The Game Dame™

So I’m killing time while downloading GTAIV Lost & Damned and I came across this ad for Dante’s Inferno from EA Games. Ho-lee-crap. Watching the trailer made all the little nerdy hairs stand up on the back of my neck in excitement. Right now the official site only has a trailer and a sign up list to get notifications about the game – which I immediately filled out. Here’s what I know about it for now:

According to EA Gamefinder, it’s going to be available on PC – DVD, Xbox 360‚Ñ¢, PLAYSTATION¬Æ3
It’ll be out some time in 2010 (or at least that’s the plan for now.)
The game is being developed by EA Redwood Shores, the same studio responsible for Dead Space.

Eurogamer has written an excellent piece about the upcoming game which gets me so excited I might be sent to the second circle of Hell. It’s pretty lengthy, but you should totally read it. They’ve actually gotten their hands on a demo and – even though the official release is set for some time in 2010 – they’re raving about it. The article says that the controls are exactly like God of War – which makes it easy for GOW fans to pick up and play. That makes me happy. I can’t stand games with controls that don’t make sense. And I can’t stand games without a good storyline. Looks like EA Games has gotten it right. There’s a great quote in the Eurogamer article from Jonathan Knight, executive producer for Dante’s Inferno:

“Obviously we want a game that feels absolutely long enough so that you feel you’ve completely got your money’s worth. That goes without saying. But more important than length is that every level and every zone of every level gets attention from a designer. The way we work is each zone, even if it’s just a combat arena, there’s something about it, some object or some configuration of the enemies of the chest, or there’s some little puzzle element to it or some secret area or clever way of moving the camera… Something that makes it unique from every other zone of the game.”

Hooray for attention to detail in gameplay! So we’ve got good controls, good gameplay AND a good story? Am I dreaming? After playing the RE5 demo and being totally and completely disappointed, I’d almost lost my faith in ever being able to play a good game again. I envisioned myself sitting outside of a gamer’s lounge reminiscing about the “good ole days of gaming – when story lines mattered and developers actually remembered the single-player campaign lovers of the world.” But maybe I won’t have to. Hopefully this game will be as good as I think it’s going to be. And hopefully more developers will follow the trend. And while I’m thrilled about seeing a classic poem in game form, I hope that developers keep their creative juices flowing and don’t limit themselves to classics. They should be stay inspired enough to create new ones like Heavenly Sword.

Read the awesome Eurogamer review»

Visit the official game site» (BTW – wonder how much EA Games had to pay for the URL?! Some AP English teacher must be bankin’ right about now.)

Watch the trailer» (Is “Go To Hell” not the coolest, most appropriate tagline EVER?!!?!!)