Playing Literature

Dante's Inferno will open up a whole 'new' world to developers, regardless of the profits of the game. Since someone was okay enough with green-lighting a project that will depart greatly from the Divine Comedy, what else could be an untapped goldmine of gaming delight?

I have some classics for you to consider.



Ivanhoe
Who doesn't want a collection of Jousting tournament mini games? Picture Ivanhoe, rather than the disowned son of a Norman noble allying himself with the Saxons, you play as a knight desperately seeking the hand of Lady Rowena and proves himself worthy through the tournament. Forget the Saxons v. Normans, all that intrigue, all the elements that make the story captivating, and stick with what you know: there is a knight, his name is Ivanhoe, and he digs Rowena.



The Black Arrow

Richard Shelton is fighting through the troubled times of the War of the Roses, finding himself betrayed, confused, and desperately seeking his dear Joanna who was captured by the man who killed his father. Sounds like an Action-Adventure to me, one filled with bands of 'criminals' fighting against Joanna's captors in a various of locals. There would even be call for ships and seafaring! That's a better plot than a lot of chase after the princess games have had in recent years. Give it a snappy engine and a lot of anachronistic elements and I say no one will know what Henry VI is supposedly in power.



Wuthering Heights
The world's most depressing dating sim.



The Epic of Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh and Enkidu preparing for an epic, ultra-violent, co-op adventure. Imagine God of War but with Sumerian gods and monsters. It won't just be a a God of War clone because it is co-op *wink*. Also, Enkidu won't die somewhere along the line, and they might just achieve Gilgamesh's goal of eternal life.

Ugh, what's sad is that I can picture the Epic of Gilgamesh as a game.


I am incredibly wary of Dante's Inferno. The concept seemed interesting, but the idea of seeking Beatrice in an ultra-violent romp makes me a bit uneasy. In time we will see, but I highly doubt the doors will open to similar projects, likely because there is only so much relics of humanity's culture can provide, and only so much historians can stomach.

I would play the Wuthering Heights game.