Dante's Inferno with Justin Lambrose

We take EA Visceral's Justin Lambrose straight to hell

Was there anything that was designed by Barlowe or any other members of the art team that was just a bit too out there for the game?

Yeah, there was plenty of it, plenty of content we could never use that was fascinating and twisted. We showed our Cleopatra at the Tokyo Game Show and there were versions of her that Barlowe created that were just mind blowing, you were like "Oh my god!" There were some pretty grotesque things, we did some pieces of our environment and when going over them we thought we are never going to get that approved, we've got to go change that. It's been funny, but it was definitely an adventure.

The blade-limbed babies I saw in a previous build were pretty disturbing. Was there anything you the team came up with that was more disturbing than that?

It depends. I think that one is really the one that catches a lot of people...like, "Oh my god." There is definitely a lot of weird twisted stuff in the game. We have taken the idea of all the different tortures that are in there and we have created characters that are based on that. We have done weird statue work, definitely some weird stuff. Our version of Cerberus is really unique and really weird, coming from Wayne Barlowe. We showed a bit from Lust - there's a bit more in there that I'm sure people will find entertaining.

You've mention the Lust level. There's a lot of sexual iconography in there. Are you bracing yourself for the inevitable media furore about this kind of stuff?

We have had a lot of attention already, stirred up a couple of things as part of our marketing campaign; it's been a lot of fun. We have revelled in that, we appreciate that. I think it will continue. The idea wasn't just to do it for the sake of gratuity, we tried to think of what was in there and what's dramatic. Some of the stories he wrote were a lot more detailed than others, so it gave us some leeway to create some weird, wild stuff.

We always wanted to go back and make sure the core elements of what he wrote about are in there and see where we could take it. In the modern day what a person thinks about lust is a little bit different than back in Dante's day with unrequited love. It was a very different time, so we definitely take it in a different direction because of that.

The gameplay itself is very close to God Of War - the subject matter is that same epic scale and scope. What would you say are the main things that set Dante's Inferno apart?

There are few things we really do differently. First and foremost are the levels themselves. The nine circles of hell and all the varieties that I've talked about previously, that's really going to set it apart. People will go from level to level thinking, "Oh my god. What are they going to do next!" The other big thing for us, also derived from the poem content is the righteousness to the idea of having two different kinds of combat paths you can take you character down, passed on the idea of free will that Dante had. The idea was quite ahead of its time, that your actions decided where you went, you were not destined to be a sinner or a saint, the choices you made brought you to hell.

Dante is a very flawed character, he's an anti-hero, and he's got two sides to him. He's got a side that wants to do right, he wants to be the good holy warrior and then the other side of reaping souls. So basically as you're making these decisions, you either punish or absolve the enemies you fight or even the characters from the poem we put in there.

The story element is you get to meet these characters and talk to them, much like in the poem. You can decide whether to absolve or punish them after you have seen what they have done and heard a little of their conversation, then that leads directly into the upgrade system. The more absolving you do the more powerful your cross becomes and you can unlock those. If you punish more souls and damn them to remain in hell then you are able to unlock your unholy moves. That's another fun, unique element; we have added a lot of upgrade potential there.

Another thing for us are the descent sequences, again playing with the literal. We are making one long trail. There are no load screens. In the game you go on one long epic journey. In the adventure sequences where you descend literally across these cliff walls and other mechanisms gives adventure elements there. This is one of the ways I think we really stand on our own. It's really driven from the original concept and inspiration.

So you have these levelling up skill trees. Is it possible that by the end of the game you'll have every ability unlocked or do you choose a path and stick with it?

If you really want to get to see the end stuff for sure I think it's important to choose one side or the other, but they are not mutually exclusive. The idea is you won't be able to unlock everything. You will have to go back and play through the nine circles again in resurrection mode. If you try really hard you might be able to be at the top of those levels. We have been working really hard to try and balance to make sure that we don't make it too hard. It's really an open system where you are able to absolve or punish so many different characters and make different choices. You can have a very different experience to another gamer.

What option do you usually go for?

I usually choose to absolve the people that you meet but when I'm killing I usually choose to punish. I'm usually the guy who chooses to walk the fence, goes back and forth.

The best I've seen so far is when you jump up into the air with one of these goat-horned guys and tear them apart using the analogue sticks. Are there any other inventive kills like that?

Yeah. We have a variety with some of the bosses and some other things and when you absolve you get pushed and pulled back on the cross. Some of the things we integrate make you feel a little more part of it. So yeah, we definitely put those into some of the boss battles and other characters.

Is there any kind of scope for DLC in the future?

We definitely want to extend the life of the game. We talked about content. The idea is that there is definitely more to the poem that we could possibly do. There are different ways to alternate the game plan, some of the upgrade systems we have and the other abilities for Dante can add value and change the experience for gamers a little bit.

Thinking of the kills I was talking about earlier, do you ever think a Wii version would ever make it?

Fundamentally it's a response control driven game. One of the challenges we could never quite figure out is how to do it justice. The mini game I definitely think would be a way, but this time I don't think we have any plans. It's a tough sale for a mature game on the Wii.

Sure. But its got to be tempting to imagine the possibilities of actually ripping things apart with motion control and stuff like that?

Yeah, yeah. In weapon based games it's a tough and tiring thing, but also kind of fun in small doses.

A tough sale on the Wii I guess. Not the right market.

Right.

Dante's Inferno is out February 5th on PlayStation 3, PSP and Xbox 360.

By Richard Walker