Developer Ninja Theory is back with its latest dev diary, providing more insight into the creative process. This time the studio examines the pivotal role sound plays in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.

Sound is instrumental in most games, but particularly crucial for Hellblade’s protagonist Senua. She struggles with hearing voices in her head. To better understand mental illness and how it might affect someone like Senua, Ninja Theory brought in experts to provide knowledge on the difficult subject. Not only professionals, but people who deal with the condition of hearing voices in their head were consulted for input.

What the team learned was that the experience varied from person to person, with some hearing one voice while others heard multiple. Incorporating this feedback into Hellblade provided some unique opportunities to capture audio. Check out the video below to see how a voice recording session can get quite physical.

My Opinion:

It’s interesting to see Ninja Theory tackle a somewhat taboo subject like mental illness in their game. I’m not sure how much it will affect gameplay, but it definitely adds layers to the character of Senua and makes her a unique protagonist.

Darius Purse is a Senior Writer at MONG and if you want to talk Games, TV, or MMA feel free to follow him on Twitter.