Sony has quite a bit of exclusive games coming out for the PS4, as well as some time exclusives sprinkled throughout the next year and a half, and looking at one of them brings us Ninja Theory’s Hellblade. Although we don’t know the initial release date for the game, the devs do bring some interesting stuff about Hellblade‘s story and gameplay.
A lot of games I’ve played usually make you work extremely hard to unlock a lot of the content in the game, which isn’t a bad thing depending on how it’s done. Well, Ninja Theory’s game sounds like it won’t be like that for certain features.
Hellblade’s development manager Dominic Mathews noted some stuff about the main character, Senua, and her move set, and how players will be able to have full access to it at the start. To me, I don’t find this to be that much of a problem.
Furthermore, the devs explain on the PS.Blog that they wanted the game to be more tactical, and that quite a bit of features are already unlocked, players just have to learn some of the skills by trial and error, and use Senua’s skills to get through some of the more brutal encounters.
Below, the devs explain how players can utilize her move set to their advantage, and talk a bit about the main character’s fighting skills and fighting background…
“Senua has one weapon and her entire move set is available from the start. It’s up to you as a player to explore that system and to master it and to uncover all of the nuances of Senua’s battle style. She’s a Celtic warrior, fighting against a Viking clan, so that’s what she does, she’s awesome at fighting! It is a battle and it’s relentless.”
In my opinion, I like games that encourage players to use some skill and take risk with different scenarios, and promote players to explore the game like the story/world matters. The dev team noted that they wanted to do just that without the game losing its meaning to players.
“We want every fight to feel like it matters. We won’t just throw fodder enemies at you – the combat is deep, complex and each encounter will need you to think about your tactics, not just crowd control.”
In addition, the story of the game brings some dark elements, while at the same time introducing players to some familiar things that the team is known for like combat, specific art design and unique storytelling. The devs further elaborate on this on the blog…
“The story is based on a period in history when the Orkney Islands were invaded by Vikings who wiped out the Pictish Celts – Senua is a survivor of that invasion, and the story is her coming to terms with that violence and trauma that was caused by that event.”
“The combat in the game and the violence that Senua’s involved in isn’t a result of her mental health; everything in the story is her reality, that she has to deal with.”
As of now, there isn’t any official notes on the game’s release. But, anybody interested in Hellblade can get more information either from the PS.Blog; which is said to be updated soon, or from Ninja Theory’s main site.
