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As the Playstation 3′s first big title and some would say, Sony’s Halo killer, Heavenly Sword offers up everything it said it would bring, and more. Developed by Ninja Theory (of Kung-fu Chaos fame) and published by Sony Entertainment, this title has a lot riding on it for the PS3′s first upcoming holiday season and as such; every little detail in this game has been given the most care in creation and development. When this game hit shelves on September 12th, the PS3′s future was no longer in doubt. Created in a very similar style to that of God of War, Heavenly Sword is by far one of the most cinematically sophisticated games to date. This title was originally supposed to be a PC game and has been in development since 2003, but when Sony picked up this title it became an exclusive for PS3, and in my opinion this was a very nice purchase.
When you first pop this game into the console, the first action it takes is to install 2gb worth of data onto your hard drive. From here it gives you a total of 2 options, continue or start new game. Immediately you’re thrown into the fray on a dry wasteland battlefield. Just you, the heavenly sword and about 100-500 bad men wanting to do you harm. A quick tutorial of ‘push square or triangle to attack’ flashes on the screen and after sending legions of men to their deaths, a cut scene emerges in which you die. For those into these types of games, you may remember a very similar intro in Sony’s God of War for the PS2. Same type of intro, but it then cuts to a scene in which Nariko (the fiery redhead commanding the bladed monstrosity) is in a purgatory type setting staring the player down and monologuing like no tomorrow. After about 10 minutes of gameplay and storytelling the main menu appears and the adventure begins 5 days before you meet your demise.
The story behind Heavenly Sword begins as a clan of warriors are burdened with guarding the ancient sword sent from heaven against evil doers and misuse, as the sword eventually kills anyone who uses it in battle. With its undying thirst for blood, the sword must never be used. Nariko (daughter of clan leader Shen) was supposed to be the son prophesized to free her people from a constant war. While in birth Nariko’s mother dies and for this she is shunned and a constant disappointment to her clan, although she is strong in mind and body and the bravest of warriors, she is still looked down upon by her fellow clansmen. The game begins as the clan is being chased by the evil King Bohan (played by Andy Serkis AKA Gollum of Lord of the Rings fame). The Raven king, hell-bent on getting his creepy little mitts on the most powerful sword in existence, in hopes of ruling the lands with sheer power. Bohan captures the majority of your clan, including Shen just minutes after he entrusts the Heavenly Sword in Nariko’s care. There’s only one choice for her-to save her friends and family, she must sacrifice her own life and take the sword in battle to defeat the evil king’s massive army.
The story telling in this game might very well be one of the greatest assets it has going for itself as you could easily imagine seeing it as a movie. The plot is unique enough to warrant interest, yet familiar enough not to confuse you too much, and the dialogue, both in the cut scenes and during the game itself, is so good you’ll want to quote it at the most inopportune moments in real life. Andy Serkis is not only the face and voice of King Bohan, but he’s also the dramatic director in Heavenly sword and as such, you get a slight feel of Serkis’ work in each character and cut scene. Characters throughout the game are unique, and each bring their own aspect and style to the story; from Kai, Nariko’s spunky little side kick with a big crossbow and a couple of screws loose in the brain department to Flying Fox, the second-in-command in Bohan’s army who even gives the king himself the heeby jeebys. The characters each have their own personality and attitude and you truly feel a connection with them as you progress through to the very end, erupting in a very emotional conclusion. Heavenly sword’s plot is something to drink in and enjoy to its fullest. Coupled with the amazing banquet for the eyes this smorgasbord of pleasure has to offer, Playstation 3 fans are in for a feast.
This game is VERY pretty. Lighting effects, smooth and detailed animations, beautiful surroundings and such intricate facial expressions, from intense motion capturing, make Heavenly Sword easily the best looking game out for the PS3 to date. The creation process began so long ago that when Ninja Theory actually began putting the game together, they did so on computers not yet capable of running the actual product. Once the Playstation 3 development kit was in their hands however, the end piece was stunning. The ability to see for miles without the need for fog or other objects to limit sight, having large amounts of characters on the screen at the same time with little signs of slowdown, and the fluid movement from the hundreds of animations each character possesses makes this game by far the most visually impressive I have played on the PS3. Looking closer at the characters faces in cut scenes, mid game window boxes (like the show 24 or a comic book style shot), you see each movement of the brow, each small detail you might not even catch on a human’s face creating such a realistic impression of emotion that as a player, you know the exact feelings Noriko has as her father shouts orders. The only downside to the graphics this game presents is that of hair. Kai, Noriko, Shen, Flying Fox-pretty much every character that has hair is a little off as the hair itself randomly jumps and flickers wildly as if to simulate wind or movement. The hair animation is more like that of WWE’s Smackdown for Playstation 1 in 2000, choppy and awkward. Supporting HD up to 720p, this might be the title that makes you go out and buy a new TV just to enjoy it to its fullest. The only issue I had was the constantly similar splatters of blood that came out of the drones time and time again, a little more animation or variety would have been nice there.
