03/09/2010 08:38 AM

Gaming World Heats Up With 'Dante's Inferno'

By: Adam Balkin, NY1

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How better to instill fear in video gamers than to base a video game
on "Inferno," part one of Dante Alighieri’s classic Italian poem, "The
Divine Comedy." In "Dante's Inferno," the video game, the mercenary Dante returns home from war only to be confronted by the Grim Reaper who tells him that not only is his soul damned to hell but so too is that of his recently departed love, Beatrice. So you, as Dante, travel down through the nine circles of hell to save your two souls, wielding a whole host of weapons and magic abilities in order to get past all the nasty creatures who stand in your way.

Visually, the game falls right in line with what you'd imagine or worse than what you'd image the nether world to be, which, at the very least, may help keep you on the up and up back here in the real world.

"Dante's Inferno" is available now on the PS3 and XBox 360 for $60 and in a few weeks on the PSP for $40.

Meanwhile, "Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce" is the latest in about half a dozen titles in the franchise. Once again you play as one of 40 warriors in ancient China -- only these warriors now possess fury, sometimes superhuman abilities including blazing speed and the ability to fly, which of course means aerial combat to a certain extent this time around.

This one also allows you to build and use your own weapons, plus, you can go online with up to four others and play cooperatively or head-to-head to head-to-head.

Developers say there are more than 200 unique battles with more coming as downloads. "Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce" is out on February 16th for the PS3 and XBox 360 for $50.