Project Mara is a new project from the creators of Hellblade

Ninja Theory has announced Project Mara, a new major project from the studio coming alongside the likes of Bleeding Edge and Hellblade: Senua’s Saga. 

It was announced in a press release from Microsoft yesterday, confirming that the first-party developer is already hard at work after being acquired back in 2018.

The experimental title aims to explore new ways of storytelling that, much like Hellblade before it, will focus on specific themes of mental health to tell a disturbing, sensory experience for players. 

“Project: Mara will be a real-world and grounded representation of mental terror. Based on real lived experience accounts and in-depth research, the aim is to recreate the horrors of the mind as accurately and realistically as possible,” reads the announcement. 

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This sounds like an intriguing premise, but there’s an incredibly fine line between advocating for the conditions they’re taking inspiration from and morphing them into borderline misery porn that could arguably undermine real-world experiences. 

Time will tell how this shapes out, as it will inevitably arrive during the next generation of consoles in the coming years. For now, here’s what we thought of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is our 4.5/5 review: 

“Hellblade triumphs equally as action game, mythic quest and psychological character study, bringing together some amazing visuals, great performances and ingenious design. It’s short-lived but perfectly paced with a blend of action and puzzles that grows in richness and complexity as the game goes on,” said Brett Phipps’ verdict at the time. 

Xbox Series X is due to launch in the latter months of 2020 alongside Halo Infinite and Hellblade: Senua’s Saga. A number of other titles are also rumoured, although we likely won’t see them come to light until a full reveal in the coming weeks and months. We’ll be sure to update you with all the latest information once it surfaces.