Heavenly Sword Review - PS3

After a long drought, the PS3 A-list floodgates are slowly starting to creak open, and one of the first titles through the gap is Heavenly Sword, a hack and slash that wowed the crowds two E3s ago. Sliding neatly in between Ninja Gaiden and God of War on the gameplay style scale, Heavenly Sword attempts to succeed where Lair has failed: Making that sleek black box worth the $600 you dropped on it.

Back to the Future

Heavenly Sword tells the story of Nariko, a warrior from a clan charged with guarding the titular blade, which reputedly sucks the life out of anyone who uses it shortly after granting them godlike power. On the run from the power-mad King Bohan, the situation gets so desperate that Nariko wields the Heavenly Sword to save her father from certain death, thereby dooming herself to death by artifact.

The game actually starts right as she pays the ultimate price to the sword, and each level is a flashback to the days preceding the final battle. The story is surprisingly engrossing, with well-written dialogue and phenomenal voice acting. Heavenly Sword uses a revolutionary new form of motion capture that allows an actor’s facial movements to be meticulously recreated on the face of their digital character, and the effect is stunning.

Most notable is Andy Serkis as King Bohan, who brings energy and charisma to the role. For once, it’s easy to understand why thousands would follow this ugly, horrible man. Despite his power hungry leanings, he exudes confidence and is clearly a leader. Also worthy of mention is a scene in which Nariko’s slightly crazy adoptive sister encounters a monster from her past, and the terror in her voice and on her face is almost palpable.

Dance of Death

Combat gameplay will be very familiar to God of War players. Nariko’s fighting style is similarly fluid and combo-based, although she does a bit less dismembering. The sword itself can be used in one of three forms. Range Stance resembles Kratos’ chained swords, and allows Nariko to deflect projectiles. Power Stance delivers crushing blows at the cost of speed. Speed Stance, the default mode, is a balance of the other two, suited for attack and defense. Switching stances to suit the situation is key to survival, and adds variety to the fighting.

Nariko can also perform elaborate finishing attacks on most enemies, utilizing button and directional pad cues to elicit brutal or acrobatic methods of dispatching hapless attackers. This will be familiar to God of War fans, as well, although Heavenly Sword’s finishers aren’t as essential to survival. Plain old vanilla combos will get you by just fine, and the cinematic kills are mostly for show. What isn’t just for show are the counterattack moves that are enacted via quick button reflexes and knowing when to let the enemy come to you and when you should go to the enemy. These moves are essentially, and flow almost imperceptibly into your attack patterns after some practice.

Various cinematic sequences are also controlled with the button sequence gameplay, and these make for some of the most impressive setpiece moments in the game.

Motion Contortion

In addition to the hacking and slashing, you’ll occasionally control Kai, the clan’s adopted crazy girl, who uses a powerful crossbow for sniping attacks (or “twing-twang,” as she calls it). Ostensibly you’re meant to control the bolts (as well as cannon shots in large-scale battle sequences) in-flight and direct them into their targets using the SIXAXIS motion control feature. This is borderline impossible to do with the accuracy the game demands, but thankfully control can be switched to the left analog stick for reduced frustration.

Kai cannot fight, so some of her gameplay style relies on the player being able to move her away from danger and take out assailants before they can reach her. It’s a nice change from the swordplay of Nariko’s levels, but it could be argued that Kai takes up a bit more of the game than she should. Still, the slow-mo aftertouch kills are some of the most satisfying in the game.

No time for Hack, maybe just Slash

The big negative of Heavenly Sword is that it’s over almost before you really get into it. The game can be completed in under five hours by a competent player. A Hell difficulty level is available after completion, but the fact remains that, at full price, you’re paying about $12 an hour for Heavenly Sword’s main game.

While the gameplay is top notch, for most people there simply won’t be enough game here for a full $60 price tag. It really should be played, just to experience the expertly constructed and acted storyline, and to see the new acting technology on display that will no doubt impact future PlayStation 3 titles significantly in the future. Despite the high quality of the game, the lack of staying power means those without bottomless wallets will probably want to opt for a rental.

Review by: Matt Keil
Video Produced by: Matt Keil