The Art of Dante's Inferno

Barlowe brings a wealth of Hollywood experience to the table, having designed for a wide range of movies and TV shows, including Hellboy, Galaxy Quest, Harry Potter and Babylon 5 ("that was an incredible kick because it was my favourite show at the time," he reminisces with glee). But the creative process is no different.

"Not in my head," he insists. "Whether there is a budgetary difference or a stylistic difference in directors, in my head they're one and the same. My drawing table doesn't change its shape or size depending on the director or what the project is, so I apply myself in exactly the same way with the same sort of ferocity to try and get things done right."

The creative process between artist and EA is fluid, and to illustrate this Barlowe talks us through the evolution of Charon, the ferryman of the underworld, who appears as a huge boss character in the playable level we've already detailed. You can see each of the key steps in this process in our exclusive gallery of concept art.

Barlowe: "The best way to get the most mileage would be to do separate, distinctly unique drawings so elements could be pulled from one to the next and brought forward in the evolution of the characters.

"The initial idea for Charon was that it would be a bipedal character, maybe twice the height of Dante himself, using the flotilla in a way that would be like a weapon. I tried to integrate nautical elements, dessicated flesh - work in part of my own vocabulary in my Hell work.

"It's an ongoing discussion and evolution, back and forth, doing some more abstract approaches, trying to get a good form that would work. Eventually the scale of Dante became smaller, and Charon became a more horizontal, boat-like figure. I decided to peel it apart, making bones out of the planks.

"Then I did research on ancient vessels. This evolved in such a way that Dante himself would be on the boat with souls, so the scale got even larger. We arrived at this, created by the team pulling in some of the elements. It was a week to a week and a half to get to that point. I generally try to do a complete concept per day and a drawing per day."

The artist is also keen for it to be known that he's a hardcore gamer, which undoubtedly played its part in his coming on board. "My gaming passion goes in every direction imaginable. Slap a gun in my hand and I'm all happy; put me in an RPG and I'm really happy. I've got too many games to list, on every console and PC."

In thrall to his paymasters, he cites his all-time favourite game as Dante's Inferno. Then admits he hasn't played it yet. "But it does look really fun."

"I think games are as viable an art form as anything else," he adds. "But like everything else, like Sturgeon's law, 90 per cent of everything is not good, to paraphrase him. And the same applies to books and film and music and everything else. So if I'm lucky enough to be involved in a really great project like this or a really great movie then I just pat myself on the back."

As a final tease, Barlowe hints that he's also been scribbling away on his own game idea in the background. "I have somebody interested in something I'm coming up with as well," he whispers. "I can't talk about that but it is something that I would be more than excited in the future to talk about."

Bet it's about Hell. He cracks up. "Could be! Maybe!"