Heavenly Sword Review
For the first three quarters of the year since the PS3 was launched, there has been a drought of good games. As of then, only Motor Storm and Resistance: Fall of Man (both launch titles) were the highly recommended games for the PS3. No doubt there have been many solid releases on the PS3 such as Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ridge Racer 7 and Armored Core 4, none were system movers.
Then came Lair which was supposed to be an AAA title, but was met with harsh criticism from the west (I personally find it quite fun to play with). The hopes and dreams of most pampered western gamers who love easy games were crushed. Then came Heavenly Sword for the PS3, a highly anticipated AAA title that has been in development for some time now by an unproven studio.
Heavenly Sword is a game that is heavily inspired by the martial arts movies which includes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Ever since it was first shown to the public, Heavenly Sword has drawn strong comparisons with God of War. This can hardly be blame as they share similar elements. Both Kratos and Nariko has a chain like weapon with blades on the end in which they twirl around causing havoc. Both games have scenes in which you have to push buttons as per the on screen prompts to perform cinematic moves and finishers. Heck, both games starts almost the same with what appears to be the death of the game’s main character and the game is played out in flashback.
Heavenly Sword’s main character is a beautiful woman named Nariko. Long before she was born, it was prophesized that the Heavenly Warrior who first brought the Heavenly Sword will be reborn and reclaim his sword to be the savior to the clan and the world. However, instead of a boy, Nariko, a girl was born. She was born an outcast and was blamed for every death suffered by her clan. The heavenly sword is a titular weapon that grants great power to its wielder whilst draining the wielder’s life.
The plot of the story can is very well written although it was predictable at some parts. Don’t get me wrong, it still have some twists to the story that should keep you entertained. The production values that have been put forth in the game’s overall style and presentation, both in gameplay and in cinematic cut-scenes rival that of a Hollywood blockbuster. Although the cut-scenes are the usual fantasy-esque type, the stellar voice performance and super facial expression breathe life into this game.
You may know Andy Serkis from such films as The Lord of the Rings (Gollum). Well, he is here as the diabolical, evil, raged-filled King Bohan. His performance as the mad king is simply fantastic. You can literally feel the malevolent rage he portrays in his many interactions with his generals and his especially distaste for his son seeping out of every pore of his digital face and oozing out of the screen. I’m impressed.
The graphics for this games is simply drop-dead gorgeous. Fighting on narrow bridges with a sweeping beautiful vista and fighting amidst a field with thousands of troops (yes, there are battle fields where there are at least five hundred meat bags to slaughter, and better yet, their rotting carcasses doesn’t disappear, they stay on screen! The satisfaction of having hundreds of bodies piling up around you is priceless. Frankly, I’m surprised that with that many people on screen, there are literally no drops in frame-rate! To further enhance the experience, the Asian inspired orchestral score blends with the action.
Now for the main draw of the game, the fighting. Nariko has three combat stances when she wields the Heavenly Sword. Holding L1 would put her into a range stance where the Heavenly Sword splits into two blades with chains at each end. Holding R1 would put her into a power stance in which the two blades are combined into a huge two-handed sword which has heavy damage but slow speed. Not holding either shoulder buttons puts her into the default speed stance.
Each of the stances are different and are useful in a few situations. For example, the ranged attack is great against a weaker enemies (stronger mobs will almost always block it). This is quite a good system as it makes you constantly change your stance and tactics during combat to survive.
The combat is fluid and you’re able to switch into a different stance mid-combo seamlessly. Nariko has no special block button but she will automatically block when not attacking. Speed Stance blocks light attacks and Power Stance blocks heavy attacks. Pressing the Triangle button after successfully blocking will trigger a cool counterattack move.
To break the monotony of the combat, you’ll be able to control Kai, a creepy girl who is unable to do any melee attacks but instead uses her crossbow to pick off her enemies at various sections in the game. Her levels are actually quite fun. You’ll be running around hopping over obstacles and sniping your enemies while they struggle to get to you (they can’t climb over obstacles you see).
There are also a few sniping sections where you pick of enemies using the Aftertouch mechanic. By holding the Square button, you’ll enter Aftertouch mode where you steer her arrows via sixaxis motion control.
(note: you can enter Aftertouch mode anytime in the game as it is not limited to the sniping sections)
Heavenly Sword contains a number of unlockables. The unlockables include new combos, the making of videos, concept art and 2 episodes of the anime. However, there seems to be no point in unlocking the anime and making of videos as they can be downloaded off the Playstation Network. To unlock them, you need to collect glyphs. There is a limit of three glyphs per stage and each glyphs are earned by reaching a threshold of points. The points are gained by successfully countering enemy’s attacks and by performing combos.
Overall, Heavenly Sword comes very close to perfection. The length of the game is arguably its weakest point. It can be finished in one afternoon. However, that would be one hell of a kickass afternoon. It will be like watching a 6-8 hours of action packed summer blockbuster movie. When I finished Heavenly Sword, I had the “damn that was good” feel. Although many people may complain that a $99.90AUD (I got it for $89.90AUD) price tag may be a bit steep for such a short entertainment value, I did not regret. For those price conscious gamers out there, you may want to pick this gem up when the price drop.
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