Highlights
- Hellblade 2 impresses with stunning visuals, but its seamless nature comes with some downsides.
- The seamless cinematic approach of Hellblade 2 enhances immersion, but can also lead to awkward moments and break player engagement when players need a second to realize they’re supposed to take control.
- While Hellblade 2 sets a high standard for Unreal Engine 5, its focus on continuous shots may frustrate players with lengthy and repetitive sequences like the intro’s cliff-climbing.
The last few major Xbox first-party releases have ended up receiving quite a divisive reception from both critics and fans, and unfortunately, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 follows the same trend. After almost five years since its first announcement, Hellblade 2 has finally made its way into the hands of fans. But whether Hellblade 2 was worth the wait is a strong point of contention right now among players.
Coming in at just 5-6 hours long, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is a rather short video game experience. But quantity doesn’t always equal quality in the video game landscape, and for its entire runtime, Hellblade 2 remains one of the most visually impressive video games ever made. Presentation is Hellblade 2‘s greatest strength, even if its cinematic nature isn’t without its own drawbacks.
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Hellblade 2 Is The Best Example of Unreal Engine 5 Yet
Unreal Engine 5 has been touted as the next big thing in gaming for a while now, and Hellblade 2 sets the new gold standard for the engine.
Hellblade 2’s Cinematic Approach Can Be a Blessing and a Curse
Hellblade 2’s Seamless Cinematics Are Designed to Immerse Players
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 essentially takes God of War‘s one-shot approach to cinematography, and turns it up to 11. The vast majority of Hellblade 2 is one seamless, continuous shot, with the camera remaining focused on Senua throughout her entire journey. While control of Senua is occasionally taken away from players, it’s usually only for a brief moment, and the cinematic nature of the game blends all of its moments together fairly seamlessly.
The biggest strength of this cinematic emphasis is that Hellblade 2 can feel incredibly immersive. With the camera focusing on Senua throughout her journey, players are able to maintain a strong connection to the character and her headspace, something that Hellblade 2‘s stellar audio design reinforces. Keeping the camera alive and active also helps to make Hellblade 2‘s world feel more realistic. Combat sequences in Hellblade 2 are a great example of this, as fights flow from one opponent to another quite naturally.
Hellblade 2’s Seamless Cinematics Quickly Fall Apart
But while Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2‘s strong cinematic focus can enhance the player’s immersion, it can also just as easily break it. With the whole game technically being one seamless experience, players are often expected to control Senua in moments that would otherwise be cutscenes in other video games, which can lead to some awkward, immersion-breaking moments.
For instance, during Hellblade 2‘s introductory chapter, Senua is tasked with climbing a sheer cliff face. As players reach the foot of the cliff control of Senua is taken away from them as she contemplates the risks of the climb and eventually takes her first steps up. But then players are given back control of Senua, with no proper on-screen indicators to relay that. This will likely lead to a bit of an awkward moment for many players, with Senua remaining oddly still during this moment of heightened tension until players realize they’re meant to push the left stick forward.
That awkward moment is then made worse by how lengthy and repetitive this sequence becomes. Players are forced to keep holding the stick forward while Senua climbs the entire length of the cliff. While it only takes around a minute, it feels a lot longer. And though this moment of gameplay is meant to mirror Senua’s own struggle to overcome the challenge, it doesn’t really feel like a challenge for the player, who’s simply holding down one button for the entire duration of the sequence. There are quite a few moments like this in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, and each one is likely to take the player by surprise, break their immersion a little bit by reminding them it’s a video game, and frustrate them by taking too long.