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Enslaved: Odyssey to the West feels like something I'd have seen in a movie theater and enjoyed. Perhaps that's the point Ninja Theory, its creator, is trying to make.
The fusion of techniques from the movie world into the creation of games has been a long-pursued subject. Gamemakers have always sought ways to make their works feel more epic or artistic. Some games offer cinematic treatment to their cutscenes, while others blast your ears with high-end sound engineering or dramatic musical scores. Some use their characters as the engine for the whole experience.
Enslaved attempts to do all of the above, using a blend of glorious visuals, exquisite voicework/character development and action, hoping the player will be too busy enjoying the ride to notice any shortcomings.
Dante Alighieri should have been a game designer.
The Inferno section of the 14th-century author's famed "Divine Comedy" is proof. His depiction of Hell and its punishments featured intricate level design, a stable of potential boss characters and the kind of imagery that could spark an artist's imagination.
Enter Dante's Inferno from EA and Visceral Games, who provide six to eight hours of button-mashing fury, a feast for both the eyes and reflexes. But the shadow of the God of War series looms over it, as does a curious design choice near the end that made me practically abandon all hope for a classic finish.
Dante's Inferno won't be coming out in the Middle East according to gaming site, GamesLatest, based out in Dubai. Following an "evaluation process which is based on consumer tastes, preferences, platform mix and other factors.", EA has apparently decided not to risk publishing the title in the region.
The article indicates that it likely ran the risk of getting banned in the same way that Darksiders and Bayonetta were due largely to the sensitivity that certain topics can elicit there. A ban doesn't mean that the game is impossible to get, but that it can't be sold where it takes place in. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that it can't get into the hands of players willing to import it, either.
It's not that surprising considering the Xtreme angle that the marketing for Dante's Inferno has employed to drum up excitement over the game despite the controversy it brought down on them from last year's E3 to the last minute changes to their proposed trailer for the Super Bowl. But its interpretation of Dante Alighieri's classic has also drummed up as much concern here, especially from those that had actually read the original work it is based off of.
One thing that I honestly don't think it's going to do is to get more players to look up the classic despite the efforts being made for the book. It'll bring more attention to it, that I have no doubt, but I'm not entirely certain that players will be hitting up Amazon to get to it, either. How many players do you know had read through Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms after picking up the latest iteration of Koei's Dynasty Warriors?
But you have to give them props for even trying to bring attention to a classic like this and it will be interesting to see just what kind of imaginative interpretation the designers bring to it, even if the kind of attention it brings doesn't necessarily fit between the covers of the original book. Or within the public boundaries of every culture.
With EA's Dante's Inferno coming out, Random House has teamed up with the publisher to release a book to help capitalize on it's impending release. On one hand, I like the fact that the Divine Comedy is getting quite a bit of attention.
On the other, the book cover below is a little too edgy? I wonder how gamers will react when they realize that the book is the actual Longfellow translation of the Divine Comedy instead of a novelization of the game? Even though it says so on the cover, I still think there might be a few surprised souls out there that mistake it for an action packed yarn instead.
