Ninja Theory’s next game has returned with a tweaked name — Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice — and a stunning new trailer that’s not quite as freaky as the announcement trailer we saw at Gamescom 2014, but considerably more impactful. There’s more to this game than pretty visuals or the Celtic myths it draws from; this is a deeply personal story with surprisingly realistic characters.
We aren’t often gifted with trailers this intimate, and the result is somewhat devastating, emotionally. I don’t need to know what’s happening, at least not yet. It’s all there on Senua’s tortured face.
There’s some very impressive motion capture tech at work here — more on that below — that’s been elevated by a powerful performance from actress Melina Juergens and the complex character she portrays. Ninja Theory has already proven themselves capable of creating empathic characters in games like Heavenly Sword and Enslaved, and so far, Hellblade does not disappoint.
