Epic's new facial animation tech is scarily lifelike

Epic’s new facial animation technology is seriously lifelike and is getting increasingly difficult to tell the difference.

As reported by TweakTown.com, Epic Games showcased its new MetaHuman creation tool at the State of Unreal keynote during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2023.

2017s Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice will go down as one of my favourite video games in recent years. This haunting, gritty tale told the story of Senua’s mental health after developing psychosis as a result of PTSD. It was truly a story of a character rising from the ashes who would later become a total badass.

As well as being well-written, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice also looked stunning (and still does) with the lead protagonist played superbly by Melina Juergens. What’s more, the acting in Hellblade was captured in real-time which leads us into today’s story.

Captured in real-time once more, the stunning trailer below shows Senua in the Hellblade sequel utilising Epic’s MetaHuman technology and just wow! If I had gone into watching this trailer knowing what it was, I would have assumed it was purely Melina Juergens and not CGI.

If you haven't played Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice yet, I couldn't recommend it enough. It’s available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. Playing it now would offer as the ideal introduction for the upcoming sequel.

Furthermore, with Ninja Theory being owned by Microsoft, Hellblade is also on Xbox Game Pass. It’s even been optimised for Xbox Series X|S, so that version looks and plays better than ever. So basically, what I’m trying to say is, go play it already!

Despite being announced during The Game Awards 2019, at this time, we still do not have a release date for Ninja Theory’s Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga, but we do know that it will be released for PC and Xbox Series X|S.