The third game in the Hellblade saga, Senua was shown at today’s Xbox Games Showcase.
Ninja Theory returns with what is described as a “full-on action-adventure,” building on the previous games and expanding the scope of combat, adding more puzzles, and introducing a new sense of freedom to explore.
“This is an out-and-out action-adventure game. It’s a bold new step for Senua, as a character, into the action-adventure space. Really, what that means is taking the heart and soul of what Hellblade has meant – in terms of intimate storytelling, high production values and being a journey that’s full of intent – but being additive to that in a way that gives players more agency and a lot more gameplay.
This is really about giving Hellblade fans what they’ve been asking for, while meeting action-adventure players’ expectations – and the way that manifests is in broader gameplay, more combat depth, and an interconnected world,” says Dom Matthews on the Xbox Wire.
Instead of calling it Senua 3, the team decided the game reflected something entirely new, and it’s a different game. Ninja Theory says what they’ve made is ‘additive’ with more of what people loved from the first two games here, and those who didn’t resonate with those games now have something they might like.
“I think about it slightly differently. It’s not a combat-action game – people shouldn’t expect that this is like two-thirds combat. We’re really thinking about it as being a fairly even split between combat, traversal, and puzzle solving. The way I think about it is really about studio potential, looking at our expertise and allowing the team to go and do their best work in this game – and so much of that experience comes from the likes of DmC, Enslaved, and Heavenly Sword as well as the Hellblades,’ Matthews says.
Combat in Senua is expanded, offering more tactical choices for the player. You can choose how you want to approach enemies. You can either be stealthy or dive headfirst into battles.
“Tangibly what that means is that Senua is now fighting multiple enemies at once, there’s verticality, there are environmental elements that she can use to her advantage. Senua has a far broader and deeper combat set, including multiple special Focus Abilities that she can use in traversal and in combat. And there are also a lot more cool weapons you see in the trailer: long axe, short axe, dual wielding of weapons, having the ability to throw weapons. It’s all about taking Senua’s combat and liberating it, so players can really express themselves a lot more through the options that are available to them,” we learn on the Xbox Wire.
‘Fantastical’ boss fights are part of the mix now and are teased towards the end of the trailer.
Senua also has new weapons in addition to her sword. You can acquire other weapons from enemies in the world. Some can be holstered, while others you can’t, like a short axe from an enemy, which can be used short- or long-range. You can even dual-wield weapons like the sword and flaming torch.
Additionally, Senua has the ability to shatter reality. She cna unlock spaces in the world which allow you to do so and help her contain enemy crowds.
The map is also twice the size of twice the size of what we saw in Hellblade 2. The story is still linear but the map is opened up with more opportunity to explore and spend time in these places with interconnected lcoations.
