Multiplat Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

After first seeing Ninja Theory's viking psychological horror game two years ago, we finally have a release date for PC and PS4 - August 8th.

Ninja Theory considers Hellblade is be an experimental affair with a smaller scope than most retail games but with the sort of high end production values and polish that rival anything on the market. Indeed Hellblade's motion-capture tech is top of the line.

"Our aim is to bring back the mid-size game, so Hellblade is half the size of a AAA game, but sold at half the price," said product development ninja (his actual title) Dominic Matthews.

"By going digital only we can assure that we keep costs low for you, plus more of your money comes directly back to us to reinvest in new games," Matthews explained. "If we can make Hellblade a success, others will follow to make games a richer, more varied place for both gamers and developers."

 

[beta_condition]

Looking forward to this game since it was first announced a few years back. Love to hear the commentary on this game, should be really heart felt.

 

[bulletride]

Out today, anyone else picked it up?

Only advice I can give is use headphones. The audio design is incredible and genuinely unsettling.

 

[dwwaino]

Out today, anyone else picked it up?

Only advice I can give is use headphones. The audio design is incredible and genuinely unsettling.

Besides that how are you finding it? Going to grab it tomorrow and hopefully sink some meaningful hours in over the weekend.

 

[bulletride]

Besides that how are you finding it? Going to grab it tomorrow and hopefully sink some meaningful hours in over the weekend.

Only managed to play about an hour last night, combat is pretty basic and feels a bit clunky but is not really the focus so its not too much of an issue. It looks and sounds incredible and the use of the voices in Senua's head offer some unique moments. This is where headphones are essential, in the middle of a fight you'll literally have a voice in the back of your head telling you you're going to die and questioning every move you make. The psychosis driven narrative really is like nothing else but I am a bit wary of whether it can sustain the impact for the full length of the game or whether I'm just in that initial awe period.

I really hope this sells well, as this sort of innovative game design needs to be encouraged.

 

[dwwaino]

Cheers. I think I read it is pretty short anyway so I guess the effect won't wear out.

 

[dwwaino]

This is all kinds of messed up.

 

[pantskyle]

Must admit I don't really fancy this game, getting some real good reviews though, might wait for it to be half price down the track.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

What's the game like?

 

[calyam]

That was certainly an intense and draining affair.

 

[dav3]

I was thinking of picking this up while it's 25% off, might grab it tonight.

 

[HBK619]

$25 on the PS Store right now.

I'm currently about halfway through (I believe). So far it's a very interesting game. Fairly slow and deliberate, but offering an incredibly new perspective on story telling. The voices throughout are great and really well done, as mentioned by bulletride it works so well in combat when you hear the "behind you". All the conflicting voices definitely give a great narrative into what the character is feeling.

The only thing is that the structure is a little bit repetitive.

But so far, if this is what Ninja Theory want to push the industry into going forward I'd be all for this.

 

[HBK619]

What a terrific 2nd half.

Lots of change up in both combat and the objectives too. Going into some brutally dark places both metaphorically and physically.

As above with calyam a draining experience, that's ultimately very rewarding as well. The combat sections are tough, the puzzles are good, the overall experience in the 2nd half was absolutely amazing.

Watching the little feature gives a good insight into what they were going for, which they definitely nailed too.

Great game and right now, great price.

 

[dav3]

Played this for about an hour so far, a good set of headphones certainly adds to the atmosphere as it sounds like the voices are all around you.