Chapter II:
Freyslaug
Draugar Ceremony
Video from Gamer's Little Playground
Blockout
GROUND TRUTH:
During this project, one of our core pillars was developing with a foundation of ground truth. For level design, this started with using the topography data from Iceland that we collected with drones. We mapped our narrative locations to their real-world counterparts and designed a narrative flow through the environments. Next, we would block out the experience with simple geometry, then collaborate with environment artists on a more detailed blockout. This level began as a Draugr stealth mission to save Fargrímr.
Version 1
STEALTH ARENA:
After our first round of feedback, we wanted to strip back the manmade elements and embrace the raw landscape. We simplified the route and introduced a rhythmic light-and-shadow stealth system. The Draugr chanting and performing their ritual in the centre would periodically create bursts of light in time with the music. The player would get spotted and attacked if they weren't hidden in the shadows during these bursts of light. The player's goal at this stage was to free the sacrifices trapped in pens around the ritual and overthrow the Draugr.
Version 2
HORROR SET PIECE:
Later in the project, we decided to cut the light and shadow stealth mechanic and use it elsewhere in the game. I redesigned the level and mapped new narrative beats to the environment. The new brief was to create a cannibalistic horror setpiece. I adapted the layout to shift the tone when stealthing around the arena. Instead of freeing the sacrifices trapped in pens, the player would fall just short of this goal and helplessly experience the gory motion-captured Draugr killings. After finally freeing Fargrímr, Illtauga shatters the earth and sets the scene for an intense combat encounter with the Draugr.
Chapter IV:
Huldufólk
The First Ritual
Video from Gamer's Little Playground
Exploration
WHAT IS A RITUAL?:
When I joined the project, I joined a small pod of very talented developers. We were tasked with discovering what rituals in Hellblade 2 could be. How could we create a boss fight-like experience without a violent narrative? How could we add gameplay to an emotional audio-visual experience? Eventually, we settled on enhancing the light and shadow stealth mechanic and create a surreal playspace to fully bring the concept to life.
Version 1
FRACTURED PLANES:
Once we had defined the broad strokes of what a ritual was, I designed and blocked out the first ritual, the players' final encounter with Illtauga. The initial concept for the level was that Illtauga's rage and despair, over losing her child, had fractured her view of the world but also fractured herself. Seeing the world through Illtauga's eyes reveals the level. The player sees a plane of concentric discs with Illtauga in the centre. Illtauga breaks the world apart, chunks of the level start to revolve around Illtauga, soon all the fragments begin to act like a solar system orbiting Illtauga. The player must traverse through the remainder of the level and use focus to line up and snap the orbiting parts of the level back into place. Once the player welds the entire level back to its original flat state, the player can approach Illtauga and free her from her pain.
Version 2
LIGHT AND SHADOW:
After I designed and blocked out the second ritual, it was decided that we wanted to theme Illtauga after fire from the volcano and Sægeirr after water from the sea. The level I made for Sægeirr in the second ritual fit much better for Illtauga in the first ritual. The rituals were now sisters, one fire, the other water. Both rituals became gameplay experiences tied to music, players would need to take cover from impacts tied to the beat. After players reach the end of the gauntlet and approach the monster, Senua frees them from their pain by speaking their true name and seeing them as people.
For Illtauga's ritual, I was asked to create the level as a spiral, where the player would break her free from chains, journeying to get close enough to speak her name. I decided to split the level into 4 sections and have the player break 3 chains along the way. Each Section would introduce a new addition to the gameplay: Teaching cover mechanics, Dynamic playspace, Dynamic cover points, Desperate sprint to the finish. It was important to balance the action gameplay with the emotional beats when breaking Illtauga's chains. I decided to scale Illtauga to keep her the same size on the screen as the player progresses through the level. This not only made her presence intimate throughout the whole experience, but as she shrinks, the player's empathy grows. The Illtauga you face at the end of the level is completely different to the monster you face at the start.
Chapter V:
Bárðarvik
The Second Ritual
Video from Gamer's Little Playground
Version 1
ECLIPSE:
The initial brief for the second ritual was to create a piece of gameplay where Senua is forming an eclipse to block the sun. An eclipse that would make the Sea Troll leave his cave so Senua could fight him. I designed a system where solar blasts would pulse, tied to the beat, and players would take cover by hiding in the shadows of statues. The player had to make their way to a point where they could focus on debris to form a shell covering the sun until they had created a total eclipse.
Version 2
SPIRAL:
The second brief for the ritual was to create a mirror of the first. The narrative had changed from needing to create an eclipse to freeing Sægeirr from his pain. I decided to split the level into 4 sections again and have the player focus on Sægeirr 3 times along the way. Each section would introduce a new addition to the gameplay: Teaching cover mechanics, avoiding lightning, sheltering from tidal waves where the player needs to grab to hold on, and a desperate sprint to the finish. All the while, the sea level is rising as you journey to Sægeirr on top of the spiral.
Version 3
CAUSEWAY:
After playtesting with the wider studio, it was decided the two rituals were too similar, both sharing the spiral level design felt more akin to twins than sisters. I redesigned and blocked out a new version taking place on a causeway where Sægeirr had created a storm around himself. The player's goal, to reach the eye of the storm and speak his name. I felt the grabbing mechanic had the most potential and decided to create the first half of the ritual around the idea of surviving being hit by waves. The second half of the ritual is where the player enters the storm and must dodge crashing debris flung around by the tornado. I created a system that spawned debris in front of the player while they sprinted across the cuaseway. This created a dynamic action, dodging and springing setpiece that suddenly gets contrasted with a calm and gentle space when you enter the eye of the storm. Senua meets Sægeirr here and frees him from his pain by speaking his true name and seeing them as a person.
Conclusion
Hellblade II will always be a special project for me, it was the first project I worked on when I joined the industry. An industry I was inspired to join by playing the first Hellblade. I learnt a lot, worked with a lot of talented people across so many departments. Prototyping, iterating and polishing these levels has been a labour of love and passion for this craft. I look forward to what I create next.
