Tameem Antoniades: "'Hellblade 2' will make 'Hellblade' look like an indie game"

The Ninja Theory co-founder says the game is focusing on "capturing reality"

[SinisterMister]

Damn...

[VenomUK]

From the last big trailer it definitely seems that Ninja Theory was announcing its big ambitions - this could be Xbox's own God of War.

[rippermcrip]

Are we talking about the same trailer? The completely scripted trailer with near zero gameplay?

[VenomUK]

@rippermcrip The above comment is not a prediction on quality of the final game, it is a statement that Microsoft will be viewing Hellblade II as a game that can fill a gap in its lineup for a narrative-led action adventure.

You have expressed that for you it will not compare favourably to God of War and its okay to share your feelings. But there are many people who only game on Xbox and the prospect of taking Senua the lead from the first game and then being able to play her in a game that possibly has the action and scale of God of War is very exciting.

[Brazz]

Too soon to say.... GoW is not just about visual, it's a gameplay heavy game... so far we have near "zero" Gameplay from HBII, so it's a bit too soon to call this game "Xbox's GoW"... it can end up as "Ryse: son of some" with vikings.

[RickRoland]

This game is not even close to GoW from a gameplay standpoint if the first one is anything to go by. A beautiful game with cinematic cutscenes and walking with pretty generic combat. They have alot to do to match what God of War does.

[TheExecutioner]

Pussy of War

[MajorLazer]

Loooool, God of War without any of the gameplay.

[darthv72]

lol at all the above who are taking venom comment literally instead of figuratively. @venom, i knew what you meant. This could be the XB game with the amount of scale and attention to detail that GoW is to PS. Not a direct (aka literal) comparison.

I am reminded of another MS game called bloodforge. It too was compared to GoW but it wasnt very polished. If given another chance it too could really shine in terms of the brutality and similar approach that GoW has. It isnt uncommon to zero in on some sort of comparative, like how Killzone was compared to halo and then Haze was compared to Halo... it happens. But people need to know the difference between direct and indirect comparisons.

[itsmebryan]

@Venom
I hope not. I didn't care for GOW when I had PS3.

[wiz7191]

@ripper that trailer was gameplay .. it even says it in the trailers description lol , are you that salty or what ?? If you played the first you can tell when it switched from gameplay to a cutscene .. Some of you Sonys fans are very delusional ctfu when ever Microsoft comes out with something good y’all can’t help but try to downplay everything .. “zero gameplay” ctfu it’s says gameplay reveal
https://youtu.be/fukYzbthEV...

[wiz7191]

Lmao y’all really must be mad disliking facts .. It’s gameplay get over it and stop trying to downplay that visual masterpiece ..

[SyntheticForm]

Damn indeed.

I'm very much looking forward to any info on this game now.

[n1kki6]

The first game was an Indie. So...

[2moda5gamer]

Wasn't it an indie game though?
Like a massive, well-put high end indie, mind you.

Think of films or music where indie still have big names or support etc.

[Eonjay]

RIght I was gonna say that. Hellblade was an indie game.

[alb1899]

https://www.eurogamer.net/a...
That article can help to clarify if it is or not a AAA game.

"it helped Ninja Theory create a triple-A game at half the price and half the size, without compromising on quality, or giving the rights away to a publisher."

[ABizzel1]

Ninja Theory themselves were the ones to call it an Indie game, they said "AAA Indie" if I remember correctly and that's where the term came from.

[alb1899]

Abizzel1, read the article, it won't bite you hahaha!
In the article they them self describe everything about the make of the game.

[Atticus_finch]

It literally was an indie. Lol

[Flawlessmic]

We know its gonna look great im curious to see how it will play though

[Crows90]

Hopefully the next one has some combat variety.

[Teflon02]

But the first one WAS a indie game... Sure Sony assisted where it was needed, but it was a indie game lol

[GamingSinceForever]

Where are you getting that Sony had something to do with its development? This game came to Windows at launch too.

[purple101]

Yeh ninja theory made an exclusive ps3 launch game with 'heavenly sword'.

Paid for seunas sacrifice to be exclusive so even if it flopped the studio wouldn't go bankrupt.

Gave them marketing as part of their e3 show and playstation blog posts etc.

They have a longer history with playstation than they do with Xbox many times over.

Microsoft probably offered them a deal they could not refuse.

[gangsta_red]

@purple101

"They have a longer history with playstation than they do with Xbox many times over."

