Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is an action-adventure game developed and published by the British video game development studio Ninja Theory. 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.

Hellblade blends different gameplay mechanics and concepts like puzzle solving, psychological horror and melee combat. Voice acting is an integral part of the game, while its cutscenes combine motion capture by Melina Juergens, and live action performances by other actors. The game’s narrative serves as a metaphor for the character’s struggle with psychosis, as Senua, who suffers from the condition but believes it to be a curse, is haunted by an entity known as the “Darkness”, voices in her head known as “Furies”, and memories from her past.

Hellblade really was one hell of a ride – in parts propably one of the scariest games I’ve ever played to date because the game doesn’t rely on cheap horror jump scares but tries to involve you into the psychosis Senua is experiencing (even with binaural audio if you want to dig deeper into the voices she’s hearing).

Game Status: finished
Platform: PS4
Website: hellblade.com
Shop: PS4/ XBox One / PC
– May Contain Spoilers –