Review for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. Game for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 08/08/2017 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 11/04/2019 The version for Xbox One came out on 10/04/2018
I was ready to enjoy a female version of the well-known Spartan who has repeatedly seduced the general public; ready to visit Scotland or whoever for her lulled by a script punctuated by disemboweled divinities and arterial sketches that would be the envy of Tarantino; ready for that parietal lobotomy entertainment that is often sought when we are exhausted or, in our case, when August imposes itself with the ferocity of a fair, tyrannizing us with unbearable heat.
I wasn't ready for Senua. I was not ready to walk in the intricate tapestry woven by his psychosis: I was not ready to be indifferent to hear those persuasive whispers confuse me: I would not have had the strength to face my darkness. I had to do it, he forced me. It happened in that instant when Senua pierced the fourth wall, her eyes met mine, indissolubly nailing them to her misfortunes.
In the spiral of psychosis
The talented guys from Ninja Theory they wear the bulky uniforms of the pioneers, in this videogame work located between indie and triple A, recreating the dynamics of psychosis, letting us impersonate Senua. Our warrior, returning from a mysterious exile, finds what remains of a Viking raid in her village: the burning of homes and the death of her loved ones. Thus begins her journey to Hel, the kingdom of the dead, in order to bring her beloved back among the living.
The Viking version of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is however enriched by an extreme characterization of Senua. The psychosis generated by traumatic events is proposed to us in the form of visual and auditory hallucinations. The Ninja Theory team has in fact worked alongside a team of psychologists and even with subjects afflicted by hallucinatory psychosis, to make the most of the sensations experienced by Senua.
The great visual attention aimed at creating an empathic and reaching the suspension of disbelief uses expedients to achieve the intended purpose. Although Hellblade proposes the control of Senua in the third person, it gives us a very close shot on the warrior, as if wanting to create a closeness without interpretative coincidence. The use of the camera deserves an honorable mention, the camera represents one of the authorial spearheads of the product. It is moved wisely and punctually, as very rarely happens in a video game, even Kojima's eye would have a lot to learn about the movements to precede.
Inside the package
A beautiful box remains an empty container, fascinating but meaningless. If the epic of Senua were not filled with a worthy content, the psychosis would be vacuous and pretentious, but this is not the case.
Hellblade: Senua's sacrifice proposes the arduous task of addressing issues such as the acceptance of death, family abuse and the very hard internal battle that we face daily, putting off the day when we will fall apart. All this is seasoned with an abundance of tales about Norse mythology, offered as collectible items.
In order to avoid spoilers it is good not to go further, specifying that the issues are addressed with the necessary crudeness, without setting any limits whatsoever.
The muscles of the warrior
Hellblade represents a noteworthy peak for graphics rendering, which boasts of a skilful use of Unreal Engine 4, combined with remarkable performance and motion capture, flawless animations and no drop in frame rates.
The supporting characters of the adventure, on the other hand, played their parts and were inserted as video content, slightly out of focus to better blend them with the virtual world. To underline the excellent dubbing work carried out in English, which is combined with a sound design almost protagonist of the credibility of what flows on the screen.
The big spot in the audio sector is the official track of the game, “Illusion” by VnV Nation, which relegates the credits to the great realm of the caption, the father of all evil. Not that the song is unpleasant, mind you. Given the good artistic flavor it would have made more sense to opt for a contrast.
As for the actual gameplay front, the game structure is marked by two main recurring elements, which will alternate up to the last checkpoints of the game: an environmental puzzle and a combat. Strengthened by this combination, Hellblade proceeds straight on very narrow tracks until its conclusion.
One trick swordsman
The combat section could, however, turn up their noses at those who had expectations regarding variety of weapons, customization, combos and counter moves, perhaps mindful of the Devil May Cry packaged in 2013 by the boys of Ninja Theory. Senua throws himself into the fray armed with his sword, capable of darting "light" sweeps and powerful "heavy" swaths, with the ability to kick the enemy, dodge and parry.
If the action component makes you turn up your nose, you will not be magnanimous even with the exploratory phase, turning in circles in search of the umpteenth rune that will allow you to open yet another door. Then if you die a dozen times, the saves will automatically be canceled and you will have to start the game over.
The above mentioned mechanic manages to arouse an unspeakable tension, as if at every fight I was putting my own life on the line. After reaching 6 hours of gameplay, starting over Hellblade could have donated the damnatio memoriae to this title and to the Software House itself.
Although he died a handful of times during the adventure, if you are a veteran of the genre the risk of "perma-death" is averted at the start even at higher difficulties than the pre-set one. The average duration of the adventure is about 8 hours, with little replay value.
If what you read attracts you like bees, this is the honey you have probably been looking for all your life. Of course, the strongly unbalanced attention on the narrative sector creates a difference in depth with the gameplay, but not of quality. If you were looking for Kratos, it is in another castle. Hellblade: Senua's sacrifice represents the maturity of the videogame medium, it sets itself ambitious goals, plants a flag on the peak of excellence.
► Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is an Action-Hack and Slash game developed and published by Ninja Theory for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 08/08/2017 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 11/04/2019 The version for Xbox One came out on 10/04/2018
