Senua’s Sacrifice doesn’t last nearly long enough
LIKE a good book, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice unfolded at a pace such to leave the player always grasping around in semi-darkness, never completely aware of the overall context. Senua’s Sacrifice is dark, beautiful and incredibly immersive.
You are cast in the role of the inscrutible Senua, a Celtic warrior who embarks on a mission to the homeland of the Northmen in order to penetrate the depths of their version of hell, the mythological Norse land of the dead called Helheim. Threads of historical fiction intertwine with non-fiction elements, mythology and metaphors to weave a tapestry depicting dark tones and serious issues.
On her journey through the cursed lands, Senua will come into conflict with the Northmen, an army of berserkers that appear out of thin air. These moments are when the combat comes into play, and it offers some of the most intense and thrilling moments of the game. Despite her illness weighing on her, Senua is still quite adept at fighting and is able to take on a number of foes at once. With fast, heavy sword swings, as well as up-close hand-to-hand strikes, you can use some light combos to hack away at the Northmen, while using dodges and parrying their strikes to get the upper hand.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice looks incredible. While the artist’s draw from a palette of limited colours, there is still a vibrancy and vigor about the art direction. The sound in this game is also incredible and does a stellar job at depicting anxiety and other issues of the mind. Using binaural audio to excellent effect, disembodied voices become an almost distressing presence in the game.
For the most part, puzzles in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice revolve around unlocking doors by finding glyphs hidden in plain sight or in alternate perspectives that require manipulating Senua’s focus, illustrating her abstract attention to detail. While these puzzles can be clever, the same style occurs far too often, making some of the more drawn out sequences a chore. On the inverse, the moments where Senua is stripped of her senses and gear, forcing her to take a more subdued approach to avoid her enemies, felt far more engaging and interesting.
My only regret with Senua’s Sacrifice is that it doesn’t last nearly long enough. With a playtime of 6 hours, the experience definitely feels prematurely truncated. That being said, the atmosphere, story and gameplay are truly next-level in their conceptualization and excecution. A game that everyone should experience at least once.