Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice developer, Ninja Theory, posted a video that showcases unbelievably realistic in-engine footage of another of its new endeavors, Project: Mara. Ninja Theory first teased Project: Mara last year, revealing it as an experimental game that will explore storytelling with a novel approach by focusing on "the horrors of the mind as accurately and realistically as possible."
The UK-based team has been in business for over 20 years now, having shipped cult classics such as PlayStation 3's Heavenly Sword and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. It came to particular public prominence upon creating the much-maligned DmC: Devil May Cry, before truly making a name for itself with the aforementioned Hellblade. The latter threw Ninja Theory into the stratosphere, ultimately culminating in the studio's becoming a member of Xbox's first-party studios.
A new developer diary from Ninja Theory shows more of the stunning details the team aims to reflect in Project: Mara. In this latest video, the studio's Chief Creative, Tameem Antoniades, walks viewers through Project: Mara's "art process." Since the game is set in a real-world apartment, Ninja Theory is doing everything it can to fully recreate every detail. Thus far, only in-engine footage has been shown, but that doesn't make it any less impressive. For example, the studio's tech team focuses many of its efforts on perfectly recapturing textures in the apartment, such as wood, carpet, and wallpaper. Doing so requires the crew to take samples, photograph them under various lighting conditions, and scan them with a developer-made scanner. The results are unbelievable. It's nearly impossible to differentiate between side-by-side shots of real-world sinks, walls, and staircases and their in-engine counterparts.
Since Ninja Theory also has its hands full with Hellblade's sequel, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, there is no telling when the public will actually get to see Project: Mara in action. At present, Senua's Sage lacks a release date; the developer remains pretty tight-lipped about the game itself, too. A few teases emerge every so often, but nothing that indicates fans will step into Senua's shoes for another haunting journey anytime soon.
Ninja Theory hasn't spent the last few years focuses solely on single-player experiences. Last year, the studio tried its hand at a multiplayer venture, Bleeding Edge. The always-online title ultimately failed to make much of an impact, though. Bleeding Edge didn't review well, either, and it doesn't seem to have received any new content in quite some time.
Source: Ninja Theory
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January 19, 2021 at 05:41AM
