It’s been seven years since Ninja Theory released Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and a lot has changed for the studio since then. They’re now a part of the Xbox Studios family, granting them access to funding limited to only the highest-tier developers. But Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga feels less like a AAA game and more like an experimental genre film about walking.
Hellblade 2 Is the Future of AAA Gaming
I don’t think Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga is a good video game, but I do think it’s a masterclass in a few aspects of gaming. In fact, while the actual game portions of Hellblade 2 are lackluster and repetitive, the packaging is what I think most gamers expect from AAA developers.
The way Hellblade 2 looks and sounds, along with how characters move, speak, and emote, is at the top of its class. I can’t think of another game that comes close to the stunning visuals and set pieces strewn across Hellblade 2‘s landscapes. The soundscapes, mixing, and 3D audio effects are mind-blowing. When certain voices creep up the back of your skull, your hair will stand on end.
I’ve never been genuinely terrified by a game’s audio alone, but Hellblade 2 continuously put me in a state of unease with how it looks and sounds. Hearing the moans of people being tortured is one thing, but being able to pinpoint their exact location and hear the visceral squelches of torn flesh or crunches of bones breaking takes Hellblade 2‘s audio to a place I didn’t think video games could go.
Sadly, that’s where the “good” stops for Hellbalde 2. Now it’s time for the “bad” and the “ugly.”
Hey, I’m Walkin’ Here
For all that Ninja Theory poured into Hellblade 2‘s visuals and world-building, it is a slog to actually explore. And I use the word “explore” loosely as you’re put on rails from the moment the game gives you control of Senua.
Ninja Theory didn’t hide this from players. They’ve touted Hellblade 2 as an immersive cinematic experience from the beginning. And if you are like me, and you watched all of the gameplay trailers and wondered which parts were gameplay, you were likely watching it the entire time.
Hellblade 2 looks like a cutscene from beginning to end, for better and for worse. The gameplay trailer and previews, where Senua is walking for minutes on end, make up the majority of the gameplay. You walk – slowly, mind you – from point A to point B. When you arrive at your destination, you either solve a rudimentary environment puzzle or enter a mobile-game-esque combat scenario, which ultimately unlocks another path for you to walk on.
These paths, mind you, are straight and narrow, and there will be no treading off of them. You will stay within the rock-lined path. You cannot step over the shin-high ledge. And the only obstacles you can interact with are conveniently marked with white paint. Even rocks on the beach are dark and mossy, except the ones you can interact with, which also adorn a fresh coat of white paint.
This is a small tangent, but this trend of highly specific intractable obstacles needs to die off. Senua can start the game by scaling a 30-foot cliff, but she can’t walk up a hill because she might have to raise her leg higher than a foot. This is rich, seeing as the characters rarely ever touch the ground because their character models float a foot or more off of it.
Me, Myself, and I, and a Shadow Man
Another selling point for Senua’s Saga is the main character’s battle with Psychosis. She constantly hears voices like an angel and a devil on her shoulders. She sees things, people, places, and revelations that no one else can see. And this makes for some really interesting storytelling and mind-bending moments where you’re not sure whether Senua is actually experiencing the moments you’re playing through.
But there came a point really early on where the voices in Senua’s head became a prime example of telling instead of showing. They constantly explain exactly what you need to be doing, holding your hand if you step out of line. Instead of using facial expressions or letting obvious moments ride, these voices feel the need to explain how your character is feeling at any given moment.
For example, when you’re making your way to the first boss, the voices remind you several times that you need to find a specific character and you aren’t supposed to kill him. During the fight, they continue to remind you not to kill him because you need him. And when you win the fight, their voices triumphantly exclaim, “You have defeated him; now he will help you,” which felt like a line from a children’s show to make sure your very short attention span could keep it. News flash: you can’t even kill him if you want to.
Please, Let Me Off the Rails for One Second
I know what you’re thinking. If there’s combat, how can you be on rails the whole time? Answer: the combat is also on rails.
You may or may not remember a mobile game titled Infinity Blade that was once available on iOS devices. You basically stood in place, dodged attacks, and swung your sword around when you had an opening. It was like Dark Souls if your feet were anchored to the ground the entire time.
Hellblade 2‘s combat is almost the same thing. You do have some freedom to move around an arena, but the pacing of the combat makes walking a waste of time. The combat boils down to dodging a combo, getting in a hit or two, and repeating until you activate the kill cutscene. And sometimes, you get to fight five or more enemies on rails back to back until you unlock the next pathway.
That’s not to say the combat isn’t fun. There are moments, like the ritual fight scene in Chapter 2, that absolutely rule. But the moments before and after make getting to the combat sequences a chore. There’s nothing quite as disappointing as walking away from a riveting fight only to be railroaded back onto the beaten path.
Senua’s Dumb Luck Just Won’t Run Out
Senua, the titular character of Hellblade 2, has what I like to call the Jack Sparrow effect. No matter what kind of shenanigans Senua gets into, she always miraculously weasels out of it. Except, instead of doing it with drunken whimsy, Senua gets carried by dumb luck.
There are so many instances where Senua should die. The first boss fight is a prime example of this. It is littered with scripted losses, but instead of killing Senua, the boss just keeps allowing you to continue fighting until the game decides you won.
This is actually how most combat plays out. There aren’t any health bars, and I’m not totally sure you can actually die, but you dodge and attack until the game decides you win.
Senua is also incredibly lucky that none of the enemies decide to attack her in groups. Even the deranged monster-like people in Chapter 2 are nice enough to wait their turn and attack Senua when their comrade falls in battle. This is after players are shown a few villagers who were torn apart by two or three of these monsters. There are countless times when Senua is about to be killed, but some random person will run by and bump her into safety. If these things happened once or twice, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but I’ve never witnessed someone get nudged to safety by panicked villagers who would then get brutally murdered as many times as it happened to Senua.
Combat isn’t the only place where Senua lucks out. There are quite a few instances where Senua narrowly escapes death while those around her have no chance of survival. The boat crash, in the beginning, is the most egregious of these. She’s basically the only “good guy” to make it off the boat alive. There’s a moment where she’s almost killed by a big monster, but whoops, the sun came out.
It’s plot armor to the most blatant degree, and I fully believe Senua should have died within the first hour of Hellblade 2, given her circumstances.
Verdict: Mediocre
If you like games about walking, go play Death Stranding. If you like games with strong female leads and satisfying combat, go play Horizon: Forbidden West. If you want to play a dark, mind-bending story game, go play Alan Wake 2.
I think Hellblade 2 is a beautiful piece of art that does some things right, but it’s not a fun game. I’d argue it’s barely a game. I can’t recommend spending $50 on a cinematic experience, especially when you could spend half that on some extraordinary indie titles that have come out this year or even less on a movie ticket and save yourself holding up on the thumbstick for 8+ hours.
An Xbox review code was provided by the publisher for this review. Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga releases on May 21.
