Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice | Review
Developer/Publisher: Ninja Theory
Platforms: PS4, PC (Review Platform)
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is the latest game from English studio Ninja Theory. The studio is perhaps best known for developing the absolutely fantastic DMC: Devil May Cry which dragged the hit and miss Devil May Cry series out of the disappointment of Devil May Cry 4 and the general awfulness of the series’ plot to tell a genuinely intriguing story through beautiful & surreal imagery. DMC was excellent and it wasn’t even their best game, but as much as I love talking about the absolute fact of the excellence of that game, it’s now time to talk about Hellblade and how it might possibly be even better than DMC: Devil May Cry...which is a really great game by the way.
Hellblade tells the story of Senua, a Celtic warrior who sets out on a journey into viking territory. Ninja Theory were inspired by mental illness & our conceptions surrounding that and in the years spent creating Hellblade, they have worked closely with sufferers of mental illness and experts in the field to try to portray what they feel would be an accurate representation of psychosis through the best audio/visual medium available to do it.
It’s made apparent right from the start of the game that Senua is suffering. She is plagued with visions, delusions and more importantly, a crowd of voices in her head. These voices are the first way in which Ninja Theory has set out to innovate, Hellblade features binural audio which when heard through headphones aims to give the listener a simulated 3D audio environment. The game encourages the player to wear headphones before the title screen and this is the definitive way to experience the game.
The opening of the game perfectly sets the tone and immediately immerses the player through narration which has an almost ASMR-like quality. Other voices chime in from different directions portraying Senua’s conflicting emotions and inner turmoil. Her internal companions can fill her with doubt, lead her astray but also fill her with hope and even save her life all at once.
Music is used very sparingly in Hellblade, almost as if it is blurring the line between diegetic and non-diegetic sound to once again accentuate the themes of the game. It is all at once thunderous and epic yet surprisingly distant. ‘Battle March’ is the stand-out track and has clear Viking overtones but again, each track seems to organically weave itself in and out of this journey, never taking the player too much out of this intentionally isolating experience. In contrast, the main theme which plays during the credits is a bit of a curve-ball with its cheesy lyrics and production and in my opinion is not fitting with the tone of the ending.
The idea for the main bulk of the gameplay came from the experiences of people who imagine meaning in everyday objects and shapes. These are perspective puzzles which task the player to find Nordic runes hidden within the environment to open doors. These can come in the form of shafts of light, trails of fire or any number of other things. The game finds other intriguing ways to play with perspective too, such as gateways that change the environment once the player passes through them. Once the runes are found, the way forward is opened, but things other than doors can also block Senua’s path.
The combat system of Hellblade is a simple yet robust one. The player can make use of timed blocks, dodges, light & heavy attacks with a sword and a bash move all of which can be gracefully chained together with a satisfying amount of freedom. The challenge comes from fighting multiple enemies at once which become more numerous and powerful as the game goes on. Senua can only focus on one enemy at a time so the player must be mindful of their surroundings and use all the space at their disposal to outmanoeuvre the enemy. Enemies have no qualms about attacking from behind or attacking all at once, but the voices in Senua’s head will give a warning if she senses she is about to be attacked from an unseen enemy.
The combat is made even more satisfying by the stunning animation work that Ninja Theory have always excelled at. Once again they have utilised motion capture to bring out a stunning realism to Senua’s movements. This is also true of the many cutscenes in which the performance of Melina Jurgens shines through as a breathtaking feat of acting and voicework. Voice acting is overall some of the most engaging we’ve had in this medium, however given Senua’s home town of Orkney it would have made sense to include more actors from the North rather than majority Southern and posh...a minor complaint.
The story of Senua not only explores mental illness but a few other dark and intriguing topics. Increasingly, the game feels just as much a journey into Senua’s mind and her past as it does a journey through Viking Hel. Either way this is presented through stunning visuals with a good sense of both the large scale and the claustrophobic where necessary. These visuals in addition to the game’s unique take on audio, often combine to give a horror experience like no other. There’s also Ninja Theory’s brilliantly sadistic threat looming over the player the entire game, that if Senua dies too many times, the darkness that is visibly creeping up her arm as the game goes on will consume her entirely and your save file will be erased.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice sets out to innovate in the areas of storytelling, audio and gameplay and for the most part it did just that. Ninja Theory should be commended for attempting a game with a smaller budget and a smaller price tag because they’ve definitively proven that high end production values can still be achieved that way. The game is not without minor graphical bugs such as camera clipping but this was a very rare occurrence. The game does well to stay clear of tired ideas like collectables which could have easily detracted from its perfect pacing. Instead, this is a focused, well realised and original game that Ninja Theory should be proud of, because they still have never made a bad game and in a hel of a lot of ways, this might just be their best one.
Pros:
An audiovisual masterpiece.
Reasonably low price tag.
It's a Ninja Theory game.
Cons:
Fairly short. (Approx 8 hours)
Not much re-playability beyond just enjoying the story again.
