Official Website

Platform: PlayStation 3

Genre: Action Adventure

Number of Players: 1

Support: HD 720p

There have been quite a few gamers that PlayStation 3 owners have been looking forward to playing. Outside of the well-known and established names in the industry, some of the new and first time games have been attracting a lot of attention. With Resistance hitting at launch and gaining quite a bit of attention, the game that most eyes turned towards was Heavenly Sword, dubbed by some as “Goddess of War”, and there are definite similarities. While we didn’t officially receive a review copy from Sony (kind of a rarity, but I can show financial support when necessary) that won’t stop us from getting a review, and with many of the other critics being less kind to the game we’ve all waited for, I’m more than happy to have waited and defend it.

Heavenly Sword has teased us for quite some time now since its appearance at E3, then another tease on the Heroes television series, and then finally a demo. Everything that we’ve seen, the one thing that was definite is that the game seemed to be very similar to God of War, with a female lead and some impressive graphics. The female lead we have all seen is Nariko, a deadly warrior how has been trained since birth in the art of combat, and life with her father, her adopted sister Kai, and the rest of her clan is about to be disrupted when King Bohan and his army attack, driving them from their village. Nariko’s father is captured by Bohan and she has unleashed a deadly blade that she was sworn to protect but never use; the Heavenly Sword. Now Bohan, his men, and anyone else who stands in her way will pay the price.

Yes, Heavenly Sword does in fact play a lot like God of War, but it also has a number of differences that set it apart and make it a different game and one that is quite memorable. Nariko though is one of two characters that you will play in the game, Kai being the other, and each has their own, distinct method of fighting and Heavenly Sword isn’t just based on hacking through enemies, though that’s a big part of it, and there are a few other methods that come into play as well.

As Nariko, your primary weapon is your blades, first a long sword, then the Heavenly Sword which grants you a number of new abilities and fighting styles. The long sword and the Heavenly Sword both work the same way and using triangle and square allows you to attack. As you fight more, you will begin to learn new combos that can be used, but this is a game that goes beyond just combos and button mashing and provides some other unique abilities. Countering an enemy attack with triangle at just the right moment will let Nariko perform one of many unique and destructive combo moves, such as simply wrapping her leg around theirs and then giving them a solid kick to the groin or perhaps a nice, powerful kick to the head. As you fight more and more, you will notice the super style disc, found within your health sphere, will begin to increase. Once it lights up, pressing circle will let Nariko attack with a crushing blow that is certain to kill her enemy without question.

Nariko however isn’t limited to just one fighting stance either. By pressing L1, you enter into a range stance where she will spin the sword above her head, similar to what is seen in Rygar, and R1 lets Nariko change into the lethal heavy stance with crushing blows that will break through just about any armor. By pressing X, you can pick up items such as swords, chairs, even fallen foes, and throw them at those who stand in your way. However, if you hold X, then things get really cool. This allows the game to enter into an aftertouch mode where you will follow the path of the throw object and by using the SIXAXIS controller; you can control the path of the object. This is also used for Kai who wields a crossbow (or her “twing-twang”) and offers a great deal of control over your shots and their path.

The stances that Nariko can use offer a little more than just range or power. In the Heavenly Range stance for instance, pressing triangle executes what is know a debris sweep to knock enemies off their feet. If Nariko though finds herself hurled into the air, a quick shake of the controller will set her on her feet again. She will toss her blade into an enemy’s back and use the attached chains to get back into a better fighting position before hitting the ground.

Combos do play an important role in the game and it’s not just for fighting Bohan’s men. As your combo meter grows, you will see points in it that have spheres. Hitting these will unlock new combos for Nariko as well as bonus content. If you should fail in getting all of these, you can replay and of the stages that you’ve finished later in an effort to unlock everything, and the game will always show you just how many of these spheres you have collected as well as how many you have obtained in each stage.

Usually, most combo based games, especially action title, are more or less straight forward as far as the look of the game, but Heavenly Sword isn’t quite like that. You’ll find a great deal of camera movements to show the action, sometimes up close, sometimes at a distance, and there are some great things to be found with the aftershock usage. If you hit an enemy in the head, that’s exactly where the arrow hits the mark while a shot in the back of the leg will send an enemy to the gerund as they stumble backwards. Fallen foes also don’t just disappear, but instead their bodies remain on the screen and you will find that this doesn’t disrupt or slow down gameplay in the least. The same is true of object, so a chair thrown in the corner will still be there, a smashed table will remain where it has splintered giving you the chance to pick up portions of it and throw them. This aspect, combined with the fighting, are some of the many outstanding achievements that Heavenly Sword has to offer.

But, what everyone has been complaining about is that Heavenly Sword is too short. Okay, I’ll be up front and this is a game that game be finished within six or seven hours, maybe longer or less, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad game. Many of the reviews claiming this are the same ones that loved Onimusha on the PlayStation 2, and that game could be finished within just four hours, yet its well loved. Why does this make Heavenly Sword any different? It’s a superior game, it offers a great deal of advancements in the genre, and yet people are still complaining. This isn’t the first time this has happened with a PlayStation 3 title. Everyone wanted to more realistic racing game, and they got it with Formula One Championship Edition. The response; the game is too hard; it’s too difficult to play. Okay, so you got your realistic racer that requires you to rethink your strategy and how you play, and it’s not enough. The developers are in fact listening to the fans of these games, but no matter what they do, it’s just not enough, and I really feel that some still have the mentality that the PlayStation 3 needs to be bashed. As they’ve slowly started finding more and more games that are outstanding, now everything comes down to bashing Sony for the price, and once that drops, what next? I’m sure they will find something.

Heavenly Sword presents its sword swinging action in a nicely visualized package. Think of the grandeur that Genji presented, but even better. Those minor details that so many overlook are included here, like falling cherry blossoms as you run through stages, painstakingly detailed interactive environments, and amazing character animations. Heavenly Sword also adds in some interesting things such as moving through a stage while Nariko continues to narrate her story, taking away the need for a cut scenes. However, these are still found here, and they are probably the best that the PlayStation 3 has seen thus far. The cut scenes and in-game graphics mirror each other perfectly, and often times you will find a cut scene of sorts that is presented in a panel format, with Nariko still able to be controlled in one area while the story unfolds in another.

Short length or not, Heavenly Sword is still an amazing game to play and does have some replay value if you are up for hitting stages again to unlock more content. While not everyone has been cruel to the game, there are more than enough critics and fans that have been, and I feel that it has been a bit too harsh. Sony and their developers have been giving you exactly what you want for the most part, you just aren’t willing to accept it, but Heavenly Sword should be one of the games that changes the minds of anyone who has yet to be won over by the power of the PS3.

-mike-