Hellblade 3 Revealed In Stunning Gameplay Trailer, Major Shake-Up Confirmed

The third entry of the Hellblade series has been revealed with a stunning gameplay trailer at the Xbox Showcase, and it looks like it could be the best game in the series yet.

However, rather than having a subtitle, this third game is simply called “Senua”. For reference, the first 2017 game is called Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the 2024 sequel is Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. But more on the name change later.

The two-minute-plus trailer at the Xbox Showcase for Senua opened up with our heroine seemingly on the verge of drowning, perhaps a symbolism of her sorrow, before having an urge to fight like the Pictish Celtic warrior that she is, to not only battle the foes that get in her way, but the visceral voices in her head.

Senua Looks Stunning

Senua, Xbox Game Studios

The trailer blended high-octane combat, with some brutal stealth kills for good measure, a bit of rock climbing, all with an added oomph from an adrenaline-pumping soundtrack. While we can’t judge how the game plays just yet, going by previous entries, it should be a blast. But we can marvel at just how gorgeous this game looks for now. Which, of course, will be no surprise to those familiar with the Ninja Theory series.

Judging by what the trailer suggests, it seems that following the events of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, Senua is struggling with her psychosis illness, and has isolated herself further from the world, perhaps thinking she’s doing herself and everyone else a favour. But if we know Senua, she will soon be harnessing her pain for the greater good and will be isolated no more. Otherwise, Senua hiding in a cave for several hours might not be the most thrilling gameplay experience.

What Gameplay Experience Can We Expect in Senua?

According to a blog post on Xbox Wire, Senua will be very different compared to the first two games. While they both had fun combat and puzzles, it was a very cinematic experience with its fair share of walking about. But in Senua, it’s said to be “a full-on action-adventure” and will build upon what came before. It promises deeper combat, more puzzles, and exploration.

“As a player, you can go into fights, and you have options as to how you approach that fight, how you engage in that fight, and even whether you want to take on those enemies in the first place,” explained Ninja Theory studio head, Dom Matthews.

“Even in today’s trailer, you see Senua choosing to stealthily sneak up on enemies so as not to alert the others, as opposed to wildly running into the fight, which you could also choose to do. This is the type of choice we’re excited for players to have fun with.”

Matthews added, “It's not a combat-action game; people shouldn't expect that this is like two-thirds combat. We're really thinking about it as being a fairly even split between combat, traversal, and puzzle solving.”

Senua will have more ‘Focus’ abilities; she can use traversal to her advantage in combat. She has more weapons, including long and short axes, dual-wield weapons, throwing weapons and more. It sounds like she’s levelled up her skills as a warrior, and hopefully, by the sounds of it, Senua will be a lot more action-packed compared to the first two games. Dom Matthews also stated that community feedback has helped shape Senua.

Why Is It Called Senua and Not Hellblade III?

“The title of just Senua really reflects that this is something fresh and new and different. It is a different style of game,” Matthews explained. “I think Hellblade [Senua’s Sacrifice] and Hellblade II had an intention that we delivered on – but this is a different intention. I think of it as being additive; we're taking all of that goodness and adding the types of things that people expect from a premium action-adventure game.”

When Is the Senua Release Date?

Senua does not have a confirmed release date as of yet. But we do know that it will launch sometime in 2027 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. It will also be available on Xbox Game Pass.

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