Who could have predicted such a bright future for Hellblade ? From a somewhat niche Double A released in 2017, the sequel to the Ninja Theory game is today one of the most anticipated titles of the Xbox Series X. Acquired in passing by Microsoft, the British studio has nevertheless remained very discreet about Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 since its announcement in 2019.
The opportunity for us to dive into the rumors, and to come back to what we know about this action-adventure game which should be a real graphic slap.
What's up? Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 ?
The one we will now call Hellblade 2 for convenience is the direct sequel to Hellblade, released in 2017 on PC and PS4, and later on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
This is an action-adventure game with a very dark atmosphere, which puts us in the shoes of the Pictish warrior Senua. In the grip of both visual and auditory hallucinations, Senua will have to continue her quest for revenge in this new part after the events of the first.
That being said, the script framework for Hellblade 2 is still very nebulous. Ninja Theory didn't give away any story details, so to speak. But an impressive trailer shown during the Game Awards 2021 illustrates that the warrior is no longer alone in facing her enemies. Also, the action could this time take place in Iceland.
What are you talking about Hellblade 2 ?
Hellblade followed Senua's journey through the kingdom of Hel in an effort to save the soul of her love Dillon, who was slaughtered by Norse warriors while she was away from the village.
The Ninja Theory game has several levels of reading. And the British studio has never hid from developing a superb parable on mental health and psychoses. A number of consultants in the field were also involved in the design of the game; which explains in particular the disturbing aspect of the visions that haunt her.
The second part will of course continue this work. In a dev diary, the game's creative director, Tameem Antoniades, explained that Hellblade II would seek to explore how "mental illness helps shape myths, shape gods and religion."
How is played Hellblade 2 ?
To simplify things, we could say that the heart of Hellblade's gameplay can be compared to the latest installment of God of War (2018). You move your character in third person, with a camera very close to your shoulder, and you move through semi-open environments dotted with enemies to slay. A few occasional puzzles also stand in our way.
But Hellblade 2 has a much higher budget and production time than its predecessor. Ninja Theory's ambitions seem to go through the roof with this sequel, and we can therefore expect much more varied gameplay and environments than in 2017.
In the latest trailer that we have at our disposal, we can notably see Senua and his men rush into a cave and hunt down a colossus who has had both legs amputated. The attack goes wrong when the latter retaliates and pursues them to the Pictish camp established on the beach.
A strange sequence, halfway between cinematic and real-time game, which illustrates the care that has been taken with the technique by the artists of Ninja Theory. Let us slip in passing that Hellblade 2 will be one of the very first titles to take full advantage of the Unreal Engine 5, which we know is devastating in its management of lights.
When will be released Hellblade 2 ?
The question that everyone is asking unfortunately has no answer at the moment. Announced very early, perhaps even too early, the game was in 2019 “only at an early stage of development”, according to the words of Xbox boss Phil Spencer.
Also new rumors speak, in an optimistic way, of a release at the end of 2022. But that is without taking into account the pandemic which continues to strongly test the development studios and the production processes. Realistically, we shouldn't expect Hellblade 2 until 2023, at best.
In any case, the game will be available as a console exclusive on Xbox Series X and Series S. It will also be released on PC, and can be played as soon as it is released as part of the Game Pass subscription.
