14 DAY TRIAL // Visceral Games may be adding the last-minute touches to Dante's Inferno but it is already thinking of the future. Besides the Dead Space 2 project that was revealed last week through a job listing made by the developer, the company has another trick up its sleeve. This week signs of a new game have emerged, as the company filled some trademark applications for an upcoming product. The key word around the trademark is “The Ripper” and the only possible candidate is good old Jack.
The whole trademark business was spotted by Superannuation, and it seems to cover the use of the name as it relates to entertainment services, movie production, and games. This comes only to reinforce a rumor that was started this year in July. As Glen Schofield and Michael Condry formed the company from the previously known EA Redwood Shores, they already had in mind a Jack the Ripper game. The gossip was spread by the Los Angeles Times, which claimed to have been tipped off by sources "close to EA." Gossip seems to be true this time, as more evidence has come to support it.
If this ends up as a finished product it would be three in a row for Visceral Games as far as original titles go. The company didn't bother with remakes or sequels and sought to create only original games. The first was the Dead Space, a survival horror that took place aboard the USG Ishimura, a derelict spaceship. The game received great reviews and everyone truly enjoyed this terrifying adventure. The second one is the unreleased Dante's Inferno, based on the Divine Comedy by Alighieri.
The genuine touch that the real-life serial killer brings to the game seems to have sparked a conflicting reaction. Some seem thrilled at the idea of impersonating the brutal criminal while others find it somewhat offensive to make such a controversial character the protagonist of the product. Even if the Los Angels Times gave the game an approximate release date of 2010-2011, any other details are absent. The game platforms and the genre are unknown, as is the level of involvement Jack the Ripper will really have in the title.