As stunning as a game is, it can only be compared to that of its audio quality and Ninja theory again did well in this department. The music depicts the struggle of Noriko and Kai very well, with a solid supply of traditional eastern war drumming, really suiting the game. The drums and subtle stringed instruments don’t overpower the screams and metal clashing of the game. However, during cut scenes in which Noriko gives a speech or something dramatic along those lines it is sometimes hard to hear what she has to say (this is corrected with an option to turn music volumes down and dialogue volumes up). The voice acting (which is performed by the same people that do the motion capturing for each character) suits the personalities well and it feels believable and acceptable when watching them in action. Heavenly Sword is presented in Dolby Digital and with a surround sound setup, the amazing variety and quality of sound effects will not leave you bored of the same clashing noises over and over again.
As often as it happens, a game that is remarkably stunning and has large production values usually falters under its control issues. Fortunately, this is not the case with Heavenly Sword as it provides you with a control schemes that is easy to understand. To begin with, the sword you wield is beefy and has 3 modes of use. If you hold down the L1 button while playing you enter the Heavenly Range stance where your two blades are connected to chains and you whirl them around your body in a mix of what looks like nun chuck movements and God of War style attacks, creating a little whirlwind around your range and doing weaker but farther reaching attacks. When the R1 button is pressed, Heavenly Power stance is activated in which both blades come together to create a big heavy strong sword that, while slower, inflicts more damage when it connects (this is the blade you see on the cover of the game). Finally, when neither L1 or R1 are being pressed you use the default Heavenly Speed stance in which you hold 2 blades and attack with moderate range, speed and power. As you progress through the game, new combos are unlocked, the standard square, square, triangle type of maneuvers, but the more complex combos include different stances and can create some pretty unique attacks. As well, certain enemy attacks are colour coded and can only be blocked or countered by certain stances which lead to even more creativity and split second decisions when fending off attacks. The mechanics of this game leave it up to the player. You can play as a simple button mashing game (there are 2 buttons for attack and no block button) or you can play as technical as you like, making use of the combos, countering with the right stance at the right moment and dodging every which way with the right analog stick. Not to forget the Sixaxis motion sensor control. Heavenly sword makes use of the ‘after touch’ ability in which you grab any item that’s throwable (from watermelons to dead bodies) and you can control its path of travel by tilting the controller in that direction. This also happens with Noriko’s cannon and Kai’s crossbow.
The game itself, while pretty short and could be criticized as a God of War rip off, is still a very satisfying title to play through. At times it feels like you just travel from a room full of bad people to a room full of even more bad people until you get to a boss battle, but this isn’t entirely a bad thing. To break up the repetitive battle sequences sometimes there are little puzzles to complete (even though there are few puzzles in the game and they usually consist of hitting a target using after touch) as well, before a number of battles, you have the opportunity to play as Kai and shoot off a number of enemies before they get to Nariko for the actual battle. This gives a new sense of variety as well as lessens the toughness of the battle afterwards. The boss battles, while there aren’t many, are extremely gratifying due to the character development. You feel like you know the thought processes of these characters, and with the facial and voice acting, feel as if they are real people. The boss battles are usually broken up into stages, which makes them last very long, giving a chance for a series of mini-battles with a few nice little cut scenes in between. Like God of War, when you defeat the boss, as well as in other areas of the game, there are action sequences in which you push the corresponding buttons as they show up on the screen, leading (more often than not) to very gruesome and painful looking kills. While playing Heavenly Sword, almost every object on the ground can be thrown or kicked into enemies and on top of this, the after touch sensors makes it a little more unique than other games in this genre. The object detection while throwing objects or shooting arrows is like nothing I have ever played before; when shooting through a gate for example, tilt the controller left slightly and the arrow passes through the bars and into the enemy’s neck. Tilt to the right and the arrow sticks into the bar or bounces off (depending on if it is wood or metal). In putting all these small and fun details into the game it feels as though they didn’t worry too much about every other bad guy you fight. In total there are about 8 or 9 types of enemies (besides the bosses) and they quickly get boring and repetitive.
Once you beat this game, is it worth keeping? It all depends on how well you play the first time through. As you execute combos, deal damage and avoid getting hit you earn ‘glyphs’ and the more glyphs you have, the more special features and combination attacks you unlock. Of these special features you can view two of the five (available on the Sony Store) animated cartoons that act as a prequel to this game and shed a little history on the Heavenly Sword. Also unlockable is an art gallery, cut scene gallery of videos you already saw in game, and a very sweet set of “making of” videos explaining in great detail everything from sound creation to motion capturing. You do have the ability to go back to specific levels and retry them to collect more glyphs, but once you have all of them, there isn’t much else to do. This game lacks any multiplayer action, which would have been amazing. One player being Nariko and the Heavenly Sword, with the other supporting as Kai with the crossbow. The lack of online play or even an option for any online content seems a bit strange considering even games like Lair have some form of network aspect to them.
If you’re looking for a quick game to beat on a weekend, or are a fan of the God of War series or sharp objects in general, I recommend Heavenly Sword as a good diversion to everyday life.
Graphics: 5.0 / 5.0
Gameplay 4.0 / 5.0
Sound 4.5 / 5.0
Replay value 3.0 / 5.0
