Hellblade Review: A Descent Into Madness

Story

In an attempt to reclaim the soul of her dead lover (Dillion) from the goddess Hela, Senua - a  Pict warrior, battles her way to Helheim. Along the way she must overcome various trials and defeat otherworldly representations of Northmen while resisting the "Rot" - a black substance that will consume her soul if she does not rescue Dillion in time.

Senua finds Dillion sacrificed "Blood Eagle" style and holds onto his head as a vessel for his soul.

Hellblade is an ambitious game that attempts to replicate, through it's audio and visuals, what it is like to experience psychosis. Hellblade is stressful to play by design. Everything, including a few strategically placed white lies, such as the Rot spreading with each death, are meant to elicit anxiety in the player; to make the player feel what Senua is going through. The world distorts, cracks, burns and bleeds. Voices fade in and out or encircle Senua, giving voice to her fears and inner thoughts.

 

The game tells more than it ever shows, relying on narration that plays while the player walks to tell its story. This over reliance on narration obscures the story and quickly becomes a nuisance, possibly by design. By the game's conclusion I was so annoyed with the voices that I wished the game would take a moment to let itself breathe.  

Gameplay

There are a series of simple puzzles for Senua solve in each area she travels through. They aren't hard at all, just mildly tedious. Most of the time shapes will just need to be aligned or a specific shape will need to be found somewhere in the general area. Other times Senua will need to modify the structures in her surroundings by shifting the way she views the world. I had some problems with certain shapes matching up correctly, or not being recognized until I stood in a very specific location and at a certain angle.

The puzzle segments are broken up by story related hallucinations and arbitrary battles. Combat is fairly simple, consisting of one standard melee attack, a fast attack, and a heavy attack supplemented with dodges and blocking. There is also a "Focus" gauge that gradually refills every time Senua lands a successful attack or manages to avoid getting hit. Focus stuns all the enemies on screen and slows them down for a few seconds, making it Senua's most valuable ability.

Senua seeks advice from hallucinations of dead friends and fights off distorted representations of Northmen.

I hated the combat; it is built around timing and not getting hit, but the movement is surprisingly slow and clunky. It works well enough for normal enemies, but feels broken against multiple foes or fast moving bosses. There was also a lack of feedback outside of the voices that yell at you incessantly. New enemies often spawn in during the fights and sneak up behind you, and the only indication that there is an enemy at your back will be the voices telling you to watch out. I died the most during the Sea of Corpses segment. No matter how many times I tried, I just couldn't get past this area. It felt like the more I failed the worse things got. I watched the Rot spread through Senua's body for the first time; dodging got harder and Senua's movement got slower. The screen would only turn red to indicate low health once I was on deaths door. I never understood why the player would sometimes die during these moments, but other times could recover and continue.

Conclusion

I honestly wasn't expecting there to be as much combat as there was or for it to have been as awkward as it was. I don't believe Senua's emotional battles needed to be supplemented with literal ones. I think the game could have accomplished what it was going for without the arbitrary combat segments. The puzzles were also not terribly complex, diverse, or relevant enough to add anything meaningful. If you strip away the thematics then what is left does not stand on it's own. After the two paths (when you emerge on the bridge) there's a renewed sense of drive stemming from slogging through the aforementioned puzzles. I honestly didn't even find the story that compelling; what bits I could make out anyway. Hellblade is flawed, it's unique, and a work of art (or at least a snapshot into mental illness) worth experiencing at least once.

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