Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 review – bleak, distressing, and unmissable

For all the praise I’m about to heap on Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2, it’s a game I never want to play again. An odd thing to say, but one said with the best of intentions. Hellblade 2 is a momentous addition to video game culture and a must-play for anyone with even a passing interest in the medium. It’s phenomenal in its brave thematic explorations, visual delights, and tight, restrained vision, but so overbearing in what it asks of the player that playing it once is enough. Disconcertion has its limits. Hellblade 2 holds your attention so tight that it burrows into the mind. As the credits roll, I’m left spent, drained by its emotive heft, by the whirling, needling Furies, by the wearying loss, by the fragile hope it cradles, and the near-unbearable cinematic bleakness that ripples out from every polygon.

You play as returning protagonist Senua, a Celtic warrior harried by psychosis, juggling the contradictory jabs and delusional prods of voices, dubbed The Furies, swirling in her head as well as harsh 10th century Icelandic vistas inked in Viking myth. Her journey starts shipwrecked on a desolate isle where she must muster the courage to take on slavers sacrificing her people to placate fractious giants. Though best experienced first hand, so I’ll spare the details, few games have openings that hit with such visceral, immersive force. Turned reluctant saviour, Senua explores a desolate world so bleak and harrowing it’s hard to keep your eyes on it for all its disturbing and unrelenting brutality.

There’s no HUD or a single on-screen prompt to blemish the experience. Black bars frame every action. And, playable portions blend in and out of cut scenes seamlessly. It’s beautifully cinematic, propped up by these grand, sweeping shots that skim gorgeously-realised Icelandic landscapes and coastlines. There’s a stark, arresting beauty to it all, hammering home that sense of isolation that Senua nurses. The lighting work is superb and the ethereal quality of Hellblade 2’s more ponderous, reverie-like portions is as accomplished as it comes. The Furies are the auditory highlight, but they are supplemented by crisp sound design and a sparse soundtrack that sparingly erupts into punctual swells, breathy chants, and orchestral stomps.

Though much of the playable sections follow the strict paths and corridors narrative-heavy game conventions dictate, Hellblade 2 cleverly builds up a sense of trepidation about what might be around the next corner. Though it’s not exploration as we’ve come to expect it in, for example, an open-world game, it still feels like you are exploring the unknown, especially with the game’s metronomic pacing. This is only slightly let down by inconsistencies in environmental design that often lead you down perceived paths or ledges only to hit an ever-so-slightly immersion-sapping invisible wall. But, Hellblade 2 does quickly pull you back into the palpable authenticity and magic of its world, though.

A robust action game

Underneath all this lies a robust action game that splits your time between puzzle solving and combat sections. The puzzles don’t stray far from the satisfying formula laid out in the first Hellblade. Using her heightened senses, Senua is tasked with tracking patterns and runes in the world to open passages or use light to traverse morphing environments. They aren’t especially taxing or difficult, but offer yet more insight into her state of mind, gleaning structure and logic from what’s typically unseen. The Furies also provide a further layer to the puzzle solving, forcing you as a player to toil over whether to heed their curt suggestions or ignore them entirely, an apt taste of Senua’s own internal deliberations.

Combat in Hellblade 2 is a significant improvement over the first game while still retaining all of its weighty impact. It feels faster-paced, frenetic, and urgent. It’s fairly rudimentary in a way but it’s a system that requires you to be attentive or risk a cold, lonely death. Every dodge, parry, or sword swipe comes with a visceral responsiveness that’s heightened by stunning animations heaped in detail, from both Senua and a more diverse cast of enemies.

It’s brutal stuff, though, with incisions, cranial impacts, and finishing moves gory enough to make you feel uneasy even if you aren’t squeamish. This isn’t cheap barbarity for thrill’s sake; it serves to further implant the idea of a grim, violent world. Ninja Theory has removed the darkness mechanic, whereby a certain number of deaths would wipe your save, one of the first game’s more contentious design choices. Fights are exclusively one-on-one in Hellblade 2, removing the unwieldy multiple-enemy chaos that Hellblade struggled with due to janky targeting.

