Hellblade Dev Diary Shows Combat Tweaks, How Star Wars 7 Stunt Actor Helped Create Combos

Heavenly Sword, Enslaved, and DmC: Devil May Cry developer Ninja Theory has released a new dev diary for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, its upcoming third-person action game for PlayStation 4 and PC.

The video explores the numerous changes the game's combat system has undergone. Instead of the usual pulled-back third-person perspective Ninja Theory has used for previous games, the team decided to bring the camera in close in Hellblade to create a more intimate feel.

Initially, a directional combat system that allowed players to attack and block in one of four different directions. This, however, turned out to be very limiting.

Senior designer Juan Fernandez then joined the combat team and presented a system that focuses on "simple but tight core actions" and "flows responsively and intuitively." Watch the video above to learn more about it.

The diary also shows how Chloe Bruce, who played Daisy Ridley's stunt double in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, worked with the team to create combat strings for protagonist Senua.

As previously announced, Hellblade will be available on PS4 and PC at the same time. It does not yet have a specific launch date, however. Ninja Theory has said it will be available some time in 2016.