Returning from self-imposed exile, the young Pict warrior grapples with her inner-demons as she attempts to save the soul of her lover, Dillon. Playing Hellblade can feel rough and sluggish, but this feeds into the mind-state of its main character, Senua. The game tackles an important and often misunderstood illness, and allows you to better understand it through visual and aural presentation.ĭeveloper Ninja Theory has a long history of developing action games that are fast and fluid in movement while also being mechanically deep and complex, but for Hellblade, the developer scaled this back somewhat. It's a bold game that explores mental health-specifically psychosis-through the lens of a character-action game wrapped in Norse mythology. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice leverages the strengths of video games as a medium and delivers an experience that is unlike anything else released this year. The game also expands the formula with numerous spells and new marching monsters and units, and the resulting concoction is a strategy game that both Warhammer and Total War fans are guaranteed to love. The addition of the Vortex campaign and a wider variety of quests far exceed the experience of the original. Battles are not long, arduous, drawn-out affairs, nor do they end too quickly for you to appreciate the size and force of what you're seeing. In addition, the scale and enormity of its combat is unparalleled, especially in the Mortal Empires campaign, which combines everything from the first game with everything you see in Total War: Warhammer II. This sequel adds a sense of dynamism and urgency to a series where many players feel safe slowly creeping across the campaign map, knowing that even if their front line falls, their home cities are stoic and safe.

At the same time, the game better utilizes its narrative, tapping into the decades of lore that the Warhammer franchise now consists of. With the second installment, developer The Creative Assembly has expanded the mechanics of the first, while still retaining its sandbox structure.

Total War: Warhammer II is one of the most well-crafted strategy games in PC gaming history. Now Playing: Top 5 PC Games Of 2017 - Best Of 2017

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