New Trailer for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice Makes a Strong Case That Celtic Hel is Just Silent Hill

I actually found myself at E3 last week talking to a friend of mine about Ninja Theory's new game, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. The more I see of the upcoming Celtic action-horror game, the more intriguing it seems, especially since "Hel" is starting to resemble a Nordic Silent Hill. At least that's the impression I got from the new trailer the studio put out today.

The "Hela" trailer is similar in intensity to the Ragnarok trailer the studio published over at the PlayStation Blog earlier this month. It begins with Senua in some kind of stormy setting as voice overs (or her own voices?) try shouting her down. All-the-while a large figure begins looming in the background before slowly becoming more corporeal.

The trailer is a bit heavy-handed about whether or not all this is real or just in Senua's mind, but considering this game takes place in the Viking underworld, it's probably safe to say all the demonic shenanigans are real. According to Ninja Theory's Dominic Matthews, the game aims to explore psychosis and trauma, two topics adored by the psychological horror genre. Though considering this is a game from the same studio that developed Enslaved and Devil May Cry, there's probably going to be more action than a typical Silent Hill game.

Personally, I'm both intrigued by the premise of the game as well as curious to see how Ninja Theory balances the midway between Triple-A and Indie game development. I think the choice of protagonist, a traumatized Celtic warrior, is inspired but of course I reserve final judgement until I actually play the game.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is currently available for pre-order on the PlayStation 4.