What is it?

3rd Person, Open Level, Celtic, Dark Fantasy, Action-Adventure

Whats good?

Some of the best graphics I have yet to see on the PS4, Incredibly emotive character animation, Deliciously cerebral and engrossing sound design, Terrific cinematic presentation, Foreboding world design, Fast paced and responsive combat, Top notch voice acting, Interesting puzzles, Easy Platinum trophy.

Whats bad?

Uneven pacing, frenetic combat followed by hours of none at all, repetitive combat mechanics with only a handful of enemy types and little variation in their attack patterns, could use a little more handholding in a few places to explain what the game wants you to do yet once you know how the puzzles are working the difficulty is nearly nonexistent.

Released 2017	Ninja Theory	Ninja Theory
Last Trophy: 2017-08-25	Completion: 100%	Highest Trophy: Platinum

Full Review

Hellblade isn’t your typical game and it’s hard to pigeon hole it into traditional categories. It’s stunningly beautiful and haunting. It’s tense and emotional. It raises the bar in sound design and cinematic graphics. The character design and visuals are immaculate. Senua is a fully realized character. Even more so than some of the all-time greats like Nathan Drake, Lara Croft, or my favorites Joel and Ellie from the Last of Us. At times she looks photo realistic but even more real than a photo as her small quirks and movements really bring her to life. I saw a tech demo where they showed how one of Ninja Theory’s employees was actually acting out Senua’s scenes while the game engine was able to display it rendered in real time. Truly epic stuff and I hope this level of detail is taken on by more developers. All that being said the game is also a bit confusing and at times a little boring but all in all it is a worthwhile experience.

The opening scene is as cinematic as it gets. Senua rowing down a dreary river with bodies hanging and impaled along the shore. A foreboding narrator explaining that this story will be her last story. It was reminiscent of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now as the protagonist journeys down a river into the heart of darkness to confront a legendary foe all the while becoming more and more cognisant that he himself was becoming the darkness. In this case Ninja Theory seems to take that quite literally as Senua is cursed by the darkness and it has begun to physically manifest on her body.

As the game continues you walk through a beautifully tortured landscape that is rife with awe inspiring visuals. The artistry on display is phenomenal and a lot of that may be due to the impressive lighting. I’m by no means a tech guru but the lighting effects really stand out in this game. For a majority of the game Senua is alone and there are only a few scattered moments where she has to fight demons to progress further towards her goal which at times leaves the beautiful levels feeling empty and shallow. As with most things in Hellblade the emptiness is simultaneously a strength and a weakness depending on your mood. From a pure gameplay perspective it does get boring without having enemies to eviscerate. However it’s those times when you’re alone that you truly get to absorb the rich atmosphere around you without any distractions, something made even more engrossing with the multiple voices swirling around talking hissing and mocking you.

Senua is schizophrenic so the developers tell us. A lot of reviewers have made note of how great that is and how Ninja Theory worked with professional organizations to make sure it was handled appropriately. None of that matters to me as a gamer. I could care less if Senua is schizophrenic or if she is actually cursed by a demon. All that I care about is the game itself not the larger societal implications. That being said from a pure gaming perspective the addition of Senua’s inner voices is really fucking cool. The voices absolutely add to the overall world building and character development throughout the game. They enhance almost every moment especially the quiet times when you find yourself alone and wandering for long stretches of time. In a weird way they are almost comforting even though you know they are the darkness speaking through you.

As far as combat goes it is very fast paced and the controls are super responsive. It’s a shame that they only have like five enemy types and most of them can be beaten exactly the same way. Dodge, counter, combo, dodge, counter, combo, rinse repeat. Even though it’s simple enough it is satisfying when you fuck some of these guys up. Especially the dual wielding assholes that turn to shadow and reap unholy hell on you if you mistime a dodge. They do try to have some variety with a shield wielding prick that forces you to use a melee interrupt in order to land any hits as well as the aforementioned ability the enemies have in the later stages in which they turn to shadow form.

There are also around four boss fights and I fucking loathe boss fights. Boss fights are the reason I will never finish great games like Bloodborne or Nioh which were both spectacularly fun except for the bosses which had me rage quitting on multiple occasions. In Hellblade the boss battles aren’t as bad. As with most of the enemies in the game they are very predictable and basically you can just dodge all day long and never get hit.

Comparing Hellblade to other games is a bit tough since it is fairly hard to categorize as noted above. I saw in another review someone called it a walking simulator outside of a few moments of action. I can see that in a way it makes sense. In very lose terms you could compare it to The Witness which is also an independently produced walking simulator that has perspective based puzzles. But that is a stretch comparing these two games as they are so different in every other way. Maybe you could compare it to The Last Guardian another mixed bag of a quasi walking simulator where so much of the world is empty. That wouldn't be fair though as that would negate how amazing your companion Trico is in that game. I could say it is basically just a narrative experience game and try to compare it to the telltale games but that would also be selling both games short as the storytelling and branching narrative in The Walking Dead series is vastly superior while it's gameplay is far more boring and irritating. You could compare it to Horizon Zero Dawn or Uncharted: The Lost Legacy both of which also showcase strong female protagonists and both of which are touted as having some of the best graphics on the PS4. Again though that would be taking away so much from each of those games as one is a massive fully rendered open world, one is a rip roaring Hollywood style action adventure and Hellblade is neither of those things. That being said I do think Hellblade has both of those blockbusters beat in terms of graphical display. I'm not interested in the technical differences between open world games and linear games or whatever other very legitimate programming reasons one game may actually be superior than the other. All I am interested in is the image I see on my screen and in that measure I feel Senua was the most believable looking character of the bunch (aside from the fact her hands stay fully open when climbing on ladders).

Overall Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is a true mixed bag. It’s easily one of the most visually stunning games you can play and the sound design is exquisite. On the other hand there is no doubt it is fairly simple and at times boring. However if you are not looking for an action packed game, even the slower sections of this game are mesmerizing and darkly beautiful. The game is half the price of a regular game and it runs around 7 hours in length. I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for something different and unique, anyone looking for a beautifully rendered and deeply cinematic experience or lastly anyone looking for an easy platinum trophy.

How does it rate...		Other games in that category...
3rd person game	B	Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, The Witcher 3:Wild Hunt, Horizon Zero Dawn
Open level game	B+	Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Journey, Metro 2033
Dark fantasy game	A-	Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Bloodborne, Dishonored 2, The Last Guardian
Action/adventure game	B	The Last of Us, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, GTA 5, Fallout 4, Skyrim

If you are curious to see how I have ranked other PS4 games you can see the full list here: https://steemit.com/gaming/@johnquake/current-gen-game-rankings-ps4

Putting my money where my mouth is here is my personal Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice trophy list: https://psnprofiles.com/trophies/6447-hellblade-senuas-sacrifice/Johnquake

* Note: These ratings are based on my personally rated games as of the time of this posting. Additions and Alterations made after this date will not be reflected in the written review. For anyone wondering why I include a link to my trophy profile the answer is simple enough, it's an easy way to verify how much of the game I have actually played whereas with most reviews it's unclear if the reviewer had only spent a handful of hours on a game they praise or slam.

The best Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Trophy hunters resource:
https://www.playstationtrophies.org/game/hellblade-senuas-sacrifice-na/overview/