The video game adaptation of Dante's epic poem has been on our radar since EA announced it for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 earlier this year. E--and earlier this week EA revealed that it was also in development for the PSP as well.

　　The PSP version we saw at an EA event in London was a very early build--, the result of three months of development work. It looks very similar to the PS3 version which was on show at the same time, with the main difference being the decreased resolution. The developers have said that the aim is to present the same game on the PSP as on the other platforms; all the same enemies, combat mechanics, and circles of hell from the other versions will be present in the PSP game, according to the developers.

　　The premise of the game is simple enough. You take on the role of Dante AlighieriAligheri in the first part of his epic traipse through the afterlife, as presented in his 14th-century epic poem, The Divine Comedy. This downward journey--suitably sexed up, of course--is guided in part by Virgil, but is mostly about finding demons and introducing them to the business end of a very big scythe. Dante has been transformed from a Florentine poet into a lithe chain-mail- clad crusader, and his journey has gone from being a quest of discovery to one of bloody vengeance and rescue, as he searches for his lost love, Beatrice--who was actually his guide to Paradise in the third cantica of the original.

　　The game opens as you're dropped onto the rocky cliffs above the river Acherus, and your first task is to fight your way to Charon's boat, and there cross the river despite his protestations. While in the original poem Charon's reluctance to let you pass is resolved through a few words from your guide, in this re-imagining you have to deal with the ferryman's reluctance rather more directly... by ripping off his head, using one of the game's first controllable demons--another feature carried across from the console version.

　　The sound looks to be transferring well too, with the creepy wailings of Limbo's unbaptised babies being just as disturbing on the handheld as on consoles. Most of the combat mechanics were not implemented in the build we saw, but the basic scythe-swinging combat action was present, and looked to be every bit as vicious and engaging as it is on consoles.

　　Whether the simple combat mechanics on show at the moment have the strength to make for a compelling game throughout all nine circles of hell remains to be seen, but the ambition of the PSP translation project--and the success it seems to be having at this early stage--is reassuring to see.

　　Stay tuned to GameSpot as the year progresses for more on the full-size and handheld versions of Dante's Inferno.