Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is a game that pushes boundaries in the gaming world, particularly when it comes to its portrayal of psychosis. So much so, that it was used as a tool to help people understand what it’s like to have psychosis. Using games as a teaching aid is not a new concept, but Hellblade is a cut above the rest in that it uses impressive technology to discuss the often taboo subject of mental health.

Cutting-edge technology

Hellblade tells the story of Senua, a Celtic warrior who has to deal with her own psychosis as she descends into a hell-like underworld. To make the game, developers used motion capture technology and rendered live-action footage directly into the game’s world with a technique known as real-time cinematography.

Senua’s body movements, facial expressions, and dialogue were all captured simultaneously via a motion capture suit and cameras. The result: Senua looks, sounds, and acts human, allowing gamers to really connect to her character and thus understand the nature of her psychosis.

Hearing voices

Senua has a whole range of voices that follow her around the game in the form of her own psychosis. These voices can be helpful, especially to you as a player, as they can warn you of oncoming danger and help you to be better prepared as you progress in the game. But they can also be sinister and intense, potentially disorienting you as you play, and changing the overall atmosphere of the game.

As well as all this, Senua also experiences hallucinations throughout the game. The images manifest as horrifying examples of real patients’ experiences with psychosis, making this game a true candidate in its horror genre.

The whole truth

In order to create the psychosis elements of the game, and to ensure that they included accurate interpretations of what psychosis is actually like, the game developers worked closely with the Wellcome Trust medical charity, neuroscientists, and actual psychosis patients.

In initial prototypes for the game, Senua only had a good voice and bad voice, which encompassed her entire psychosis. However, after much discussion with mental health experts, developers adjusted the game to include multiple overlapping voices, which was more representative of what actual psychosis patients reported experiencing. The result is distressing, causing players to feel overwhelmed at times. This may sound unpleasant, and in some ways it is, but it also adds to the ambience of the game and greatly enhances the gameplay.

A game for hunters and explorers

Due to its action-adventure and hack-and-slash elements, Hellblade is the type of game that appeals to a hunter type gamer. In addition to this, Hellblade also gives players the chance to roam the game’s world, and therefore also appeals to explorer gamers.

If Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice sounds like the type of game you’d be interested in playing (if you haven’t already played it), buy it now.