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Gameplay, hands-on impressions, and announcements.

With less than a week until <span class="bold">Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice</span> is officially released, the veil over NinjaTheory's independent production is slowly being lifted. There's all-new gameplay footage, hands-on impressions, fresh announcements, and a lot to take in – these are the things you don't want to miss:

See the real deal with 10 minutes of pure gameplay by IGN:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/xb-RH2b8ac4

Photo Mode announced – by now, it's clear that Hellbalde offers much in the way of eye-candy. Ninja Theory recently announced a dedicated in-game tool allowing you to capture all those mind-blowing moments. See what Photo Mode can do.

An in-depth look – we also recommend a visit to NinjaTheory's studios with Gamesradar, as well as Redbull Gaming's interview about what it means to produce an independent AAA title.

Finally, check out the newest cinematic trailer – shot with 100% in-game footage:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/nfiS_PV3V-4

<span class="bold">Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice</span> is coming August 8 to GOG.com, available for pre-order now.
Post edited August 02, 2017 by maladr0Id
Very interesting project. Gamedev of A-level without distributor control and for the half-price.
Experienced studio, with the help of psychologist trying to create really demented atmosphere and respectively qualitative design. finally something that looks real, not sterile with artificial commercial interest
Minuses: action seems to be not the main part with all the ensuing.

We'll see next week.
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outrate: Very interesting project. Gamedev of A-level without distributor control and for the half-price.
Experienced studio, with the help of psychologist trying to create really demented atmosphere and respectively qualitative design. finally something that looks real, not sterile with artificial commercial interest
Minuses: action seems to be not the main part with all the ensuing.

We'll see next week.
Yes, the game is half the price of a AAA game, and that's good. What's not so good -- and I didn't see anyone on GOG saying this, yet -- is that Hellblade is half the price of a AAA game because it's also half the size of one.

So, if you think AAA games tend to be short, these days, expect Hellblade to be even shorter.
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groze: *snip*
According to the article the release was planned for 2018. Now it is released next week. Hmmm...
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groze: *snip*
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viperfdl: According to the article the release was planned for 2018. Now it is released next week. Hmmm...
Well, if you don't trust the article, you can watch the video with the interview with Game Informer, it's legitimate. Or you can google for "Hellblade half the size of a AAA" (or any variation you prefer) and you should find a lot of results that you might trust more than the one I linked.

Unless you were implying that it's odd how a game that was scheduled for 2018 suddenly is "good to go" around half a year earlier, in which case I agree. For a game that's just half the size/length of a AAA game, cutting months off of its development doesn't make it look like it will be on the longer side of things, even for the "half size" they originally had in mind, I think.
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viperfdl: According to the article the release was planned for 2018. Now it is released next week. Hmmm...
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groze: Unless you were implying that it's odd how a game that was scheduled for 2018 suddenly is "good to go" around half a year earlier, in which case I agree. For a game that's just half the size/length of a AAA game, cutting months off of its development doesn't make it look like it will be on the longer side of things, even for the "half size" they originally had in mind, I think.
Either they finished it a lot of faster than they anticipated or there are problems that keep them from continuing the development like running out of budget...
When does the review embargo end? (assuming there is one)
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thainej6: Game looks interesting, but that narrow fov/character taking up half the screen thing kills it for me. Get slightly motion sick just trying to watch gameplay videos. Guess i'm in the minority though as I never see it mentioned anywhere.
You're certainly not alone. I got so motion sick that I turned the video off!

