Every time I think about this Developer Diary for the Violence circle of Dante’s Inferno, I keep getting hit with a wave of… something.

I suppose it’s pretty much the exact opposite of cognitive dissonance; it’s glaringly, face-slappingly obvious that a game like Dante’s Inferno would chock-a-block full of violence. So what does a game really do to 1-up the violence factor on a level dedicated to that particular sin?

Does the controller sprout thorn-like spikes of plastic and metal, impaling your hands? Does it deliver a huge dose of PCP into your bloodstream via wi-fi, sending you on a naked, cannibalistic rampage through your neighborhood until you’re brought down by the SWAT team after dismembering a police officer with your own two hands?

…I really am overthinking this, aren’t I? Then again, Dante does sew the cross emblem from his tabbard onto his bare, naked flesh in this game, so perhaps not.

Dante’s Inferno is coming to PS3, PSP and Xbox 360 in February of 2010.