ARTHUR MORGAN (RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2)

With Red Dead Redemption 1, Rockstar had delivered probably their best protagonist ever with John Marston, so before Red Dead 2’s launch, there were many who were more than a little skeptical of this new protagonist they’d be playing as. It’s fair to say that when the game came out, Arthur Morgan proved all his doubters wrong comprehensively. He is, without a doubt, one of the most compelling protagonists we’ve ever seen in a game- complex, conflicted, flawed, brought to life by excellent writing and a memorable performance by Roger Clarke. Red Dead 2’s story is surely its greatest strength, and Arthur Morgan is surely that story’s greatest strength.

With next gen right around the corner, all of us have all sorts of wishlists in our minds, and most of them, of course, are all about the thing that matters most- the games. There’s so many games we’d like to see on next-gen platforms, so many franchises we’d like to see making a return. In this feature, we’ll be talking about fourteen sequels to Microsoft-owned franchises that we’d like to see on the Xbox Scarlett, at one point or another.

Some of the games we’ll be mentioning will be obvious picks, the kind that will inevitably show up sooner rather than later, while others will be more out there, as hopes and dreams go. In all cases though, keep in mind that this is a wishlist, not a prediction list. With all that out of the way, let’s get started.

HALO WARS 3

Halo will, of course, be a major presence on Xbox Scarlett – it’s launching with the next big Halo title, after all – but we’d like to see more from the franchise on the console than just its mainline games. Halo Wars started as an interesting strategy offshoot, and though the first game was definitely a flawed one, it showed plenty of promise. Halo Wars 2 made good on a lot of its potential, and was a much better game than any of us were expecting it to be. Our hope is that Microsoft will continue to invest in this branch of Halo, and allow Halo Wars to continue its upward trajectory with a third game.

We already know that the PC version of Hellblade will allegedly support uncapped framerates, and resolutions as high as 4K. However, don’t get too excited at the prospect of some sweet 4K and 60fps action- as it turns out, the game will need some exceptionally high end hardware to run at those levels, at least if Ninja Theory is to be believed.

“You would need an absolute beast to do 4k at 60. We don’t have recommended specs for PC yet but we will release these when we know,” Ninja Theory co-founder and Hellblade Creative Director Tameem Antoniades told WCCFTech in an interview.

Certainly, the game looks good enough that it seems as though you might need some powerful hardware to be able to max it out. That said, the exact extent of the specs needed to run this game at a level of visuals this high can’t be guessed until we have the recommended specs for the PC version of the game. As of right now, the minimum specs for the game are posted on the game’s Steam page, but that’s all we have.

Hellblade will launch on PC and PS4 on August 8.

Ninja Theory’s Hellblade hasn’t been receiving the most information in recent months but today we get a look at protagonist Senua, her new look and a peek at her tragic story, which may or may not all be in her head (spoiler: they are). Check it out below.

Over the past year, Ninja Theory has been releasing development diaries, focusing on animation and making Senua an extremely believable character. That work has come to fruition in this new trailer which also sports some excellent voice acting and sound mixing to go with the burning corpses.

Hellblade will be out this year for PS4 and PC. The story focuses on a Celtic myth and has Senua traversing a horrifying reality based on psychological manifestations of her mind. Will the gameplay change along with her look? We’ll find out in the coming months so stay tuned for more information and let us know what you think in the comments.

Ninja Theory’s Hellblade, their promising character action game that promises to delve deep into psychological issues such as clinical depression, was originally anticipated to launch last year- but of course, that never ended up happening. The game will now be launching this year, it has been confirmed. What’s more, it will be launching on PC and PlayStation 4 simultaneously– the game’s launch on other platforms had previously been a bit nebulous, with only an initial PS4 launch ever officially being confirmed.

Hellblade promises to be something special- Ninja Theory games always play well, but it will probably be the subject matter of the game, which sees the character descending into a hellish world which is, in fact, a manifestation of her mental illnesses, which will make it stand out. If Ninja Theory manage to tackle the matter correctly and sensitively, they will have made a very meaningful game in the end.

