Heavenly Sword

"One of the best games on the PS3 right now"

Heavenly Sword is Sony's true hope for the summer action game. While the game "Lair" may have let people down it was Heavenly Sword that Sony was building. Weekly making of videos on the PSN and with a prequel anime series for free download, they were building the hype machine for Heavenly Sword. After playing the demo I had some misgivings about the game. It really just wasn't that fun. Does the full game change that though?

It's the final battle. Good vs. evil. Our hero Nariko has fulfilled the prophecy that she will wield the Heavenly Sword. A sword sent from heaven that will reborn a deity. The sword slowly drains her life and she dies in the middle of the final battle. This is how Heavenly Sword opens. It then flashes to her in a field of sorts, where see begs to the camera to allow her to continue, to let her finish. The camera is you, the Heavenly Sword. As she begs we go back and she the journey of the sword from where it first enters her hands to where the game actually starts.

What sets Heavenly Sword apart from every other action game released this year the high detail to every aspect of the characters. They literally breathe on the screen. Each voice brings the character to life, they all have a personality and some are actually rather deep, especially for an action game. I think Kai is my favorite character in the game as she really represents something.

Not to be outshined by lair's stunning visuals, Heavenly Sword screams for the gamer to pay attention. It's by far one of the best looking games to come out. A lot of time was obviously spent on the facial expressions and the making of video that is on the game disc shows how they did it. Every emotion is shown not only through the voice work but with the facial expressions as well. Nariko's face contorts itself to show anger, grief and everything else. What really impressed me is one scene that involved Kai. You find out about her past and the emotional range of the facial expressions in that scene is amazing, the character itself is interesting because of the "damaged" state of her mentality.

Heavenly Sword opens with a beautiful orchestra score and it never lets down. Every new scene or stage had yet another song that impressed me and with a surround sound system your ears just might bleed with joy. The voice work is slightly over the top but done in such a way that the characters feel real. Not since Kafka in Final Fantasy 6 have we gotten such a villain that is just evil. Not super power but plain ole evil and it's shown through the voice work and dialog. Even the sound effects themselves are great. From the crashing of a wooden cart, to the whoosh of an arrow. It's all amazing to the ears.

Sony is really pushing the sixaxis controls and while I liked them in Lair, I really had problems with them in Heavenly Sword. Then I realized it was myself that was the problem. I wasn't allowing them to work they way they are supposed to.

The basic controls are here. You move with the analog stick. The right stick works has a four way dodging system and it works perfectly. You have a light attack (square) and a heavy attack (triangle). The circle button allows for you to use your special powered up attack when the orbs fill. L1 combined with the light or heavy attack does a ranged attack. R1 allows for very heavy attacks which are very slow but ultimately strong.

So the basics are just that, basic and easy to grasp. If you're knocked into the air you need to push your control into the air slightly. This will cause the character to counter attack. One character that is playable shoots arrows. It's called Twing Twang and if you hold the shoot button you go into a mode where you guide the arrow with the controller. Tilting in the directions to move it. This is where I had problem but once I realized I was over doing it then it worked perfectly and the portion of the game I hated, I actually started to really enjoy. For those who refuse to accept this change can go into the menu and turn off sixaxis control. I never did but I hear you just use the analog sticks to guide the arrows.

Heavenly Sword is a hack and slash action game. Think along the lines of God of War if you must. Its split up into 6 chapters, they have from 4-14 stages in them each. Some stages are longer than others but it's all rather linear.

The game offers a nice beginning stage that allows you to learn not only how to attack and string combos but also how to counter. The game has an interesting set up going on. Don't attack and she will auto block a regular attack. To counter you will need to watch the enemy's aura color when they attack. Blue means you need to counter with a triangle attack as they are coming at you. You will either block their attack or go into a nice attack of your own. Orange means you need to hold R1 and hit triangle, it has the same effect but your blocking a much stronger attack. A red aura means it's not blockable and you need to dodge with the right stick.

The combat is simple in nature but you will need to learn the combos that you unlock. Without them you won't break defenses and while you can just counter attack everything, it isn't always so easy and when you have 5 guys attacking you at once you can easily be bounced out of a counter.

There is a second playable character and as I mentioned above her game play style is called Twig Twang. It's all shooting based with her bow and the first two missions of it are protection missions. It allows you to get the hang of the sixaxis controls and it's very helpful. After that it has a more hectic feel as you don't have sniper barriers protecting you and you're in a combat field. You can climb over objects, grab an enemy to stun and just run until you can turn and shoot them. It really causes some hectic moments,

The boss fights in this game are truly epic in scope. You need to counter well, find opens to score hits and when one colored bar is gone you go into an action button sequence. Pushing the flashing buttons on the screen in order. Not all become that complex but the snake lady in general offers one of the hardest boss fights because the game doesn't inform you of the skill you need for defeating her. I didn't mention it either as I think the gamer really needs to figure it out as it does become important to the game.

The game isn't very long and it's perhaps the games only real flaw. It takes the average gamers between 6 and 7 hours to beat but that most likely won't be 100%. Every mission in the game offers three medals to get. They are unlocked by doing large combo chains and filling the bar at the moment. Unlockables range from videos, to artwork to new combos and skills. It's worth getting about 80 of those medals. I finished the game and just need 35 more which to be honest is still a lot and I will actually go back and get those. Upon completion the game also unlocks hell mode which adds more difficulty to the game.

In a year of summer blockbuster films being let downs, Heavenly Sword swoops in and delivers one of the finest packages the video game industry has seen thus far, with a soundtrack to die for and some of the best voice work around this game offers more in the sound department than any other. The visuals are breath taking and they bring the entire experience to life. Even the game play is solid and with a downfall of a short play through time this is the summer blockbuster that the film industry only delivered with Transformers and this game blows that film away with not only its story and the way it's told but also with the amount of detail that went into this game.

Truly a great overall experience, one worth experiencing and while I can't say this is a must buy game because of the play time it is a must play game. If the price was a little cheaper I would have went out and bought this even though I finished it in 2 days on a rental. Do yourself a favor and try out this title. If anything it shows what the PS3 owners are in store for as a whole.

Story - 9/10
Graphics - 10/10
Sound - 10/10
Control - 9/10
Game Play - 9/10
Replay Value - 7/10

Final Score - 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/20/07

Game Release: Heavenly Sword (US, 09/12/07)