Kieron said: “Ninja Theory’s ambitious vision had every chance of falling apart – a title developed with indie sensibilities and AAA production values sounds too good to be true – but it worked. Hellblade’s depiction of mental illness succeeds on the strength of its fantastic direction, writing and acting and a truly unnerving audio experience that shook me from beginning to end.”
Camilla said: “I’m not much of an audiophile but I could not shut up about the sound design while playing this game. With a good pair of headphones on, the whispers in my ears genuinely made me shiver at times. Aside from that, this game has a powerful message about mental illness that deserves infinite praise, an exciting combat system, challenging puzzles and a captivating storyline that truly moved me at its conclusion.”
Brodie praised the game for taking a bold risk in his review and gave it an 8. He said: “I know Hellblade won’t be the catalyst to us understanding mental illness overnight, but, again, it needs to be stressed that Ninja Theory took a bold risk here and their art is going to change perceptions somewhere down the line. It’s a game where the difficulty of its subject matter trumps its combat, which is unfortunate. How a group of twenty people can make one of the most affecting games of the year, when teams of hundreds routinely fail to do so, is beyond me.”
PRESS START’S TOP 10 GAMES OF 2017
4. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
5. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
6. Resident Evil 7
7. Uncharted The Lost Legacy
8. Assassin’s Creed: Origins
9. Sonic Mania
10. Cuphead
