While everyone’s in a tizzy over Electronic Arts’ upcoming third-person action title Dante’s Inferno, it seems some people might have forgotten — it’s certainly not the first game based on Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy.
In 2000, Boston-based Irrational Games began working on what was to be their first console title, a third-person action game called The Lost. Loosely based on the “Inferno” portion of Alighieri’s epic poem, the story revolved around a single mother who loses her daughter to a tragic car accident. Suicidal, she makes a deal with the devil and is given the chance to fight through Hell to recover the soul of her lost daughter.
More info and videos after the jump.
In development for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, The Lost was announced attached to publisher Crave Entertainment, and was even shown to the press at industry events like E3. Unfortunately, the title was apparently plagued by development and legal issues, and eventually shelved. Irrational Games’ (now 2K Boston/2K Australia) first console game, BioShock, would be released several years later to rave reviews.
Irrational had described the game as a “survival horror action RPG” and “a dark modern day re-telling of Dante’s Inferno.” The player was going to be able to switch between four different characters each with its own unique magic and weapons, and each with its own fully-upgradable attributes. Irrational also promised “storytelling at it’s [sic] digital best.”
Would you have had more faith in a game loosely based on the Divine Comedy had Ken Levine and company been the minds behind it?