Once again, Ninja theory delivers a nuanced and poised portrait of a person beset by psychosis. If the first game was an exploration of that internal struggle, Hellblade 2 turns outward, depicting how Senua’s addled mind tunes and alters her experience but also the characters and world around her, often in harrowing and unpredictable ways. And, rather than a story about ‘curing’ or ‘beating’ her psychosis, it’s one of empowerment and harnessing what’s perceived as a fault. It’s a semblance of control over the uncontrollable.

But, all this is to the rhythm of a narrative that’s steeped in so much loss, death, despair, and the most destructive of human inclinations. It gnaws away at you, testing how much discomfort and misery you can handle. There are portions that are nothing shy of distressing. It hits hard and in a way few games do. It’s something that’s mirrored in Senua herself. She carries around this persistent doubt, an entrenched fear that’s difficult not to empathise with. Hellblade 2’s world is harsh enough without opinionated Furies questioning every decision, heightening fears, brewing delusions, and, every so often, being useful. She’s fragile, human, ever-tense, earnest, and raw, yet endowed with this dogged persistence that makes her a deeply compelling heroine to root and care for.

Though Hellblade 2 takes a lot out of you, its rewards are worth it. Among the pilling corpses and Senua’s crushing anguish, there’s something important, that most universal of sanctuaries that relates to us all – hope. A guarded, dimly shining nugget of the stuff. We could all do with a bit more hope, however disquieting the path to reach it.

Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 release date and gameplay

Ninja Theory revealed Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 release date, and we couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come. Aside from announcing the kickoff to their follow-up to the acclaimed Senua’s Sacrifice, the developers also gave us a quick look at the excitingly terrifying combat and the brutal storyline that’s sure to keep us and you talking in the months ahead of its launch. If you’re excited to get your hands on what’s shaping up to be one of the year’s biggest and most visually arresting projects, keep reading to find out its release date and the latest news.

When was Hellblade 2 release date?

Hellblade 2 released on May 21, 2024, for the Xbox Series X|S and PC. Developer Ninja Theory officially confirmed the sequel’s launch during the January 2024 Xbox Developer Direct showcase, wherein they also gave players a quick look at what they can expect in the next chapter of Senua’s harrowing adventure. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is also available on Xbox Game Pass.

What platforms is Hellblade 2 on?

Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 is available on the following platforms:

Xbox Series X|S

PC

Unfortunately for those on PlayStation, Hellblade 2 is an Xbox-exclusive game, so those on the Sony gaming console won’t be able to play the sequel unless they have an Xbox or PC. It’s currently unclear whether Ninja Theory will release a PS5 port in the future. But for now, you’ll need to get the game either on the current-gen Xbox platform or the PC to experience it.

Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 trailers

Now, the in-depth, behind-the-scenes clips showcased during the Developer Direct weren’t the first trailers Ninja Theory released, as the studio had also previously provided an official trailer during The Game Awards 2023. Of course, the developer’s announcement of the sequel in 2019 was also accompanied by its own exciting snippet, which they then followed up two years later with the gameplay reveal in 2021.

Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 gameplay

Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2, much like its predecessor, is a third-person action-adventure game, featuring an over-the-shoulder camera, similar to other prominent games, like Santa Monica Studios’ God of War, for example. The setting is slightly different from the first game, taking place in Iceland and leaning heavily on myth, legends, and the torment of Viking Iceland. Based on the trailers Ninja Theory has provided, Hellblade 2 will be even more story-driven than the first, with the developers often merging cutscenes and combat together to give you an even more immersive experience. Naturally, expect plenty of puzzles.

According to the developers in their January 2024 Developer Direct segment, the sequel will also be much more brutal and unforgiving because they want you to experience Senua’s onscreen struggle “in every step of her journey”, leading to more cinematic immersion. Further to this, we’ve seen improved visuals through the trailers and a new look for Senua as she embarks on this brutal journey of survival.

Though Ninja Theory has yet to specify the changes they’ve made to the sequel’s brand new visceral combat system, the sneak peeks they’ve provided so far indicate that it will be a wholly different experience to that of their previous instalment. The theme of psychosis was prevalent in the first game, so it’ll be interesting to see how Senua’s psychosis plays out this time around. While we wait for the continuation of Senua’s story, we have plenty more games to look forward to in our upcoming 2024 games calendar.