Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Review

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, a hack and slash game is the latest game from Ninja Theory, the developers of Devil May Cry, Odyssey: Journey To The West and other hack and slash games. The developers called it an independent AAA game as it was developed by a team of 20. But it still delivers astonishing graphics and it was even optimized for the PS4 Pro running smoothly at 60 fps.

The game has you controlling Senua, a Celtic warrior who was banished from her homeland. She embarks on a quest to the Viking underworld to rescue her soulmate. She goes through various dangers and has to deal with the voices in her head to get to her lover. Senua suffers from psychosis, so she hears a lot of voices in her head. The game developers even consulted a team of psychiatrists to get the full effect of this.

As you start up the game, you are advised to put on headphones. You will do well to heed this advice. Hellblade: Senua’s sacrifice uses 3D binaural audio. The voices dance around you, giving a sound effect unlike any other. The voices you hear taunt you, mock you and sometimes give you valuable advice. Audio cues are very important in this game. The voice acting is top notch and your guide feels so real. When playing the game, you will know she’s in your head. You will get scared at some points in the game.

The psychotic effect adds real value to the game. It is the basic essence of the game. You can feel her anguish and the other emotions she faces. It’s not as if she starts the game looking gorgeous but by the time the game is over, she is a mess covered in blood, grime and paint. The psychiatric effect is really tasking on your emotions. Ninja Theory really made psychosis so real in the game.

One thing that lets Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice down is its mediocre combat. The enemies aren’t difficult to face. And they don’t have a lot of variety. After you have played for about 2 hours, you have probably seen what an enemy looks like except for the bosses. Towards the ending, the combat peaks and you get involved in more challenging fights. The enemies become more plenty and they surround you quickly. Then, you’ll get to know more about your powers making the last hours more enjoyable. There is some puzzle solving involved but the puzzles are very easy to solve.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice has a kind of permadeath where your saved file gets corrupted. This is brought on by an infection that spreads up her arm to her head gradually. Any time you die, the infection spreads up. Die too many times and your saved game is deleted meaning that you have to start the game right from the beginning. But thankfully, the game isn’t difficult and you won’t die too many times unless you suck lol. Just kidding, you don't have to worry about your files getting corrupted. The developers told that permadeath bluff so gamers could feel anxiety and fear like Senua.

By the time you are through with the game, you feel a deep sense of relief welling through you. It is a tumultuous experience that drains a part of you. You fight both physically and mentally. If you play at night, you might have a horror like experience. So if you don't want any late night hallucinations, then don't play this at night.

Watch Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Full Walkthrough

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