14 Minutes of ‘Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice VR’ Gameplay

By
Scott Hayden
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39

Ninja Theory’s BAFTA award-winning action-adventure game Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (2017) is coming to Oculus Rift and HTC Vive soon. Here’s 14 minutes of gameplay, taken after the game’s initial intro.

Update (July 31st, 2018): Helblade: Senua’s Sacrifice VR Edition is now available as a free update via both Steam and GOG versions of the game.

The original article follows below.

Original Article (July 25th, 2018): The task at hand: battle the god’s of the Norse mythological realm Helheim, and overcome Celtic warrior Senua’s inner-struggles along the way.

Easily delivering more than seven hours of gameplay, Hellblade offers a new immersive look at the already rich world, which is teeming with demons and gods ripped from the few surviving texts detailing the Norse mythology. Like the PC/console game, it’s played in the third-person.

SEE ALSO
First Look at 'Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice’ VR Edition

The game does have a few caveats, as you’ll notice in the gameplay video. Some textures pop, and geometry isn’t as solid as the PC version, although these are mostly minor complaints to what’s overall an impressive, and high quality VR implementation. You’ll also need a fairly beefy setup to run it though – at least an Intel i5 3570K or AMD FX-8350, 8 GB RAM, and either a NVIDIA GTX 1080 or AMD Radeon RX 580.

The VR edition is a free update to the Steam version of the PC game, and releases July 31st.

If you’re ready for an in-depth look at the upcoming VR edition, make sure to read our exclusive first look here, which covers everything from combat to comfort.

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. See here for more information.


Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Zachary Scott Dickerson

    Very interested, but it’s just a seated third person? I dunno about that being much fun in VR.

    • Buddydudeguy

      That’s a pretty narrow view of what is entertaining. You havnt played through Edge of Nowhere? Third person VR is like watching your self in a dream. It’s a perfectly valid form of VR.

      • Zachary Scott Dickerson

        True, have not tried any 3rd person past VORPX days, and I suppose some games and stories just can’t work from first person view. I may pickup on the next steam sale then.

        • JJ

          yeah over the shoulder to me is only like .25% VR. The best part of vr is stepping into it, third person to me is the same as watching it in pancake more just with better peripherals.

        • Darrin57

          Play Chronos. Play Moss. Play Brass Tactics. Third person is great. Towering Godlike over detailed little diorama worlds is super fun.

          • Zachary Scott Dickerson

            True, I have played a few like that, but this one sounds to be 1:1 perspective. I tried to play Alien Isolation in VR, but after playing games with your hands, it’s hard to go back to using a controller.

    • WoolyBug

      Here’s an idea: Not everyone wants VR to be like failed motion controller games.
      Most people who like VR don’t care if it’s full room or sitting, as long as the VR gives you 3D, head tracking, and the ability to make the world feel real.

      • Zachary Scott Dickerson

        That’s fine. I just don’t want this to become a quick buck type thing.. IE, all the devs start making 2D ports and calling it the VR version. I suspect that’s the case, hoping we are starved for content and will buy anything that rated well in 2D.

        • They call it VR support…

          And well, ports w/ want people wanted from the get go, not short games, experience, waveshooters, etc.

          A true VR dream is every standard game release coming w/ VR support or version because the best gaming experiences are outside VR.

          Those experiences need to be brought to VR since VR is the best way to expeience anything.

          The best experiences are in VR.

    • Don’t know why everyone thinks you have to move your ass in VR for it to be fun.

      • Zachary Scott Dickerson

        I suppose. I guess I don’t know why you would buy a vive, clear out a 10 foot space in your room, just to pull up and sit at your desk. I could be wrong though, perhaps seated VR is better suited for PSVR. Sales figures will show soon.

        • Tarisis

          If you have a Vive like I do, you don’t sit at a ‘desk’. I’m pretty sure most everyone that plays SteamVR play in their living room. There are incredible games like L.A. Noire: VR Case Files where you can sit during driving sequences and it’s glorious.

          Nothing wrong with having the option for standing, roaming or sitting. The more options the better, for the sake of more diversified VR experiences, at the very least.

