Hellblade 2: first look at Senua’s emotions in Unreal Engine 5

Feelings of unreality on the skin: Senua is more alive than ever in the demonstration of Unreal Engine 5, and bodes well for Hellblade 2

During its latest presentation at the Game Developers Conference, Epic Games showcased its technology for new animations for Unreal Engine 5 with an exceptional model: Senua da Hellblade 2. The primary purpose was to show how the Ninja Theory development team was using the graphics engine to bring the emotions of the protagonist to life. Of course, the conference is mainly directed to the development aspect, but we will turn a blind eye if there was also room for a few pats on the back of mutual satisfaction at the end of this presentation.

Hellblade 2 shines with the expressiveness of Senua thanks to Unreal Engine 5

The reference model for Ninja Theory, as well as actress in the flesh for the appearance of Senua Melina Juergens, showed how Unreal Engine 5 could base its data needs on an iPhone camera. That’s really all you need to have detailed facial animations. Technology MetaHuman by Epic Games processes the recorded material to apply animations to in-game 3D models, thus expressing fear, anger and much more without the need to make every single modification manually. You can see it all in action by checking out the video included below.

Then using something more sophisticated to capture an actor’s or actress’ performance, the software can apply these animations to the 3D models in real time. The video above is just a simple demonstration of this, as well as a new and brief look at the development progress of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. It’s been a long time since we’ve heard of the game, and the details in our possession in this regard continue to be few. The game will come out on PC, Xbox Series X e Xbox Series S. But as for the details on the sequel to Senua’s Sacrifice, the 2017 Ninja Theory title, little or nothing is known yet. Unfortunately.

Now it’s up to you to have your say: what do you think of the progress seen today? Let us know below, and as always, don’t forget to stay on tuttotek for all the most important news for gamers and more. For your purely gaming needs, you can instead find the best discounts in digital format on Kinguin.