I'm hoping that the 'over the shoulder' pov isn't the only one. I need to be further back than is shown in the video, especially as the images surrounding the character aren't static but flux and wane. I love playing this manner of combat, love the concept, but clearly will have to wait to see if it's going to be playable by me.
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groze: As for the combat and the art vision, though... Ninja Theory, I think you
overshot and missed the mark. Combat looks slow, sluggish, un-engaging, tiresome
-- boring, honestly. Not "ninja-class" at all, sadly.
The combat looks much slower than their previous games but it looked interesting
to me. A more realistic pace given the more realistic setting and more like an
actual sword fight. Duel-like even. It looks tactical and weighty, focusing
heavily on evading, parries and counters and I liked how Senua was portrayed
when she was struck. It reminded me of Spec Ops: The Line in trying to portray
war as the brutal, horrible experience that it actually is.
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groze: As for the art vision... oh, boy, the art design... where should I even start?
Yes, from a technical standpoint, the game might look impressive, but art has to
be more than just great tech. Hellblade looks... bland. <snip/> Heavenly Sword,
DmC or Enslaved, the Ninja Theory mark is clear, the art direction is definitely
noticeable as being its own thing, but when I look at Hellblade I just see very
generic stuff that I've seen a million times before.
I really liked HS, DmC and Enslaved but I don't think it's fair to compare their
art style. Senua's Sacrifice is a more realistic, historical setting, which fits
their attempts to portray psychosis. I feel that in tackling a real world issue,
couching it in a fantasy setting wouldn't do it justice. Unfortunately, the real
world does just naturally tend to look more bland than a fantasy/sci-fi setting.
I also think the art goes beyond the visuals. I really like how they seem to
have merged the psychosis theme with the game play. The voices telling her to
look out looked like an interesting way of allowing the player to react even
though the camera is so close, whilst the close up camera heightens the tension
and again makes it more realistic. Who in the real world can see what's
happening behind them?

Not long now to see if they have succeeded. Still, I would also really like a
sequel to each of HS, DmC and Enslaved. I think Ninja Theory's work has been
under appreciated so far.
I really want to get this but Battlechasers looks so good. I has been ages since I played a turn based game, but Hellblade looks really interesting and immersive. If I only I can get both.
According to [url=http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=20608&game=Hellblade:%20Senuas%20Sacrifice&p_make=AMD&p_deriv=Phenom+II+X4+955+Black+Edition&gc_make=ATI&gc_deriv=Radeon+HD+7850+2GB+Sapphire+Edition&ram=8&screenRes_width_FPS=1920&screenRes_height_FPS=1080&checkSubmit=#systemRequirements]Game Debate[/url] my PC can't handle this game . :(
Amazing, seems like the game is actually going to be released on a promised date! Can't believe it :)
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mbunkin: Amazing, seems like the game is actually going to be released on a promised date! Can't believe it :)
I'm not sure if this is a good sign... :D

----

For me this looks interesting, I'm probably not into such gameplay any more (would be in as a kid, always dreamt back then (198x) about having the 2D fighting game like International Karate in 3D with exploration), but that part about psychosis or what, may be nice to try it out.

On "teh web" I can find it's running on Unreal Engine 4, which *has* some linux support, so not sure if the devs are just lazy to package it, or that support still means serious dev time investment into making the game work.

Anyway, no preorder, or full price from me, I buy win-only games only after they get some huge sale, but may stay on wishlist forever.
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thainej6: Game looks interesting, but that narrow fov/character taking up half the screen thing kills it for me. Get slightly motion sick just trying to watch gameplay videos. Guess i'm in the minority though as I never see it mentioned anywhere.
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Polly77: You're certainly not alone. I got so motion sick that I turned the video off!

I'm hoping that the 'over the shoulder' pov isn't the only one. I need to be further back than is shown in the video, especially as the images surrounding the character aren't static but flux and wane. I love playing this manner of combat, love the concept, but clearly will have to wait to see if it's going to be playable by me.
Same issue here. Thankfully I didn't get motion sick, but instead I felt claustrophobic. Unless this is what the game intends, I'd prefer to have the camera further back from the character.
Would be a shame if the camera was static, because otherwise it looks nice.
There will be a pre-load before the release date?
no i don't think so

but it will be available in 12 hours, like steam...