Before we get to the review, I just wanted to say this might be not a good game review because I've never made a proper review before and I think it's not something I'm good at, so bear with me. But I hope you'll still enjoy this review of a game I played on my friend's PC a few days ago. It's so short that I finished it only in 2 sitting... or I was just have nothing better to do.
Doesn't matter, let's get down to it..
Spoiler alert!
From the creator of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, comes Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice--an action-adventure game with strong storytelling experience built in dark fantasy of Celtic and Norse mythology theme set in the viking age.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice tell the story of a Celtic warrior named Senua who travel alone to save her lover from his grim fate; held by Hela, the goddess who rules over Helheim, the underworld in Norse mythology. But, the game is more of a representation of psychosis than an action game of heroic-romance story, and that makes the "action" to be the supporting aspect instead of the main.
A Fine Work of Immersion
The graphics; Stunning.
The graphic will be the first thing that you'll be amazed by in this game. So prepare for some amazing eye treatment as the game take you on a fairly short intro as soon as you start the game. With no HUD to show health bars, objectives, or map whatsoever, this is a game that is as fun to play as it is to watch. The motion capture technology highly lift the game's immersion as it works so well with the photo-realistic graphic to make everything you see looks so real.
The sound; *Eargasm*.
Having a bunch of ladies talking to you in your ears and telling you what to do while you play maybe a little bit weird. But the voices--as Senua called it--are one of the main features that makes Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice to be the game that it was intended to be, thus making this game must have high quality sound effects, and oh, does it have. Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice is best to be played with headphone for the best experience possible by its use of 3D binaural audio.
It's a Matter of Perspective
The gameplay; Simple, but need more adjustment.
The combat of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice feels so good with zero clunkiness to be seen, and require a good timing. However, at the first glance it may look like it hasn't finished. If you expect leveling up, looting enemies, a range of customizations, and complex combo.. no, this game don't have that. But I'm telling you, that is not the problem.
Combat, and puzzle. Both are made fairly simple, but the two features are not put one after the other too well. When it's time to solve puzzles, you'll find yourself spend so much time on one puzzle and at some points on two or even more puzzles with no battle at all. The world around you is the puzzle, and you, as Senua, must change your perspective in every way available to solve it. And that is, in my opinion, a clever concept. But stack it until it nearly cover up the "action" too much, it becomes a bit stale.
But if it's about the problem, the real problem is the camera control. The game does not have camera sensitivity setting and you'll need to move your mouse about 30 cm away to turn 90 degrees to a certain direction. In combat, this is not so troublesome thanks to the target-locking mechanic. But outside combat, it's very troublesome.
The story; Great picturization of "grim fate".
As I mentioned before, the story centered on a Celtic warrior named Senua who travel alone through the ruined world that once were, to the front door of Helheim and keep going on a quest to save the soul of her beloved Dillion from the hands of Hela, that was brutally murdered by the Northmen, or you could say, the Vikings.
On her journey, she's not "completely alone", but that's only because of her severe psychosis condition. The Furies, the voices of male and female that talk to her all the time, commenting her actions, telling stories of Norse legends, and helps in puzzle solving sequence, are the only ones that accompany our lone warrior, and they are not even real. They are merely the creation of Senua's mind.
Nothing about Senua's story is happy. The only happiness to be seen is her memory of her first meeting with Dillion, a sequence that is the result of Senua's hallucination that only end up making everything feels more sad.
Conclusion
This game is unique, it's the kind of game that has to be seen as a whole everytime you see it. Because if you can see pass through the lack of features in the combat, you'll know the meaning of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. I myself started to think that it's not a problem of the game and that it was made that way because the game was intended to represent psychosis more bold, and give the player full experience of such condition in the best way possible, with the combat and the storyline as the vessel to carry you on through that experience.
Is it good?
It damn well good. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a recommended game. Ninja Theory is so dedicated to create such game that they consulted with world-leading neuroscientists, as well as the sufferers of psychosis. The result is this well made atmospheric video game that represents how psychosis really feels like.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is available for PC and PS4.
That's my review of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. This may not so good, but I truly hope it's still enjoyable for you to read. All of this is of course, based on my view on the game, my opinion of my experience. Thank you for your time, Steemian!
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