Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
Trending
  • Pokemon Winds and Waves
  • New Games for 2026
  • GamesRadar+ Replay
  • Mario Day deals
Don't miss these
Nioh 3 character holding shining jade medallion
Action RPGs "Nioh 3 is a great game but it's not perfect," devs say in refreshing show just weeks after the acclaimed RPG's release
James holds the Alice stuffie in concept art by Jean Walter
Adventure Games Alice Madness Returns creator American McGee is making a spiritual successor, and he's not worried about EA
Kratos approaches Aphrodite's bedchamber in God of War 3
God of War "The God of War sex mini-games were designed by women," which is why Aphrodite's bed looks "like a labia"
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lead Gustave faces a gommage
RPGs Clair Obscur Expedition 33 took inspiration from a surprising anime - Soul Eater creator's Fire Force
Light No Fire key art displaying a mysterious obelisk
Open World Games Light No Fire: Everything you need to know about Hello Games' new open-world adventure
Silver Pines protagonist shoots crows from a cable car
Survival Horror Games Helldivers 2 veterans stole Arrowhead's "fantasy approach" to action while making stunning new horror Metroidvania
Cropped Helldivers 2 art from the official 'Save Cyberstan' poster.
Third Person Shooters Helldivers 2 devs "underinvested" in the game's engine, Arrowhead CEO admits, who pledges "things can/will get better"
Grace checks her phone on the street in Resident Evil Requiem
Resident Evil Resident Evil Requiem actor filmed with the lights off as Capcom tried to "make the situation" as scary as the game
Arc Raiders character holding golden sledgehammer on dark blue starry background
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders lead says a "prominent professor in neurology" encouraged him to submit the extraction shooter to science
Fatal Frame: Crimson Butterfly 2 remake screenshot showing protagonist twins Mio and Mayu Amakura who both have shoulder length dark hair
Fatal Frame It was niche and nearly forgotten, but horror fans begged devs for a Fatal Frame 2 remake and got it
Key art showing cliff with sword and shield in hand with supporting characters behind him and a lush world filled with ancient ruins behind him, with the GamesRadar+ Big in 2026 frame
Action RPGs Crimson Desert's hack and slash boss bottles "play a crucial role in shaping the game’s intensity", but there's more to the open world adventure – like fishing, cooking, and dragon-riding
Nioh 3 samurai deflects an arrow
Action RPGs I was going to play the Nioh 3 demo for 30 minutes – I played 5 hours, and this Soulslike is blowing me away at 120 FPS
Exodus
RPGs More than Mass Effect's spiritual successor, Exodus wants to pull decades of player choice into a single story
Two Nioh 3 warriors clash swords
Action RPGs Boss fights in Lies of P were so good they inspired Nioh 3's director to improve the bosses in his own Soulslike
Halo: Campaign Evolved keyart showing Master Chief on Installation 04
Halo Halo: Campaign Evolved is a faithful remake tasked with relaunching a legendary franchise for a new generation of players
  1. Games
  2. Action

Hellblade 2 developers are setting things on fire in the name of research

News
By Hope Bellingham published 7 September 2021

That’s one way to get realistic looking scorch marks

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Hellblade
(Image credit: Ninja Theory)
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Get the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter

Hellblade 2 developer Ninja Theory has turned to practical effects to get the highest level of detail in its upcoming game as possible. 

A short behind the scenes video shared to the company’s official Twitter account (via Gamespot) shows members of the Hellblade 2 team setting what appears to be a piece of Senua’s clothing on fire with the caption: "Sometimes to create, you must first destroy"

It's high quality scans like this that will help us reach an amazing level of detail in our games. pic.twitter.com/UpokEyCCjrSeptember 6, 2021

It’s for a good cause though; as a follow-up tweet reveals, this is done in order to take high-quality photos of the clothing to use as reference when creating assets in the game.  “It's high-quality scans like this that will help us reach an amazing level of detail in our games,” the tweet reads along with a photo of a scan of the clothing which shows every wrinkle and scorch mark in the material. 

You may like
  • Project: Mara logo on a faint blue background Project Mara: Everything we know so far about Ninja Theory's experimental horror game
  • Phantom Blade Zero Game Awards trailer Phantom Blade Zero devs want their kung-fu game to shake up the action genre, and I'm already spellbound
  • Onimusha Way of the Sword 25 years later, Onimusha developers break down why Capcom's samurai action series is primed for a comeback

The studio’s Twitter account is full of short development insights like this, as is the profile of Melina Juergens, who is the person partially responsible for bringing Senua to life. Juergens previously shared a short video of themselves attending a costume scan at Ninja Theory. 

