mum so far, so we can’t help but ask “what about Dante?”  Will Visceral Game’s adaptation of the poet’s Divine Comedy leave room for a hero who kicks demonic ass first and takes names never?

Papa, don’t preach – The subject matter of this title is very religious (our hero is questing through Hell, after all) and one wonders how Visceral Games plans to deal with the religious rhetoric and obviously Christian themes that are in play here.  By placing certain kinds of characters/enemies in Hell, Visceral Games is essentially saying who belongs in Hell and what types of crimes that will get one sent there.  Will most gamers see past this and focus on the action or will gamers of divergent faiths or delicate sensibilities be turned off?

What our crystal ball tells us
Dante’s Inferno very well could be the industry’s next big hack n’ slash title.  The developers at Visceral Games have crafted a visually stunning game, packaging what looks to be simply addictive combat with a hellish atmosphere.  From the abstract environments to the myriad of demonic bad-guys to dispatch, this game could be the biggest blockbuster of next year’s first quarter.  While the story arch may not allow for sequels – battling though purgatory or heaven somehow doesn’t sound like as much fun as hell – the art direction and combat style of Dante’s Inferno could make it the best one-off action game this generation.

Stay tuned Monday for Part 5 of this series, where we’ll preview Heavy Rain.

Related posts:

1. Dante’s Inferno: Get Set for a Hell of a Ride
2. Dante’s Inferno – MMOMFG PS3 Preview
3. PS3 Exclusive from hell – Dante’s Inferno Divine Edition
4. Dante’s Inferno demo dated for XBOX 360 and PS3
5. Dante’s Inferno has officially entered beta testing