I believe their first game at least for consoles was an Xbox exclusive, not really sure where this longer history with PS comes from exactly.

Seunas Sacrifice was exclusive because they barely had the money to make it, they had to take separate jobs just to fund this project and bring it to one console.

"Microsoft probably offered them a deal they could not refuse."

Yeah, the deal was to keep Ninja Theory from shutting their doors forever.

https://www.polygon.com/e3/...

[ReadyPlayer22]

Hmmm, I seem to remember Kung Fu Kaos on my OG Xbox. I also seem to remember Sony taking all of Ninja Theory's tech in exchange for helping with Heavenly Swords.

[TheTony316]

The first one was an indie game.

[OptimusDK]

The point is it did not look like one at that point :-)

[TheTony316]

it didn't look but it sure played like one.

[Harryvok]

I think it did. It certainly didn't look or feel like a high budget AAA game. It was decent quality, but still felt indie to me.

[alb1899]

It started as an indie game but finish as a AAA game.

https://www.eurogamer.net/a...

[Magog]

Hell blade did look like an indie game. Half of the story was told with real life actors rather than CG.

[thesoftware730]

Magog,

It was not 1/2 the story..you exaggerate, did you play the game?

So having real-life actors makes it look like an indie game?

I played the game 2 times and it was fantastic sound, graphics, and atmosphere. Definitely better than a lot of so-called AAA games.

[pietro1212]

" real life actors rather than CG" thats most western AAA studios now. What's your point?

[dumahim]

What, what other AAA games use footage of real people instead of a fully CGI character? Quantic Break? We're talking actual filmed footage, not mo-capped.

[pietro1212]

My bad, I meant motion cap. That being said what difference does it make using actors vs. CG characters, Magog

[Atticus_finch]

The difference is budget.

[SurgicalMenace]

It was an indie game, but okay....

[Brazz]

I hope they can improve the gameplay. First game is good, but gameplay is a bit clunky... HB2 needs to improve on this.

[thesoftware730]

Hellblade was an Indie game lol.

[alb1899]

https://www.eurogamer.net/a...

[neutralgamer1992]

I think a lot of people don't know how difficult the development was for the first game. They had to borrow equipment and different companies either lent or donated equipment needed for Development

So the developers had to make the game, keep their expectations and desires in check. Now they have one of the richest company providing resources so the 2nd game should a proper AAA game. They don't have the worries and stress of funding/resources

[Inverno]

I feel the whole point of this game has been completely lost. The first was an indie which is dumb to say, but it was also made with the intention to also talk about mental illnesses. Now it just looks like they're treating it like it's just some hyped third person action game.

[CosmicTurtle]

I like Ninja Theory, I wish they were making a new IP. I have no interest in this, technically I am sure it will be stunning.

[dumahim]

Bleeding Edge was a thing.

[gangsta_red]

Wasn't a huge fan of the first game, the graphics though were amazing and it this one here looks to be even better.

Will definitely keep my eye on it tho

[Mr_Luke]

I just hope it won't be like the trailer of the cave/giant, after that i've lost track of the game, maybe there were more with actual gameplay. Because stunning visual with poor gameplay aren't good together.

[wheresmymonkey]

Wasn't that the point of Hellblade. That indie game we made will look exactly like we said it would.

[pietro1212]

Wasn't the first title a indie game though?

[moriarty1889]

Yeah and when is this game ever going to come out??? Much like Everwild, Fable and all these other games supposedly in development from all these studios MS bought? Nothing but radio silence on most of these games.

[Exvalos]

Ummmm......the first game is an indie title 😑

[Terry_B]

Ouch..at that headline.

[Harryvok]

But the first Hellblade DID look like an indie game. Felt like one too. That's not such a bad thing, but it certainly didn't look or feel like a big budget AAA game.

From what we've seen so far, the visuals of the sequel look very nice, but the gameplay still looked VERY bare bones like the first game.

[shaenoide]

What a stupid thing to say on Internet. shitstorm incoming.

[Godmars290]

But it was an indie game...

[Atticus_finch]

But it was an indie. Lmao

[Destiny1080]

they went from a indie studio, to a Quad-A studio under phils "tutelage"

[HeliosHex]

I thought the original was an indie? Also lots of great indie games out there, not sure it was cool to throw indie devs under the boot like that. Not to mention overhyped games often die at launch. Ninja need to take it down a notch.