Cologne, Germany – At the EA Press Conference in Cologne today, Visceral Games stated a release date and shed new light on mechanics for their upcoming Action/Adventure game Dante’s Inferno. The game is largely based on the 14th century poem ‘The Divine Comedy’ which was written by the Italian poet Dante.
A completely new gameplay mechanic, known as ‘Righteousness’ was revealed at the conference, which is the game’s equivalent to a moral-choice system. Throughout the game, players will constantly have the ability to absolve or punish characters or enemies they meet. Either approach will often lead to a similar end, such as the defeat of an enemy, but eventually these choices made throughout the game will impact Dante and the story line. Additionally, players who choose to punish characters they meet will find their scythe attacks slowly gaining in power, while players who take to opposite path and free characters from their suffering in Hell will find their ‘Cross Attacks’ becoming more powerful. Attacks utilizing this Holy Cross are a rough equivalent of magic in Dante’s Inferno.
An example of a ‘punishment’ was given in the form of a brutal execution of Emperor Frederick II, who waged war on the Papal states during the 13th century. Another example highlighted the ‘absolve’ option where the Emperor was purified and ascended out of Hell surrounded by a bright light.
The spokesman announced that the United States would go to hell on February 9th 2010 and that Europe would follow soon after on February 12th.
A new trailer was also released, detailing the style of the 9 Rings of Hell. Unfortunately, the trailer shows almost no gameplay. The trailer is found below.