Lets be honest, IMDB isn't a game review site. Hellblade 2 isn't your usual game and it's doing it an injustice to treat it as such. Granted, it's not particularly long (still longer than a COD campaign) but it took me 3 evenings to play through, the equivalent of binge watching a mini series or watching a trilogy of films. And what an experience it is!
The story was phenomenal, the visuals awe inspiring, up there with big budget movies, not like a computer game. To think Melina Juergens wasn't even an actress before she appeared as Senua is unbelievable, she deserves awards. The subject matter is heavy, but it's so well done and respectfully handled.
Do yourself a favour and wear headphones when playing this, the audio quality is up there with the rest of the presentation. The transitions in the gameplay, especially in the fight sequences is so cinematic, I really hope other studios see this and we see more of it because it was so immersive. And I especially want to call out the middle part of the game, it was so terrifying and atmospheric.
I admit, my thumb started to hurt from pushing forward on the controller, I found hunting for the collectables immersion breaking and the puzzles were a bit boring. Because of this I would rate the gameplay 3/5. But I'm writing this on IMDb and I want this work of art and everyone that worked on it to get the recognition it deserves. Visuals 10/10, audio 10/10, acting 10/10, story 10/10 and presentation 10/10 - we need more entertainment media like this, telling an interactive story with this depth and care, and less shallow copy and paste games.