The story of Senua continues, her struggles with the voices, her mission of revenge in Ninja Theories epic masterpiece, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. 

A game of cinematic proportion, you assume the role of Senua, who has learned to accept the inner voices that used to plague and confuse her, but is still somewhat intimidated by ‘Shadow’, a hallucination of her abusive father.

After her love was killed by the Northmen she allows herself to be captured and captured as a slave. On a boat from Orkney to Iceland Senua is chained – but this is all a part of her plan to free her Orcadian people.

Senua is a warrior. A survivor.

But what neither the Northmen or Senua herself ever suspected was that the wild sea would divert her destiny and essentially set her free, only to be trapped within her own all consuming need to avenge the wrongs done to her.

Barely making it alive as the ocean washes her up on to the shore, Senua finds herself face to face with the slave master. Here we encounter the first nemesis Thórgestr that Senua will battle and she ends up taking him prisoner, so he can lead her to his village, Borgarviki.

You will encounter many NPC’s that play a crucial role to sSenua’s story and the gameplay itself and battle all manner of creatures, including giants.

Graphically Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II will blow you away. It was more than I expected.

From rich detail through to subliminal flashes as Senua deals with visions that accompany her inner voices.

Gameplay is mostly free roam bar environment blockers and there are times where things will take a slower pace as you work through the ever engrossing narrative.

If there was ever to be an example of a sequel that was better then it’s predecessor Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is it.

And for those with Xbox Game pass, the game runs perfect on PC (and handheld PCs) via the Xbox Game pass app.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is so far my pick for the game of this year (2024).

Best played with headphones or a high quality home cinema sound system for binaural audio, Senua’s Saga Hellblade II is most definitely a game you’ll find yourself replaying many times over.

A stellar example of what a video game can be and should be.

The post Senua’s Saga – Hellblade II (Xbox Series X) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

With the recent announcement of a second chapter to Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice from the creators Ninja Theory, slated to be an Xbox exclusive, a talk with Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox went a bit like this:

“For eighteen years and three console generations, the Xbox community has shown us the power both games and fun can have on all of us. As we enter a new generation of gaming, we see a future where you’re instantly absorbed in your games – where worlds are even more lifelike, immersive, responsive and surprising – and where you are at the centre of your gaming experience. With the new Xbox Series X, we will realise that vision.

Xbox Series X will be our fastest, most powerful console ever and set a new bar for performance, speed and compatibility, allowing you to bring your gaming legacy, thousands of games from three generations and more forward with you. Its industrial design enables us to deliver four times the processing power of Xbox One X in the most quiet and efficient way, something that is critically important in delivering truly immersive gameplay. We also designed Xbox Series X to support both vertical and horizontal orientation. It’s bold and unique, very much like our fans around the world and the team of collaborators and innovators who built it.

The name Xbox is an expression of our deep history in gaming, our team’s unrelenting passion, and our commitment to both our fans and the future of gaming at Microsoft. It also signifies our belief that a gaming console should be for just that – gaming.

Alongside Xbox Series X, we also unveiled the new Xbox Wireless Controller. Its size and shape have been refined to accommodate an even wider range of people, and it also features a new Share button to make capturing screenshots and game clips simple and an advanced d-pad derived from the Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller. The new Xbox Wireless Controller will be compatible with Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, and will be included with every Xbox Series X.

The possibilities of what Xbox Series X enables developers to achieve was also brought to life this evening with the unveiling of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. A sequel to the award-winning Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice from world-renowned developers Ninja Theory, the game is being built to leverage the full power of Xbox Series X.  The footage shared tonight was captured in-engine and reflects the power of Xbox Series X available to developers to deliver new universes, experiences and games in ways you have never imagined.

Hellblade – Senuas Sacrifice II

Games today deliver amazing visuals and tell an array of different and deep stories.  That’s why, when we started work on Xbox Series X, it was vital we continue to advance state-of-the-art visual capabilities for developers, while also ensuring they could realise even greater feeling, emotion and empathy in their games. With Xbox Series X, we will elevate the way games look, play and feel. We will also remove the technical barriers faced in previous generations and enable developers to create more expansive, immersive gaming worlds that invite more players to play.

From a technical standpoint, this will manifest as world-class visuals in 4K at 60FPS, with possibility of up to 120FPS, including support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and 8K capability. Powered by our custom-designed processor leveraging the latest Zen 2 and next generation RDNA architecture from our partners at AMD, Xbox Series X will deliver hardware accelerated ray tracing and a new level of performance never before seen in a console.  Additionally, our patented Variable Rate Shading (VRS) technology will allow developers to get even more out of the Xbox Series X GPU and our next-generation SSD will virtually eliminate load times and bring players into their gaming worlds faster than ever before.

