Three and Out – ‘Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice’

Up until now, I never quite understood what it means to live with psychosis. Mental illness is a sensitive subject that has been attempted across many forms of media: books, movies, television, and even video games. But I’d argue that none of those characters or their stories have effectively and accurately portrayed this subject as well as video game developer Ninja Theory has with Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. The game tells the story of a young Celtic warrior named Senua, as she ventures through a symbolic Hell to save the soul of her lover, Dillion. However, this journey is not an easy one. Due to her traumatic past, Senua suffers from severe psychosis and must overcome her inner demons if she hopes to see her love again. Although Hellblade is categorized in the horror genre, the game blends genres that incorporate a mixture of horror, Souls-like combat, and story-driven exploration. Senua and her story take us to a far darker place: the human mind.

Throughout the game, combat plays an important role for Senua. It’s strategic yet elegant. Like a game of chess, each move is important and a lapse of concentration may result in a checkmate. Each time you die, the rot on Senua’s arm will progress upwards towards her brain. If the rot reaches too far, all the progress you made will be lost. This concept is taught early on and it kept me on my toes for the entirety of the story. Combat isn’t always that simple though. In boss fights I would find myself unable to proceed with fighting unless I activated a “focus” ability to give Senua strength. With moments like this, it became clear to me that fighting these horrific creatures represents the internal battle that Senua is facing. It’s her attempt at overcoming what she fears.

    Yet, combat is not the sole focus of the game. Hellblade has an incredible puzzle-solving system ingrained into it. Certain doors and pathways require you to look at a rune or find something in the environment to progress forward. It was during these puzzles that I discovered what it feels like to be in Senua’s mind. On the other hand, I felt that these puzzles ruined the momentum of the game. The narrative and combat would have me excited and craving more, but then I would be suddenly stopped in my tracks as I had to search for the missing piece before I could proceed. Even still, Hellblade kept me immersed in the world with it’s phenomenal sound design. Using 3D binaural sound, the game was able to create this feeling that I was never alone. Several voices are almost always present. Sometimes, they would would criticize me for a mistake, other times they would warn me of an attack from behind. There is a particular moment in Hellblade where Senua must undergo a trial in the dark. The only help you have are the voices and the echoing footsteps of creatures lurking close at hand. One small step in the wrong direction and Senua will die. I haven’t felt this fear of the dark since I was five years old. But in that moment I truly was afraid.

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