(Played via Xbox Game Pass, subscription provided by Xbox UK)
By Sam Coles:
The first time I played the original Hellblade back in 2018, it was an experience that really stuck with me. Senua’s journey really stood out at the time, and that was mostly due to the bold move of Ninja Theory to explore psychosis. It was and still is an unsettling game, especially if you played it with a set of 3D surround sound headphones which I did back in the day. Now we have Hellblade II, a sequel announced all the way back in 2019 alongside the Xbox Series X and it is finally here. Is it as good as the original, in short yes and it had a similar impact that the first had on me.
Hellblade II sees you step into the shoes of Senua again; this time she is being held captive on a boat as a slave heading towards Iceland. A storm hits the boat, and she is then stranded on shore, where she gathers her thoughts watching as each captive is slaughtered across the island she washes up on. She ends up in a confrontation with the head slaver, captures him and uses him to find the giants that protect Iceland so she can kill each one.
What immediately stands out in this game, is that Senua is surrounded by other characters whereas in the original she was on her own only surrounded by the echos of her past. It works really well as Senua is having to balance the voices with her psychosis as well as the conversation at hand, so she is mostly distant and delayed with her responses as she is really having to focus and mostly ignoring the scalding of the voices in her mind. The performance from the cast is amazing, Melina Juergens who once again portrays Senua, does a brilliant, haunting and heartbreaking job as the character as there were a few scenes that got to me.
Now onto the gameplay side of things, and this is the aspect of Hellblade II that has the internet divided and honestly, I don’t know why as it is similar to the first game. The game mostly consists of exploring, solving puzzles, and getting into brutal combat while taking in the story. Yes, it is mostly about walking around while experiencing the story, but it is not a “walking simulator” as some have dubbed it, some of the combat encounters while not difficult had me dying a couple of times as it does require timing with blocks and dodging. The game is very linear, but honestly, I don’t see that as a bad aspect of the game as we are drowning in hundred-hour open world games, and this shorter experience was a breath of fresh air.
Visually this game is a real showcase for Unreal Engine 5, it is amazing how far we have come with graphics in the past 25 years and this game looks believable with how realistic character models look. It was one of those moments when I wasn’t sure if the game had started, but it did and the graphics are incredible, characters move believably, they capture every emotion, twitch and smirk and it is nothing short of amazing.
Not just the visuals, the audio design in this game is fantastic! The voice work for the inner voices that are on Senua’s journey are very unsettling, I didn’t play with surround sound headphones this time, but it worked well on a decent stereo set up. You hear them constantly throughout the game, it really threw me off during combat and puzzles but that is the entire point as it makes you question your own capabilities like Senua is in the story. Plus, the audio in combat is great, you really feel every stab, slash and plunge with wet sickening sounds as your opponents bleed out, or blood curdling screams as you slit their throat wide open. It adds an extra layer of brutality to the combat and makes it more immersive.
Overall, I think Hellblade II is a great experience. It is a thought-provoking tale that is a technical masterpiece with its visuals and audio design. Not only that, but it also shows what actors can do in a video game story when technology is really pushed, as it looks very believable coupled with great writing and performances. Give it a go, especially if you have Game Pass.
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