We are minimising latency by leveraging technology such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and giving developers new functionality like Dynamic Latency Input (DLI) to make Xbox Series X the most responsive console ever.  Xbox Series X is also designed for a future in the cloud, with unique capabilities built into the hardware and software to make it as easy as possible to bring great games to both console and elsewhere. Xbox Series X will deliver a level of fidelity and immersion unlike anything that’s been achieved in previous console generations.

One of the things we’re most proud of with Xbox Series X is the promise we’re delivering to our fans who have and continue to invest with Xbox. Thanks to backward compatibility, you can expect your gaming legacy, thousands of your favourite games across four generations of gaming, all your Xbox One gaming accessories, and industry-leading services like Xbox Game Pass to be available when you power on your Xbox Series X in Holiday 2020.

Building on our compatibility promise, with Xbox Series X we’re also investing in consumer-friendly pathways to game ownership across generations. Leading the way with our first-party titles including Halo Infinite in 2020, we’re committed to ensuring that games from Xbox Game Studios support cross-generation entitlements and that your Achievements and game saves are shared across devices.  As we branch out and extend gaming to more players around the world, console gaming will remain at the heart of our Xbox offering.  Game creators around the globe are already hard at work building content for Xbox Series X and our 15 Xbox Game Studios are developing the largest and most creatively diverse lineup of Xbox exclusive games in our history. On behalf of Team Xbox, we’re excited to enter the future of console gaming with you and can’t wait to share more in 2020″.

STG will have further info from the Xbox Team and Phil Spencer directly real soon on the console revolution that is the Xbox Series X.

The post Power Your Dreams with Xbox Series X appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

With the sheer amount of information about games these days it’s so rare to be surprised. Something may be better or worse than you expected, but to be totally thrown off isn’t all that common. Yet a game made by Ninja Theory, who are known for fast pace action games, called Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice did exactly that.

By being something completely different to what the name and development team implies, it’s the better for it.

Senua is a woman in old Nordic times, tormented by the demons of the psychosis she suffers. She descends into Hel intending to bargain for the soul of her beloved Dillion from Hela. In doing so she must fight the demons in Hel, and the demons in her mind.

First and foremost, this is the most important element of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, how it tackles Senua’s psychosis. The game recommends from the outset to use surround sound headphones, which most headphones are these days, because Senua experiences voices in her head throughout the game, and these are present through your headphones. These voices haunt Senua throughout the game, talking to her, mocking her, helping her, disparaging her, and so much more. This is the game’s biggest strength as it keeps you constantly on edge, especially when they tell you you are going the wrong way, or saying to not drop down where you need to go. They keep you uneasy at the best of times, and when they disappear it becomes even more terrifying.

Despite being a strong warrior, Senua is still terrified at times which is emphasized by hearing what she hears, and seeing things more terrifying than most. This is assisted greatly with the top-notch graphics in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. The game looks stunning, easily passing for a AAA game, with beautifully terrifying environments and stunning face animations helping cement your empathy for Senua. A unique element added is the use of live action footage, but only when obscured, so while you can see it if you are looking, its incorporated in a way the looks natural. The total package is especially impressive in that the game is an indie title, with an indie price tag to boot, looking as good as the best AAA games.

The game is in most ways a third person action game, but there isn’t very much action. The game has slow movement, especially in the walk and the relatively slow run, which only strengthens the ability for it to make you feel overwhelmed as if you are facing unsurmountable odds. Strengthened by the view being relatively close to Senuas shoulder, limiting your field of view, helps keep this feeling in place, and comes paired with slow, at times clunky combat. Combat is simple by you only having a melee, a strong and fast attack selection, block plus evade. This isn’t so bad as combat is used sparingly but can feel uneasy as Northman appear out of thin air to kill you.

The bulk of your time will involve exploring the environments and beating puzzles set out by the Norse gods. Puzzles are either using different perspectives to make elements of the environment appear or disappear, or finding set shapes in the environment to unlock doors. Neither puzzle is especially difficult to beat but can require some experimentation. The shape puzzles are especially clever as it can be trees lined up correctly, dangling objects, or shadows cast by something else.

Once the game is done there is a feature that is worth watching, it goes a little into the history of where the game is based, but more importantly it gives some insight into the development of the game. Consultation was done with people experiencing things such as voices, and with insight into what goes into the game, it gives some appreciation to the experience you just had.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is a game that is better than the sum of its parts.

Average combat along with decent puzzles are no match for the top-notch motion capture acting, voice work plus story that doesn’t use Senua’s mental illness for a mere plot point, but brings you along for a ride that is unsettling, and creepy, in the best possible ways. If you can stand some slightly scary images, and some very uneasy settings, this is a must play for anyone wanting a linear story that is worth every terrifying second. Be ready to doubt the voices in your ears, and yourself as you fight with Senua.

The post Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (PlayStation 4) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.