This is an odd one. Del Rey are publishing a new edition of the
famous medieval poem Inferno by Dante, which would be strange enough as it is, but is made all the more bizarre by the fact that they've launched this edition in conjunction with Electronic Arts, the video gaming giant who just happen to have a
game called - wait for it -
Dante's Inferno. This new edition of the classic poem weirdly uses the video game's artwork, despite the fact that the original poem and the (allegedly mediocre) video game
share very little in common.
So...what exactly is the point? Is the idea to try and get fans of the game to read the poem (no chance), lovers of the poem to play the game (no chance) or is it just an attempt to 'sex up' this classic piece of literature for a new audience? Either way, it's just bizarre. Still, the cover does look pretty cool.
7 comments:
The game is actually not that bad. The worst things that can be said about it is that the story is really weird and the gameplay is exactly like God of War. Since God of War probably had the greatest controls to be seen in a game, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
The art direction looks slick as hell, too. They took a lot of inspiration from Renaissance depictions of Hell, and artists like Heironymous Bosch.
But still...the story is very silly (Dante, muscle-bound, shirtless crusader, goes to hell to save his wife from becoming the bride of Satan), and it has barely anything in common with the poem (pretty much, there's Virgil and that's about it).
Worth playing if you're an action game fan, if the demo's anything to go by.
This is a stupid idea, in my opinion, but all roads lead to the bank when it comes down to motivation. Someone thought money could be made on a tie in, and there you have it.
If you strip it of any relation to the poem, I would venture to say that they art, at least, is pretty dandy. But that's about as far as I'm willing to take it.
That dude totally couldn't lift that scythe with one hand.
LOLwhut? I haven't played the game, but I'm assuming it has very little to do with the actual poem.
Something tells me they were going for "sexing up a classic." The result? I think they succeeded...not a fan of the original, but I'd consider buying that version for my collection. But I'd also use that book to trick people for kicks...I'm like that.
That's a pretty clever tie-in, I think. You know, if you squint your eyes and tilt your head just right...
Cunning move.
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