Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice Reviews

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is ranked in the 91st percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
9 / 10.0
Aug 8, 2017

One of the most inventive games of the year, showing that time and patience can be behind a challenging, smart, and incredibly interesting game.

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9 / 10
Aug 10, 2017

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is beautiful, discomforting, and compelling. It might challenge what you like about games, but challenge is good. You're doing yourself a disservice if you don't try it.

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95 / 100
Aug 8, 2017

The ending of the game will leave you wondering just what was real and what was an illusion. I thoroughly enjoyed the dramatic arc of each major scene. It starts out calm, moves to disturbing, and then descends into chaos and madness. I think the storytellers and designers exercised tight creative control, with a game that is understated as well as explosive.

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Unscored
Aug 12, 2017

Hellblade is brave for tackling psychosis so directly, and braver still for pouring so much of its efforts into its narrative. It's unlike anything else I've played this year, and for that reason it deserves a slice of your time.

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7 / 10.0
Aug 8, 2017
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice Review - For The Damaged (Coda) video thumbnail
85 / 100
Aug 22, 2017

Hellblade could have been carried alone by its insanely beautiful graphics and standout voice performances — some of the best of 2017 — but while these scenarios were always refreshing interruptions from long, meditative walks through Helheim, they distracted from the game's greater focus on demystifying a taboo mental disorder.

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Aug 11, 2017

With Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Ninja Theory attempts to deliver a AAA experience in a $30 package and delivers on just about every front, with only a few problems.

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Aug 21, 2017

There is something bewitching in how the immediacy of video games can lead to places other mediums cannot.

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Apr 6, 2018

It's a unique title which succeeds in its mission of giving gamers a glimpse into how people deal with psychosis and loss.

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JVL
French_Fantasy
Top Critic
17 / 20
Aug 15, 2017

Focusing his game on the psychosis of his heroine and his gameplay mechanics on it was a risky bet but won hands down. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is a masterstroke for its storytelling, atmosphere, artistic direction and the care taken on the subject of mental illness and on Senua.

Review in French | Read full review

7.8 / 10.0
Aug 22, 2017

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a very bold game that manages to talk about mental issues in a truly emotional way, using the gameplay dynamics of an action adventure. It's an authentic manifesto of how videogames can deal with serious matters in a way that fits perfectly the medium. And if you'll decide to go along with Senua in her descent to darkness, you'll probably remember her for the rest of your life.

Review in Italian | Read full review

GameMAG
xtr
Top Critic
7 / 10
Aug 24, 2017

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice evokes the strongest feelings of empathy thanks to a great production, deep character development, animation work, special effects and unique sound. Unfortunately, boring tasks with runes and too simple fights in limited arenas with waves of enemies are not the best elements for an original and emotionally strong project. I hope that with good sales on PSN and Steam big publishers gonna work with Ninja Theory again and studio will release a game of DmC level or something even more great.

Review in Russian | Read full review

85 / 100
Aug 16, 2017

Ninja Theory has delivered a game that is equally good and important for the industry in terms of serious storytelling and the ability to create AAA experiences at a low cost.

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ZTGD
Top Critic
9 / 10.0
Aug 17, 2017

A title that asks its player to step into the role of a woman suffering from an extreme mental illness. In doing so, it offers a glimpse into a world unknown- one of suffocating dread but also, one of breathtaking beauty.

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9 / 10.0
Aug 11, 2017

Hellblade is one of my favorite titles this year. Its incredible use of sound and visual manipulation to completely immerse you in its experience is a credit to Ninja Theory. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a prime example that you don't need a massive budget to create something extraordinary.

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9 / 10.0
Aug 9, 2017

Blending powerful imagery, unrivaled visuals quality, an excellent combat system and a unique setting blending Norse mythology with mental illness, Ninja Theory fully delivers on their independent AAA pitch with Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. This is one of those titles that, albeit not flawless, should be experienced by every gamer at some point.

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8 / 10
Aug 8, 2017

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is not going to appeal to all tastes, and nor does it try to. As a character action game, it has decent if underdeveloped combat and a mixture of some excellent and some overplayed puzzles. But it's the way that the title utilises the unique attributes of the medium to raise awareness of mental health that elevate this release beyond the sum of its parts.

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Ken McKown
Top Critic
9 / 10.0
Apr 24, 2018

Hellblade is an amazing achievement in game design. It is something I think everyone should play.

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Apr 17, 2018

Senua is a remarkable character who instills all of her energies into the player in such a way that will never be forgotten.

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Aug 8, 2017

Hellblade triumphs equally as action game, mythic quest and psychological character study, bringing together some amazing visuals, great performances and ingenious design. It's short-lived but perfectly paced with a blend of action and puzzles that grows in richness and complexity as the game goes on. While some might prefer Enslaved or the DMC reboot, I'd call it Ninja Theory's best work yet.

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