        • You do have a point there. Why not buy a vive, clear out a 10 foot space in your room and ignore all 3rd person VR games?

          And get angry at devs for porting their 3rd person games to the Vive and not revamp it for 1st person gameplay.

          Suppose it worth missing out on a great experience like Hellblade.

        • care package

          Very few games even apply large spacing, a.k.a. room scale. Room scale will never become a significant part of VR, unless a bigger percentage of people suddenly start getting rooms they don’t need to fill with other stuff.
          Chronos and Alien Isolation are still my favorite VR games. Not only are both games seated, but don’t even use the motion controls. More space and motion controls are great for emersion, but for short burst gaming only.

      • mirak

        Seated with a game pad means seated deep in a sofa.
        The only way seated works well is on a good chair.

        • Like a spinning office chair

        • Try Subnautica in VR with the gamepad. Works very well.

          • HomeAudio

            Subnautica has broken menu system – you have it so close to face that it is almost not possible to use it normally. The same problem with underwater scooter – literally it sits on your nose. :/

    • mirak

      I think the same.
      I would love to be seated while playing NBA 2K or Fifa, like you are in the arena though

      • david vincent

        Fifa (or PES) would be rad in VR, no need of a radar anymore.

    • Krzysztof Kiersznicki

      well…edge of nowhere is one of the best games in vr…and its TPP….

      • HomeAudio

        100% agree!! Edge Of Nowhere is on top of my list. But yesterday I bought also Hellblade… and I have to say it is very good as well!

  • Alan Harrington

    Hmmm, my first thoughts were “If only this were the new Tomb Raider”; but then again, if Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix haven’t got the balls to do a full Tomb Raider game in VR then bring it on Ninja Theory; take their crown and you will deserve all our support!!

    • Jim Cherry

      Ninja theory is owned by microsoft so they dont need your support ;)

      • Alan Harrington

        So you think that they will keep making VR if we don’t support them? More likely that Microsoft will abandon VR if their pet projects fail…

  • Michael Mathieu

    Is it a commonplace for people to have a GTX 1080?

    • Alan Harrington

      Yeah, good point, lol

    • WoolyBug

      Yes, if you bought them before the crypt-o currency craze made the prices so high.
      I paid $500 for a 1080 when they came out.
      I’ve seen them as high as $10000 a while back.
      I heard prices were going back down to normal though.

    • Casepb

      No, very few actually do according to Steam. More people still have 970s than 1080s. It’s commonplace to have a 1060.

      NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 – 12.74%
      NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti – 8.51%
      NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 – 4.82%
      NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 – 4.82%
      NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750Ti – 4.48%
      NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 – 3.84%
      NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 – 3.53%
      NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 – 2.43%

  • Whoever expect motions controls from a 3rd person port like hellblade can’t be right in the head.

    You all are drunk/high, go home..

    • Zachary Scott Dickerson

      Yeah did not expect it, you gotta write from the ground up. Skyrim/Fallout heavily show ‘2D port’ to me. I suppose this could be interesting, since I read a good point about how it’s hard to tell this story in first person. I would rather see this than turd games that get a nice license deal and turn it into a mindless wave shooter.

      • Those “2D Ports” have soaked up my of my time in VR then all of the other games combined. I’ve already done another 120 hours in Skyrim and my hours in Fallout 4 VR are still growing. Only recently has any other VR game held my interest (that would be The Forest in co-op).

  • paul mason

    I like to relax and play a seated game using a controller. I’m usually too tired to want to play a standing game that requires a lot of movement.

  • The screen movements suggest it could be hard on the stomach, and game has never amazed me with it’s depth or grindy combat. It’s nice to see the VR support, but the game itself is a still a solid Meh.

    • NooYawker

      It defaults snap turning which helps a lot.

  • NooYawker

    wow the VR portion is 13gigs on top of the base which is also 13 gigs
    Very excited to try this

  • Anonymiiss

    Dark Souls VR

  • HomeAudio

    FYI: game works perfectly on Ryzen 1700 and GTX 1070.

    • Casepb

      I figured it would work fine on my 1070.