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.”
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