Beautiful, fun, innovative and the first REAL reason to buy a Playstation 3, or so we’re told. Heavenly Sword is the first BIG Playstation 3 exclusive title and Sony hopes it’s their next God of War especially since at face value the game’s similarities to GoW are jarring.
Does Heavenly Sword have enough brass to live up to the game everyone will inevitably compare it to God of War? Will it be the game to make you buy a Playstation 3? Hit the Jump and find out.
So yeah, the game for all intent and purposes is a God of War clone, but that’s not a terrible thing, God of War is an amazing game. However using the God of War mold leaves you with some HUGE boots to fill and unfortunately Heavenly Sword are a few sizes to small. First off the game is REALLY short, you can finish the game in 2 sittings, the hardcore out there will do it in 1. The level design is a bit disjointed, you fight enemies in small concentrated swarms, you then run down a stretch of road or through a corridor to the next swarm. The game also suffers from SIXAXIS gameplay which takes some time to get used to and while it does work, it never.. NEVER works perfectly.
The game is not all bad though, Heavenly Sword adds some new things to the GoW formula. First there is fighting stances, Speed, Heavy and Ariel attacks to add some variety the button mashy GoW gameplay. You also get the chance to play as two separate characters, The main character Nariko and the slightly retarded cat like Kai. Both play differently and breaks up the game a bit. Lastly the SIXAXIS… I know i said it “NEVER” works perfectly but, when it kinda works and you “kinda” get the hang of it, you see it’s potential. It’s unfortunate that the motion control in the PS3 never really feels like it’s accurate.
- Rating: 3 out of 5
Technically there is no denying, this game looks INCREDIBLE. While it doesn’t hit you in the mouth like a Gears of War, techincally it’s the best looking game on Playstation 3 thus far. The game simply looks great, but where it really shines is the in game cinema. The in game cut scenes surpass anything else by leaps and bounds. That’s not just lip service, it’s just fact.
Not only are the graphics amazing, but the voice acting is out of this world and on par with games like Bioshock. It doesn’t hurt that one of the main characters is voiced by Gollum himself Andy Serkis who also directed all the cut scenes. Amazing voice acting aside, the orchestral score is beautifully done and the sound effects of sword clangs, explosions and flying arrows are as good as it gets.
- Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Replay Value is another area where the game falters. Heavenly Sword offers plenty of unlockables via in game combos, but they are standard fare like concept art and behind the scene videos. However Sony ruined the incentive to collect those videos by offering them for free on the Playstation store….
Unfortunately, this game ends up being more of a show piece for what the Playstation 3 is technically capable of. It does add a few new play mechanics and while the story telling is extremely well done, I don’t care about the characters or the story. This is just an “OK” attempt at starting a new franchise for the PS3, there will inevitably be a part 2, hopefully they fix the games short comings.
- Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Single and Multiplayer: 3
Technical Specs: 4.5
Overall and Replay Value: 3.5
Developer: Ninja Theory
Publisher: SCEA
Genre: Beat-Em Up
Players: 1
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October 11th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Yo… watch these Heavenly sword anime videos and tell me again how you don’t care about the characters. Absolutely GREAT!!
http://www.playstation.ca/media.aspx?vid=8696
Doug M.
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October 11th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I’ve seen all of the HS content.
Those videos are awesome… they style the used is really cool.
However… play the game, and tell me you really care about what’s going on with Nariko.