10 Most Brutal Punishments In Horror Video Games

6. You're Lied To About Permadeath - Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Until Dawn Ashley
Ninja Theory

Permadeath is one of the most stressful video game punishments there is, and in the brilliant Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, upon encountering their first death, the player is informed that each subsequent death will cause Senua's "rot" to further consume her.

The implication is that, with enough deaths, the rot will envelop Senua completely and give players a permadeath Game Over, deleting their save and forcing them to start again.

This naturally created an added air of tension in the early days following the game's release, with players anxious that an honest mistake could result in them losing hours of progress.

But as it turned out, this was nothing more than a cheeky bluff from Ninja Theory, and after a certain point, the rot never actually progresses any further no matter how often you die.

It was a clever bait-and-switch for sure, and for those who played the game upon launch in particular, made them feel extra anxious every time they kicked the bucket.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.