Despite being announced during E3 2019, Ninja Theory says that Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is still yet to enter "full production," as of June 2021. According to the studio’s founder Tameem Antoniades, Hellblade was a very special game to the studio and so "[the team] wanted to do something extra special and so we're making our lives as difficult as possible in that pursuit." Perhaps that explains why Ninja Theory is happy for its office to smell like burning clothes for the rest of the day. 

Can’t get enough of these behind-the-scenes updates? Take a look at Ninja Theory’s new cloud forming technology for Senua’s Sega: Hellblade 2. 

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
CATEGORIES
PC Gaming Xbox Series X Xbox One Platforms Xbox
PRODUCTS
Hellblade Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2
Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
Social Links Navigation
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.  

Read more
Project: Mara logo on a faint blue background
Project Mara: Everything we know so far about Ninja Theory's experimental horror game
 
 
Phantom Blade Zero Game Awards trailer
Phantom Blade Zero devs want their kung-fu game to shake up the action genre, and I'm already spellbound
 
 
Onimusha Way of the Sword
25 years later, Onimusha developers break down why Capcom's samurai action series is primed for a comeback
 
 
Samurai Miyamoto Musashi raises his sword to guard in key art for Onimusha: Way of the Sword, with enemies in a montage behind him - with the GamesRadar+ Big in 2026
"What we wanted to depict was the figure of a young, rough-edged Musashi": Onimusha: Way of the Sword's protagonist melds a historical figure with a cinematic legend
 
 
Key art from Cliver Barker's Hellraiser: Revival showing Pinhead holding the Genesis Configuration while lightning crackles from it against a background of dark smog, cropped for a header image with the GamesRadar+ Big in 2026 frame
Hellraiser: Revival has such sights to show you, but "most of them pretty visceral and gruesome"
 
 
No Man's Sky and Light No Fire fans in shambles as Hello Games boss Sean Murray starts tweeting safety vest emojis
 
 
Latest in Action
Bizarre Lineage codes
Bizarre Lineage codes (March 2026) for free Stat Point Essence, Rare Chests, and more
 
 
Kratos approaches Aphrodite's bedchamber in God of War 3
"The God of War sex mini-games were designed by women," which is why Aphrodite's bed looks "like a labia"
 
 
GTA 6
Some of GTA 6's big ideas are likely hiding in GTA 5, ex-Rockstar dev predicts – and you can look at GTA 4 to see why
 
 
Screenshot from Ratcheteer DX, showing a GBC-style cave with four pixelated characters finding warmth around a fire.
The Legend of Zelda-esque game mimics the GameBoy to GameBoy Color transition, goes from retro handheld to PC and Switch
 
 
Musashi examines the oni gauntlet with a confused expression in Onimusha: Way of the Sword
Not content with stopping the avalanche of AAA games Capcom teases even more unannounced games before April 2027
 
 
A crop of the MindsEye key art for a review header
"Overwhelming evidence of organized espionage": MindsEye CEO blames launch on "corporate sabotage" amid more layoffs
 
 
Latest in News
Palworld Pal with shocked expression
"I wouldn't rule out a Palworld 2.0," says Pocketpair publishing head, but don't expect a "No Man's Sky situation"
 
 
Dafne Keen brandishing her claws as Laura/X-23 in Deadpool and Wolverine
Marvel fans are debating whether Dafne Keen should become Wolverine or stay as X-23, and I've already chosen a side
 
 
Peak mesa biome
Peak came about after a bet between Content Warning and Another Crab's Treasure leads to see whose game would sell more
 
 
Jin, Mugen, and Fuu standing in a row
Samurai Champloo is getting a live-action Netflix series from One Piece studio, and the original creator is on board
 
 
Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise in the It: Welcome to Derry finale
It: Welcome to Derry season 2 is officially in the works, as showrunner promises "something greater" than season 1
 
 
Mass Effect
"F***ing Colonel Shepard dies in Mass Effect 3, and that makes us the Worst Company in America," former EA exec laments
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Dafne Keen brandishing her claws as Laura/X-23 in Deadpool and Wolverine
    1
    Marvel fans are debating whether Dafne Keen should become Wolverine or stay as X-23, and I've already chosen a side
  2. 2
    "I wouldn't rule out a Palworld 2.0," says Pocketpair publishing head, but don't expect a "No Man's Sky situation" with a "decade of continuous, massive updates"
  3. 3
    "Whoever sells more copies pays for the other's therapy": Peak came about after a bet between Content Warning and Another Crab's Treasure leads, and ironically the friendslop collab that followed sold more than both games combined
  4. 4
    Samurai Champloo is returning as a live-action Netflix series from One Piece adaptation team, and the original creator is on board: "We've learned" after Cowboy Bebop
  5. 5
    It: Welcome to Derry season 2 is definitely in the works, as showrunner promises to "deliver something that is greater" than season 1

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...