Senua’s Saga – Hellblade II Review in Progress
Senua’s Saga – Hellblade II has a huge weight of expectation behind it. The sequel to an independent darling, whose AAA visuals disguised its small studio roots, its developer, Ninja Theory, was subsequently bought by Microsoft during its early raft of studio acquisitions. And as the years have passed, Hellblade II has become one of Microsoft’s tentpole releases. The game used to announce the Xbox Series X, it’s then needed time to make good on both the original’s success and the sequel’s potential. Just like Senua, the game has had a tricky path to wend, but it’s found its way to release, with focus, willpower and sheer strength of spirit.
As with the original game, Hellblade II prompts you to play the game with headphones to ensure you can make the most of the title’s incredible binaural audio. It also warns you of the content you’re going to experience, with a startling rendition of psychosis, graphic violence and an array of different trauma once again at the centre of this folkloric adventure. As someone whose family member found the original game’s content disturbing, and potentially triggered a mental health episode, it’s a warning that’s well worth considering.
We rejoin Senua’s tale as she has willingly given herself up to the Northmen, hoping to be taken to their leader to root out the evil that destroyed her home, family and love. However, her plan never reaches fruition, instead leaving her shipwrecked on the shores of a brutal land; half-mad, half-drowned, she crawls back onto land in search of the men who led her to this place.
Hellblade’s use of audio remains a trick that hasn’t been replicated, and here in the sequel, it’s an element that’s even stronger and more focused than before. Voices whisper in each ear, drifting in front and behind at times; sometimes feeling like an angel and a devil on each shoulder, at other points a storyteller or an antagonist. They’re comforting and vicious, condemning and cautious. They’re personal demons, and just as
Read more on thesixthaxis.com
