And yet, like most of Hellblade, combat is still a tense experience knowing that dying too many times (in or out of combat) will cause your save to be deleted and you’ll be forced to start from the beginning. But there were only a few fights where large groups of enemies were thrown at me that I ever felt threatened and it's only near the end of the journey when enemy numbers and difficulty spike unexpectedly that the combat depth eventually becomes more than the sum of its parts. Play The simple nature of the combat design struck me as obligatory for the sake of interactivity – giving you another way to interact with the world outside of perception – coupled with the fact a warrior should be defined by battle. These moments evoke the vibes of a horror game that are sparse enough to be shocking when I haplessly wandered into them, but effective enough that I worried for Senua's safety with that ever-present nagging of permanent death. For example, in one section I guided Senua through a pitch-black area filled with shapeless hair-raising creatures that would lunge out when she got too close.

And because of that there are moments of terrifying tension that gave me an amount of anxiety and panic that’s borderline uncomfortable. Hellblade is a game that you’re not supposed to trust, because what you see, or hear, or feel, is rarely truthful. There’s no objective markers or mini map, which are only occasionally frustrating when backtracking to look for the collectible lorestones scattered throughout the world. Your first moments of do-or-die battle begin without warning. 'Behind you!' one of them screams seconds before an enemy stabs at Senua's back. “For example, there’s no HUD in Hellblade - yet that chorus of voices shout panicked advice at Senua in the heat of battle.

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