Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice featured image

A dark fantasy game that takes inspiration from Scandinavian and Celtic folklore, Hellblade is set in a gritty barbarian world full of weird wooden structures and creepily masked enemies.

The player assumes the role of Senua, a traumatized female warrior from the Pict tribe. She suffers from a growing psychosis after her lover Dillion was brutally murdered by Vikings. Carrying his severed head, Senua sets out to Helheim, the underworld of the dead, to bring her lover's soul back. Her grim and bloody journey mirrors her descent into madness. It becomes increasingly difficult for her (and, thus, the player) to tell fact from fantasy, as she hears voices in her head and sees hallucinations.

When not fighting her enemies, Senua has to solve puzzles to move forward. This is where her distorted perception actually comes out handy, enabling her to "focus" and see what regular people can not. The ghostly voices, recorded using the binaural method to create an eery effect, also help to guide Senua or to warn her about dangers. All of Senua movements, expressions and reactions were recorded through motion capture to make them more realistic and emotional.

Release Date

Aug 07, 2017

Metacritic Score

83

Rating

Achievements Count

33

DLCs

1

Play Time

8 hours

Games in Series

1

ESRB

Mature 17+: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language

System Requirements

  • CPU: Intel i5 3570K / AMD FX-8350
  • RAM: 8 GB
  • GPU: GTX 770 with 2GB VRAM / Radeon R9 280X 3GB
  • HDD: 30 GB

Interesting Facts

  • Set in a dark fantasy world inspired by Norse mythology and Celtic culture.
  • The game follows Senua, a Pict warrior who must make her way to Helheim by defeating otherworldly entities and facing their challenges, in order to rescue the soul of her dead lover from the goddess Hela.
  • Self-described as an “independent AAA game”.
  • The game blends different gameplay mechanics and concepts like puzzle solving, psychological horror and melee combat.
  • Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is divided into two types of gameplay: the first allows Senua to walk freely and interact with her surroundings.
  • Senua can also build up her Focus in combat by successfully blocking and striking enemies.
  • Hellblade does not feature any heads-up display or tutorials.
  • Senua is infected with the ‘dark rot’, a corruption of her flesh on her right arm that acts as a symbol of her psychosis.
  • Senua’s backstory is unveiled in nonlinear order through her hallucinations, revealing that her mother, the healer Galena, suffered the same curse she did but thought of it as a gift.

Mod Support

Yes

Cheats support

Yes

Contains Game/Battle Pass

Yes

Virtual Reality Support

Yes

Third/First Person

Third person

Platforms

Nintendo Switch PC PlayStation 4 Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

Genres

Action-AdventureAdventureIndie

Game Engine

Unreal Engine 4

Protagonist sex

Female

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