It's a testament to how far computer games have come that Electronic Art's new title Dante's Inferno is not based on some teenager's wet dream about guns and girls, but on a classic poem from the 14th Century. Penned by Italian Dante Alighieri between 1308 and 1321, The Divine Comedy profoundly influenced Christian beliefs about the afterlife, most notably around the imagery and meaning of Hell. EA studio Visceral Games has boldly taken its inspiration from this poem to create an exhilarating and thought provoking action game which honours its rich source material.

Dante's Inferno is loosely based on part one of The Divine Comedy, titled Inferno, which depicts Dante's journey through the nine circles of Hell. After Dante discovers that his lover, Beatrice Portinari, has been murdered and dragged down to Hell by Death, he must fight through the nine circles - limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery - before defeating Lucifer himself, and rescuing his stricken lover.

Speaking at a recent EA showcase event, the game's Executive Producer Jonathan Knight, said that the "most challenging" aspect of the development has been adapting such a revered and classic piece of historical literature. As the poem deals with philosophical and theological concepts rather than having a specific narrative, Visceral had to create a whole new story to overlay on the poem. Despite staying as faithful as possible to Alighieri's geography of Hell, including its settings, characters and monsters, the team also had to utilise a touch of poetic justice.

"Dante from history is more of a poet, but we wanted to re-imagine him as a warrior," says Knight. "So we crafted a new story - it's still Dante, it's still Beatrice, it's still Lucifer and it's still Virgil [the Roman poet who acts as Dante's guide in the underworld] - but the stakes are much higher. Beatrice has to be rescued from Hell as she's been kidnapped, and Dante has this dark past. We crafted a series of sins, transgressions and betrayals that he's committed in his past, and so has to face in Hell. So the game takes this dark turn as we find out more about him. I would say that the most challenging thing in the development was to reinvent Dante Alighieri as a dark, action figure."

The reinvention of Dante's character is most acutely felt in the game's "fast paced, responsive and rewarding combat". After defeating Death at the Gates of Hell in the opening level, Dante takes the Reaper's scythe to become his chosen tool of punishment for the evils ahead. However, he also holds a holy cross, which represents his divine mission to bring light to the underworld. Knight said that the duality of dark and light in Dante's character will play a major part in the game. 

"Its really about that duality of the unholy warrior, the badass, the brutal fighter and then the holy side," Knight explains. "As a player, you start to choose throughout the game whether you're going to do more holy moves and absolve your enemies, or if you're going to use the scythe in a more punishing fashion. That also feeds into the upgrades, the magics and the relics, which are holy and unholy. So the whole system is about upgrading one side or the other, or both. It's that duality of moral choice which really defines the gameplay in Dante's Inferno."

Another major aspect of the game's development has been the creation of its rich art style, tapping into the ghoulish horrors of the underworld. The team consulted every artistic depiction of Hell since The Divine Comedy was written some 700 years ago, including drawings by Sandro Botticelli, the haunting paintings of Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch and Rodin's sculpture of the Gates of Hell.

"There are just tonnes of artists who have treated the Inferno all the way up to the 21st century, but the one guy who really stands out for me is the guy who we called at the beginning of the project, and that's Wayne Barlow," says Knight. "He's designed the creatures for the Hellboy and Hellboy 2 movies, and Harry Potter and he's also working for Guillermo Del Toro on The Hobbit. He's just this crazy, brilliant artist who has been painting Hell for the past 15 years. He has a very twisted and unique vision. We partnered with him at the very beginning and he did a bunch of sketches for us which were really the inspiration for what you see in the game today."

Visceral Games recently unveiled action sequences from the Lust circle of Hell, as Dante battles a giant topless boss called Cleopatra, who's kidnapped Beatrice. Dante must race up the tower to save her, fighting off the boss with his scythe and holy cross as he goes.

"The team at Visceral Games making Dante's Inferno is incredibly passionate, talented and incredibly dedicated to quality and polish," argues Knight. "We have an incredible team of artists and graphic engineers that are really giving a very unique take on this great poem. The team is working super hard and giving it everything they have got to make it the greatest game that it can be."

Dante's Inferno is released on PS3, Xbox 360 and PSP in Europe on 12 February, 2010.