Developer Ninja Theory delves back into the action hack-’n-slash space with the PlayStation 4 console exclusive Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. Based on Celtic and Norse mythology, Hellblade chronicles the journey of the titular Senua, as she embarks on a deeply persona journey through a hellish underworld manifested from her own tortured imagination.
Hellblade has been a long time coming, having originally been announced three years ago during Sony’s Gamescom press conference. Ninja Theory has coined the game as an independent AAA title, meaning you can expect all the bells and whistles of a high-budget project, though the studio alone is handling both publishing and development duties.
Ninja Theory has had something of a long-standing history with producing cult classics, with Heavenly Sword and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West both failing to set tills alight worldwide but nonetheless remained popular with gamers. Even its reboot of Capcom’s Devil May Cry series with 2013’s excellent DmC didn’t live up to sales expectations, but was considered one of the better titles in that series.
Quite how Hellblade is received commercially remains to be seen, but we at least have an idea of what the critics think as the reviews have started pouring in. Check out our Hellblade reviews roundup below.
– – – – – – – – – –
GamesBeat – 9.5/10
GodisaGeek – 9/10
IGN – 9/10
GameSpot – 8/10
TheSixthAxis – 8/10
Game Informer – 8/10
Destructoid – 7.5
Metro – 6/10