Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is treading a difficult line – on the one hand, it’s an action-horror game that intends to entertain in a traditional way, but it’s also about the titular character’s struggle with psychosis and mental illness. It’s clear the team at Ninja Theory (Heavenly Sword, DmC: Devil May Cry) are afraid of being accused of insensitivity, as they mention whenever possible that their depiction of psychosis is based on stories from people who have actually experienced it.
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Well, Ninja Theory is making sure everybody who buys Hellblade knows how much effort they put into depicting psychosis accurately, as a 25-minute documentary, Senua’s Psychosis, will be included with every copy of the game. The feature will delve into the making of Hellblade, and feature contributions from psychosis researchers and those recovering from the illness. University of Cambridge Professor of Health and Neuroscience Paul Fletcher thinks Hellblade has the potential to help increase awareness and understanding of psychosis…
“It was really quite exciting to see something I explore scientifically being represented so beautifully. I’m very excited by this way of trying to depict mental illness, because I think it might actually be offering us insights that we wouldn’t get from pure scientific explorations, giving us quite an empathic view of what it might be like to have psychosis.”
Based on Celtic and Norse mythology, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice sees the title character embark on a dark and tormented journey to return the skull of a man she loved to its home, even as she begins to lose her grip on reality. In terms of gameplay, Hellblade is a Dark Souls-style action game, with plenty of survival horror-style atmosphere and puzzle solving.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice slashes its way onto PC and PS4 on August 8.
