Dante's Inferno the Video Game VS. Dante's Inferno Book

If you've been through Freshman literature classes in college then you've most likely heard of, if not had to read, Dante's Inferno. The epic poem was written in the 14th century by Dante Alighieri, a poet who was in exile because he supported the wrong political party during a schism. The point of his epic poem was satire at the hypocrisy of the world around them by showing those he disliked in different areas of Hell. What if anything does Dante's Inferno, the new video game by EA capture of this epic poem, if anything?

Dante

In Dante's Inferno the game, our main protagonist Dante is not the aging, defenseless poet he was in the poem, but instead a muscular warrior armed with a scythe and the desire to punish or absolve the souls around him while destroying demons in a number of ways. This seems like a long stretch, but the Dante of the game has a completely different back story from Dante the poet. At the beginning of the game, we see flashbacks which show us that Dante was a crusader under Richard the Lionheart. As he is trying to capture a city, he is struck down by an assassin and left for dead. Death appears before him and tells him that he will suffer for his sins. Not liking this idea, our strong hero decides to fight death and ends up killing him and escaping with his scythe. Dante returns to Florence looking for his love, Beatrice, which incidentally is the name of Dante the poet's love who guides him through Hell. As Dante from the game is just about to meet with her, however, she is dragged away by Lucifer to Hell. A classic hero motivation that works every time. Why not go into the underworld to save your true love from demons?

Gameplay/The Layers of Hell

In Dante's Inferno (the epic poem), our poet hero is lead through the layers of hell, while are divided into circles based on how evil you were and what particular sins you were guilty of. Dante travels down through each level, witnessing the fates of people he had known along with famous figures, particularly from Greek stories. Dante is guided the whole way by Virgil, a famous Roman poet that he admired and was, of course, dead. Along the way, he meets a number of fearsome creatures, most of which Dante took from Greek mythology. In the poem, though, these creatures do not bother him, as he is harmless and not meant to be in Hell yet; he's just passing through.

The same can not be said for Dante the warrior. Being the more aggressive type, Dante scythes his way through Hell, killing demons the whole way through as he learns new moves and becomes stronger. Dante can learn many attacks and abilities which he gets through a currency system of holy and unholy magic. Dante can choose whether to use good magic to overcome the denizens of Hell, or to fight fire with fire, as it were. The moral orientation of the experience you receive is based on the "Punish and Absolve" system. Upon finishing off an enemy you can choose to either "Punish," which results in him quickly slicing them to pieces with his scythe, or "Absolve," which means he uses his holy cross to save them. The game includes a lot of platforming, rope climbing, and puzzle solving as well. Each level ends with a boss battle that, for the most part, corresponds with a monster mentioned within the original poem's text. The various levels are divided into "circles" exactly based on the ones from the original poem, ending with a battle with Lucifer himself, who was seen, but not engaged in the poem.

Critical Review

The game has mostly had positive reviews, with the only main complaint being that it is very similar to the popular God of War series. This is certainly true, since those games and this one have a very similar style and layout with intense fighting, leveling up abilities, and epic boss fights. Yet Dante's Inferno also brings a cool element of newness that has to be appreciated. The game has been treated creatively considering its basis was a 14th century satiric poem. The games length is not particularly great, with 8-10 hours of basic gameplay.

If you need to study for your big Inferno exam, but you'd rather be playing a God of War-like video game, then maybe this is the perfect compromise for you.