Hellblade 2 gameplay reveal shows a giant hunt gone wrong

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 got its first full-fat gameplay trailer at The Game Awards, and yep, it looks fabulous in motion. 

The trailer opens with Senua stealthing through a cave with a few others, and swiftly escalates into a full-blown assault on a giant. Senua manages to set the giant ablaze with some oil and a flaming spear, but things go south pretty quickly. Senua and the gang lure the giant outside, with Senua occasionally stopping to chuck spears as she flees, but the giant makes short work of their prepared defenses – and snacks on one of the warriors. Not unexpectedly, the trailer concludes with a dramatic close-up and some curious whispering – classic Hellblade. 

This whole section could pass for a cutscene, and the abundance of burn wounds is oddly fitting since Ninja Theory was lighting stuff on fire in the name of research just a few months ago. 

The most recent Hellblade 2 trailer showed off the visual upgrades made possible by the Xbox Series X, but this trailer is arguably a more impressive showcase. And while it doesn't show a huge variety of action – mostly sprinting and spear-throwing, really – it all looks incredibly fluid. 

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is coming to Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC. It doesn't have a release date yet, and as of this June, work on the game had yet to enter "full production" according to Ninja Theory. We don't know its current status, but there's little doubt that it's still a ways out.

Ninja Theory is churning out unbelievably realistic shots and assets – like this photorealistic staircase, which will surely be used for something important.