Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

 Xbox One
Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
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  1. Video Chums
    Apr 19, 2018
    70
    As an interactive story, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is in a class of its own. However, as a video game, it merely provides basic puzzles and combat that both end up feeling far too repetitive and tedious.

Awards & Rankings

10
#10 Best Xbox One Game of 2018
6
#6 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2018
19
#19 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2018

User Reviews

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User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 811 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 625 out of 811
  2. Mixed: 99 out of 811
  3. Negative: 87 out of 811
  1. Xbox_Alive
    Apr 18, 2018
    9
    I was very pleasantly surprised when it was announced that Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was coming to Xbox One a few weeks ago. It’s a gameI was very pleasantly surprised when it was announced that Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was coming to Xbox One a few weeks ago. It’s a game I’ve heard lots of good things about from some of my friends who’ve played it on the PS4 so I was really looking forward to getting to grips with it. Thankfully my friends got it spot on because to say I enjoyed my time with the game would be a massive understatement. Something that really makes this game stand out is its story. The story is absolutely fantastic and manages to stir a whole host of different emotions along the way and this culminates in making the story stay with you long after completion. The gameplay that accompanies the fantastic story was also enjoyable, and I must admit that I was especially impressed with the puzzles that were implemented. They’ve done a fantastic job of making the puzzles in the game matter and the clever design of them makes completing them a very enjoyable affair. Something else I enjoyed about the gameplay were the battles that took place. The combat may be a little on the basic side but that didn’t stop them from being very immersive and most important of all it didn’t stop the battles from adding to the already amazing story. You will notice however that the game suffers with a few technical issues every now and then when in battle, but thankfully these issues don’t happen very often and don’t affect the gameplay very much. This is a good thing because it allows you to enjoy the enemies in the game without too many problems. Speaking about enemies the game offers you a decent amount of enemies for you to tackle and the best thing is that each enemy has a decent amount of variety implemented into them. I found this to especially be the case when it came to the bosses in the game and to say they were exciting throughout would be quite the understatement. Without a doubt one of my favourite aspects about the game was the presentation side of things. Visually the game looks absolutely stunning and when you combine that with the absolutely brilliant and immersive sound design and voice acting you end up having a very memorable experience. At the end of the day I’m very pleased that Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice made its way to Xbox One and trust me when I say that it was worth the wait. The game tackles a number of real-life issues in a fantastic and delicate way and by doing this they deliver to you a very unforgettable experience. Another thing that impressed me with the game is that it doesn’t suffer with many problems at all and every aspect of the game has had a lot of thought and effort placed into it and because of that the game gets a massive recommendation from me.… Full Review »
  2. moistcake123
    May 2, 2018
    10
    Hellblade is one of those games that demands to be played. With outstanding visuals, sound, and performances, it excels in telling a dark andHellblade is one of those games that demands to be played. With outstanding visuals, sound, and performances, it excels in telling a dark and emotional tale of mental illness. It's more than a game, it is truly an experience.… Full Review »
  3. Aftrthought051
    Mar 6, 2019
    2
    Imagine getting a new game, tearing it open and that eager anticipation to play welling up inside of you. Now keep that obsession, but nowImagine getting a new game, tearing it open and that eager anticipation to play welling up inside of you. Now keep that obsession, but now imagine before you play, you have to swim 300 laps,,,,,,with a weighted vest,,,,,,and for every 2 minutes of swimming you have to just sit there treading water for 5 minutes. Oh, and before you even start to swim, tread water for 10 minutes. That's about as close to an analogy of playing Hellblade that I can give you. This game tries to tell some epic tale but unfortunately it only does justice to that infamous John Carmack quote from 1993: "A plot in a video game is about as useful as a plot in porn". I'm paraphrasing but you get the idea. The first thing you are greeted to when you play this game is a painful opening cinematic of the protagonist slowly rowing down a river as we listen to the voices in her head. The "whispers" of the voices in her head. Multiple ones. All talking at once. This is like playing a game where the main protagonist suffers from multiple personality disorder and you need to experience this because then you can hashtag how progressive you really are and virtual signal all your friends down in the dirt. You can't skip the cinematics which is equally painful since you will only care less about the plot as you carry on. The opening sequence takes a good 10 minutes to get through. No fast forward. No pushing a button to skip. I mean, imagine watching your porn, but you can't fast forward to the good parts? Porn on an eight track where you have to endure their terrible acting skills with an equally awful plot that the producer's cousin wrote. The good part of this game is that like any great porn movie, once you get to the action sequences (aka "the fighting" aka THE ROOT OF YOUR FLIPPING GAME!!!!), it is awesome. Great counters with pleasing results. Unfortunately, Ninja Theory thinks its storytelling is so grand that it doesn't need much combat. No tutorial either, but I guess that's a lazy way to say, "we make our games hard". No, you make your game like crap and tools praise you for it. This game is not difficult. What is difficult is staying awake as you so numbly and mindlessly wander from section to section to fulfill god awful puzzles that lack any imagination or intelligence to solve. The puzzles rely on you pushing a button, to focus in on some random stuff, and then "POOF!" The magic door is unlocked. Ooooo, I looked at something intently. I'm so smart. Yes, this is my first review ever for Metacritic because after playing this terrible game, I had to see what others said about it. I was horrified when I saw so many high scores praising this game. Coming from professional critics, I get it. Their job is to suck ass. But when I see such a high score from users, one begins to truly question the motives and legitness of Metacritic. Such a shame. I would personally rather have my nuts bashed in with a baseball bat by a naked Betty White because this game gives me worse visions than seeing her wrinkly body parts flap side to side as she hits me, and frankly I would get more pleasure from the sensation of having my nuts hit than playing this game. Nope, not into BDSM either. This game is a terrible porn movie that some tools are trying to pass for art. Move along. There is literally nothing to see here but a terrible game released at a bargain bin price to try to entice some poor souls to pay for it.… Full Review »
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