Home Games Heavenly Sword

Heavenly Sword

Action Adventure
Released: 09.12.07
Ninja Theory
SCEA
ESRB: Mature

Heavenly Sword

The first good reason to buy the PS3

by Sarah Schutz

Like many, I had long been awaiting a game on the PS3 that encouraged me to buy the system, rather than bust in on a friend’s. The games have been mostly mediocre and the price tag has been just a bit too high. For me Heavenly Sword was that game and after (quickly) playing through the game, I have no regrets for my still too pricey purchase. Heavenly Sword truly is the next generation of gaming. I have always been a huge God of War fan and was mildly disappointed that the sequel was released on last generation platforms, so this satisfied my craving. In Heavenly Sword you play mainly as Narico, a woman who had only been a disappointment to her clan for not being the male warrior heir her father’s offspring was meant to be. Narico must inherit the Heavenly Sword and all of its complication in order to save her father and her clan and to prove herself as a strong fighter.

The game is downright beautiful. The astounding graphics allow you to see every nervous twitch on Narico’s face and the voice acting (largely done by Andy Serkis) keeps you wanting more cut scenes and storyline. While some consider the game nothing more than another hack-and-slash, I beg to differ. While the game controls are simple, mostly using square and triangle for different moves, the Heavenly Sword’s special attacks, initiated by using the right and left buttons, allow for complex combos and counters that allow you to strategize each fight. Narico also engages in several cannon battles and shield throwing puzzles that allow you to cleverly use the Siaxis up to its full potential. For portions of the game you play as Narico’s deliciously crazy and exceptionally animated friend Kai, an archer, who at times needs to save Narico’s butt. She is my personal favorite, perhaps because her appeal depends less on the physics engine of her breasts and more on her personality.

Many critics have said that this game is too short at 6-8 hours. And for today’s standards it is a bit shorter than most. After 60 hour games that are mostly more of the same, I found it tantalizing and refreshing to play a game that was consistently of something new and left me wanting more. After finishing the game, you can go through on a harder level and notice things you didn’t pick up before. Its intricate storytelling and varied gameplay make it more of a cinematic experience, and like your favorite movie, you’ll want to play again and again.

While the game has been on the shelves for a while, we couldn’t resist putting this female-driven masterpiece in our collection of launch titles. For the moment we will ignore Narico’s gratuitous bust line and lack of clothing and admire her for her badass-ness.

Gorgeous graphics, engaging voice acting.

Not enough of them

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