You can learn more about Hellblade by checking out our interview with Ninja Theory.

The PlayStation 4 and PC exclusive, Hellblade, the action game from Ninja Theory that deals with psychological conditions and descent into depression, is apparently going to start afresh- Ninja Theory confirmed today that the vertical slice of gameplay that they demonstrated at Gamescom was just a testbed of ideas, and that the final game will be different.

“A vertical slice is a testbed of ideas, not part of the final game. It has been retired and we have started Hellblade production afresh,” they said.

That said, they were adamant that this did not mean that development was starting over from scratch. “Retiring a vertical slice and moving on into full production is good news. It is not starting again, it is moving forward as expected,” they said, also confirming that they are still committed to their ‘open development’ philosophy.

As of right now, the game is scheduled for a 2016 launch. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.

We’ve known about Hellblade for a very long time now. We’ve talked about it with developers Ninja Theory in depth, and we have heard what they are gunning for with this game before. But mostly everything about it has been shrouded in mystery, and we haven’t yet seen any actual gameplay footage of the title.

Well, that all changed today as, in their newest update they not only took the wraps off of the game’s central concept, but also showed us the first ever gameplay footage for the game. Check it out for yourself above.

Hellblade is a game that will deal with mental illness- the eponymous hell here is not a literal hell, but the hell that someone must suffer as they descend through psychosis, depression, and delusions.

“From George Orwell’s 1984, to George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, the best fantasy breaks down barriers and lets us see the world without prejudice. This is what we want to do with Hellblade. To see the world through Senua’s eyes, and in doing so, address a subject that is still considered taboo,” Ninja Theory said, as they revealed the game.

To ensure that the subject matter is dealt with the appropriate sensitivity and respect, Ninja Theory are working closely with Professor Paul Fletcher, a professor of Health Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, as well as arranging to consult directly with people who have experience of mental health difficulties. Hellblade is also being supported by Wellcome Trust, which is a global charitable foundation which aims to build a greater public understanding of science and in particular health.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage and information.

Ninja Theory have promised us that they will finally be taking the wraps off of their eagerly anticipated new action game, Hellblade, next month, debuting some gameplay footage at long last. And correspondingly, in their newest development diary, they show us their approach to developing a gameplay demo, the kind of process that goes on behind the scenes at their studio.

Of course, this development diary itself doesn’t feature any gameplay footage, not just yet- but to anyone who wants to know more about how the game really will be in action, it’s the closest we have gotten so far.

Hellblade was originally announced at Gamescom last year for the PlayStation 4, with a PC version confirmed later. It will be arriving digitally to those platforms. For more on the game, and on how Ninja Theory is perceiving the new ‘indie AAA,’ make sure to check our interview with the developer.

Although we still have not seen much of gameplay for the game, and we don’t know when it is out, Ninja Theory’s upcoming action adventure title Hellblade remains a promising prospect for most of us. If you are looking forward to the game, and want to see more of it, this video is the closest you are going to get. It’s a new developer’s diary, showing us the work that is going behind getting the performance capture just right for this game.

You can check out the advanced and sophisticated techniques that the studio is using for yourself in the video above, and you can also get an idea of what all it entails to develop an action game at Ninja Theory.

Hellblade is going to be out some time later this year on PlayStation 4 and PC. It will be distributed digitally only. We will hopefully have more information on this game come E3, so stay tuned.

Ninja Theory’s next big action adventure game is Hellblade, releasing on the PS4 and ideally for other platforms like the PC, and while it may bear a passing resemblance to Heavenly Sword, there’s plenty to distinguish the game from the developer’s other efforts.

This was made evident in a recent Q&A wherein the studio answered 20 questions from fans. It was confirmed that not only would there be no Quick Time Events (QTEs) in the game but you would only have a single weapon to use and master. There won’t be levels to the character’s progression either – Ninja Theory seems to be going with a “purely skill-based” approach to combat. Finally, if you didn’t like the companion AI in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, then you’ll be happy to hear that it won’t be returning.

What are your thoughts on Hellblade at this point? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information.