Dante's Inferno videogame taking players to Hell

(AFP)

US videogame titan Electronic Arts (EA) said Friday that an acclaimed Hollywood screenwriter has tackled the story line for a videogame taking players into Dante's Inferno.

Visceral Games, the EA studio behind the "Dead Space" franchise, is having Will Rokos craft a videogame story from the first part of Dante Alighieri's epic poem The Divine Comedy.

"Taking such a naturally rich and deep universe and adapting for the video game has been one of the most interesting and challenging projects I've worked on," said Rokos, who co-wrote the 2001 film 'Monster's Ball.'

"I really got into re-imagining Dante as a flawed hero with a dark past, and his determination to save the love of his life from a terrible fate. It was a truly unique experience to re-create one man's hell, one circle at a time."

The three-part poem written by the Italian author in the early 1300s tells of a journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven. Inferno is the first part.

"The task of adapting a revered and classic piece of literature for the gaming medium was a tremendous challenge," said Jonathan Knight, executive producer of 'Dante's Inferno' videogame.

"Dante Alighieri's masterpiece forms the foundation of the game's plot, but Will's take on the Dante/Beatrice story brought the necessary conflict and action that made the material really work dramatically."

Players will assume the role of Dante as he fights through Alighieri's nine circles of hell -- limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery.

"Inferno" will be released in Europe and North America in February of next year, according to EA.

Game software will be tailored for play on Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3 consoles along with PlayStation PSP handheld devices.