Hellblade 2 has a new trailer, a release window, and a creepy cave
Coming next year, probably!
2017's Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice did well critically and commercially, and it wasn't a huge surprise when Senua's Saga: Hellblade II was revealed three years back. It's been a little while since we heard more from it, but a cinematic trailer cropped up at tonight's Xbox Games Showcase, and wouldn't you know it, but we got a release window for 2024.
Senua is a Pict whose entire village was slaughtered by Vikings. Senua also explicitly has psychosis, something which the devs Ninja Theory talked about a fair bit during the press period for Hellblade (and which has been both praised and criticised). It's shown in the game largely through visual and audible hallucinations. Senua hears a lot of voices - the sound design was one of the more striking things about the first game - and they're a large feature of this new trailer, with the introduction of a masculine voice hinting at an antagonist. It also suggests that Senua is still dealing with some hefty suvivor's guilt.
It's not a surprise that Senua still hears voices because, you know, you can't just stop having a mental illness. Just, it'd be nice if this game were, I dunno, a nice beach holiday for her instead of another creepy cave (of which the first game had its fair share) where she experiences the walls as kind of being giant eyes. The poor chicken has earned it. She killed a lot of Vikings last time.
There's not a lot more info knocking around about what the plot will be, but an earlier gameplay trailer saw Senua working in a group, so at least there's a hint she'll have some friends along with her for this one. Hellblade II will be out next year, but we'll keep an eye out for more news before then.
NotE3 and Summer Game Fest 2023 is over for another year. You can find out all the latest news by visiting our E3 2023 hub, or you can catch up with our round-up posts of everything that was announced at Summer Game Fest, the Xbox Games Showcase, the PC Gaming Show, Day Of The Devs, and our top highlights from the Wholesome Direct.
