HELLBLADE: SENUA'S SACRIFICE REVIEW

Disturbing, unsettling and frightening - in mostly the right ways.

PC version reviewed.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a game published and developed by Ninja Theory for the Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC.

This review has some spoilers!

GAMEPLAY
The rune puzzles repeat throughout and are so very boring. You just look around the environment for 5 minutes having to find the exact match up to a given shape. It's not hugely challenging most the time but is really dull, especially since, at least at the start, that's most of what the game throws at you puzzle wise. This is made even more frustrating when the door you've been trying to unlock bugs up and doesn't open, meaning you have to quit back to the menu and then continue from the last checkpoint, which leads to you having to find the runes again and hoping that the door opens.

The combat isn't horrible but isn't amazing either. Fighting multiple enemies can be a bit frustrating, especially considering that they can spawn in behind you sometimes and the only warning being the voices. If the camera weren't so zoomed in and could adjust a bit more when multiple enemies appeared it would probably have been an improvement. There can be some satisfaction in a well timed block or letting loose with the focus and the whole system seems simple enough to get to grips with.

People did numerous tests to see how many times Senua could die before the rot mechanic would kill her, once I saw the message appear in game I searched the internet because I was worried I might end up having to play through the game again if I found it too difficult. However once you finish the game you can realise just how genius the rot mechanic was. It was there to invoke fear into the player and make them overly weary of how they were doing, but ultimately it was just there to do that, it wasn't actually there to punish the player physically but mentally.

STORY
The idea of a protagonist with psychosis is such a great idea that hasn't been explored too often throughout mainstream media really, let alone games. It seems Ninja Theory did their research on it and didn't just run through a checklist and call it a day. It's certainly where the game is at its strongest, along with the sound design.

Senua's character development is very good, certainly for a video game.

I really liked the message of psychosis not necessarily being a weakness but instead a different way of thinking. That's not to say the game certainly doesn't show downsides to it but it ultimately ends with a pretty positive message.

GRAPHICS

Most of the environments are messed up, ghastly, horrible and unwelcoming which is exactly what Ninja Theory were going for considering the story.

The motion capture was very good and the insertion of live actors had me questioning what was real and what was an in-game model.

SOUND
Very impressive sound design with the binaural sound used for the voices being very effective and it really did sound like they were right next to you at times. Voice acting and the soundtrack were both good too.

VALUE FOR MONEY

Obviously this game is about the experience rather than hours to money ratio. Most people generally seem to beat it in around 6-8 hours. It doesn't hugely seem like it has much replay-ability but the game also had a below average price at launch to try and amend this. It's certainly one of the games you buy for the experience rather than a money to hour ratio.

OVERALL
Senua's Sacrifice is a game that is pretty innovative in its exploration of themes around psychosis. It definitely deserves credit for trying out something very different and treating the subject matter with respect. Sadly however the game is let down by some of the actual gameplay with repetitive puzzles and some bugs. If you're looking for an action packed third person experience this probably won't fill that gap but if you're looking for a game with a good story this will provide one that, for me at least, made up for the at times frustrating gameplay. Absolutely get it if you like good stories.