The legacy of Dante’s Inferno, a title remembered as an imperfect gem of the Xbox 360 and PS3 era, was recently enriched by the revelation of details about its canceled sequel, Dante’s Inferno 2: Purgatorio. Despite the successful sales of the original game, which reached half a million at launch, the proximity to God of War 3 and the subsequent issues of Visceral Games, which closed its doors six years later, left the game without the continuation it promised.
A game so ambitious that it was never made
On the occasion of its fifteenth anniversary, IGN has unveiled previously unreleased materials that reveal the sequel was going to be much more ambitious than previously thought. The writer of Assassin’s Creed 2, Joshua Rubin, completed a 240-page script, where the story promised a deeper and more intricate approach, intertwining the work of Dante Alighieri with elements of John Milton’s Paradise Lost. The narrative would have allowed Lucifer to transition from an absolute villain to a morally ambiguous figure, while Dante faced a total war between Heaven and Hell.
The story would begin in the Garden of Eden and continue through an epic journey with new characters like Lilith and the angels Gabriel, Uriel, and Michael. In a narrative twist, Dante would not only fight against demons but also against his own guilt, even questioning the existence of God. In terms of gameplay, the title aimed to distance itself from the hack and slash style, seeking a more fluid and cinematic system, evoking the influence of Uncharted 2.
Although it was never produced, the project was conceived as part of a trilogy that would culminate in Dante’s Inferno 3: Paradiso, where Dante would fight alongside his daughter against a corrupt divine system. This bold approach would have turned the trilogy into a radical reinterpretation of Christian theology.
The impact of Dante’s Inferno continues to resonate, with its narrative ambition influencing later titles such as Dead Space 3, Uncharted 3, and God of War (2018), which have inherited its blend of epic and reflection.