It’s been a long time coming, but we finally caught a glimpse of full-on gameplay for the eagerly-awaited Hellblade. Until now, we’d only seen gameplay through basic design animation tests during Ninja Theory’s dev diaries.
The story for Hellblade has taken a new turn. Senua’s trip into hell is actually a manifestation of her mental illness after the trauma of a Viking invasion. Sounds a bit Silent Hill to us. Psychosis is now a central theme of the game and the studio has been working with Psychiatrist and Professor of Health and Neuroscience at Cambridge University, Paul Fletcher, to develop these themes. Fletcher said: “True understanding of mental health is not simply about books, lectures or verbal descriptions but from deeper engagement on all levels. Working with Ninja Theory has shown me the potential that gaming has for sharing in a character’s experiences and engendering empathy in ways that go well beyond those offered by simple academic descriptions. Maybe this approach will contribute powerful new ways of challenging stigma.” Continue reading Hellblade E3 trailer finally shows some gameplay →
As fans of Heavenly Sword and dev team Ninja Theory, we can’t wait to get our hands on Hellblade. The studio is aiming for a AAA action title, but made by a smaller team with a tiny budget. It’s an ambitious project, and they have been very open with their approach since announcing the game and have shown us multiple dev diaries from incredibly early stages of the game.
Today’s diary shows how the team have been creating multiple small ‘vertical slice’ demo for playtesters and the press. With a refreshing display of honesty, they freely admit that the first few were not great and left playtesters frustrated. With the latest build set to be shown to members of the press before E3, they have their fingers crossed that they have improved.
There’s no set release date for Hellblade, and with such a small team, we’d be surprised if it happened this year. As with any game though, we’d rather wait until the game is ready than play a malnourished product. Enjoy the video below and be sure to head to their site to see past entries in the series. Continue reading Hellblade dev diary shows development challenges →
2015 and beyond will be packed with sequels and annual franchise updates. What gets us really excited though is the new games. New IPs or gaming brands that we haven’t seen before. Sometimes they’ll bring in new ideas, or huge ambitions from small teams. There are already lots of sweet new titles to look forwards to and here our seven of the hottest up and coming contenders. Continue reading The Sunday Seven: 2015’s hottest new game brands →
Hellblade was announced to be in development this week during Sony’s Gamescom presser. All we had to go on was a brief trailer (see bottom of article) with no signs of gameplay. But the short reveal was enough to get gamers thinking that the new Ninja Theory game was the long-awaited Heavenly Sword sequel. Join us for a deeper look at what we know so far and we’ll examine the connections between the two games.
Continue reading Hellblade (Preview) – The Heavenly Sword Connection Examined →
Gaming reviews, previews and features by Brendan Griffiths
The No Sleep Gamer 