Even if the studios themselves would interrupt and say all of us are equal, there will always be console wars between Xbox and PlayStation. Most of the time it’s just friendly banter but other times it gets extremely competitive. However, that friendly competition reaches its height during The Game Awards. Major corporations compete for bragging rights obtained by winning the Game of the Year Award. This year, the biggest chance that Xbox has to do that is through Hellblade 2.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is a much-awaited sequel to Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice which came out roughly 7 years ago. The sequel is set to release in 2024. However, we do not have a release period. However, internal talk already places the game as the top contender for the 2024 Game of the Year Award. Let us see how.
Contents
- Why Hellblade 2 is Xbox’s Biggest Game Of The Year Contender in 2024
- Hellblade 2 Gameplay, Score, and Graphical Quality
- The Competition
- Internal Reception at Xbox for the Game
Why Hellblade 2 is Xbox’s Biggest Game Of The Year Contender in 2024
Hellblade 2 is soon shaping up to be one of the most awaited games in 2024 because of the commitment put into the project by the Developers, Ninja Theory. Xbox is pushing this game to become the Game of the Year by investing extra effort in budget and marketing. In this piece, we will be looking at the development and recent rumors of the game. We will also see how Xbox’s internal review system scored it at the highest ranks.
Hellblade 2 Gameplay, Score, and Graphical Quality
The third-person action-adventure title has grim lighting and themes of mental health problems highlighted in its gameplay. The score is beautiful and sets the tone for the entire game. The game is set in Iceland and quite recently we got to know that Scandinavian Folk Music Band Heilung will also lend their talents to the game’s soundtrack. The graphical quality is top of the line as Ninja Theory has curated real-life costumes to scan into the game.
With the use of Unreal Engine 5, the game is sure to look and feel life-like as Senua’s every movement and facial twitch is motion captured to look as authentic as possible. The amount of effort being put into this game in comparison to the original is incomparable. Following Nordic themes, the game will have mythical creatures just like the previous game where players faced Surtr, Hela, Fenrir, and more mythological entities as Senua.
The prequel’s immersive storytelling and Senua’s psychosis make for a masterpiece that tells a story with and without words. The game portrays the mythical entities in a new light, making them rusted, bony, and almost without any characteristics or a memorable appearance. Seeing the effort put into the first game makes us excited for the second. However, the most appealing part of Senua’s story is how the cutscenes blend into the gameplay.
It almost makes it feel like we are playing a movie which is only possible due to the technological advancements made in the industry,
The Competition
Now that we have listed out the good qualities of the franchise and how the sequel will have all of it and more, let us take a look at the competition for Hellblade 2 for the Game of the Year award. The competition we are referring to is the two PlayStation titles. Mainly, The Last of Us 2 Remastered for the PlayStation 5 and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Both are worthy titles in their own right and will have the groundwork set already by their respective studios.
The Last of Us Part I received a remastered quite a while ago and Sony is following it up by Remastering the sequel. The sequel is all about Ellie’s grief and her journey towards vengeance. The game is sure to be even more surreal thanks to the power of the PlayStation 5. With improved graphics, higher frames, and better accessibility, The Last of Us 2 is a solid Game of the Year contender because most fans already know the story is a masterpiece.
Aside from that, we have the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth which is going to dazzle fans with its open world and combat. It is a direct sequel to the Final Fantasy VII Remake released in 2020. In addition, this game is only released for the PlayStation 5 just like The Last of Us 2 Remastered which makes both of these games the definite rival to Hellblade 2. Regardless of who has the upper hand for the award, it is a good year for gaming in general.
Internal Reception at Xbox for the Game
Based on the intel we have from Nate the Hate, a credible industry insider, the internal reviews for Hellblade 2 have been phenomenal. Critics gave the game a lower 90s rating and if that were to transition over to public reviews, then this would make Hellblade one of the best Xbox titles in recent years. The previous Hellblade title got scores from the ’80s-’90s. Most critics even gave it a flawless score.
Combining all of that gave it a lower 80s rating. However, this one has to be the lower 90s which would make it one of the best in recent times, especially for Xbox. They haven’t received a lower 90s score since Gears of War 3. TL; DR is that Xbox held mock reviews for Hellblade 2 and it received the highest scores for an Xbox title for a while.
However, we do not know if the reviews are based just on people inside the company or if outside reviewers were brought in. In terms of the source, Nate the Hate has been one of the most reliable leakers with an impressive track record so it looks like the game will be good upon release. We do not have a concrete release date for Hellblade 2. However, if we were to play it safe, we would say the game will release in the third quarter of 2024.
Hellblade will come out for the Xbox One and Windows in 2024.
