My review of Heavenly Sword (PS3)
Posted by Patrick on 27 Apr 2008
First I want to say that I don’t normally write game reviews. Reading through a table of contents for this blog might demonstrate that fact. But, I want to note that this is possibly something I’m going to do more of as my experience with the PS3 grows.
In this episode, I’m going to talk about my experiences and thoughts on Heavenly Sword. The title is only out on PS3 as far as I know. It features time-segmented chapters that guide our main character Nariko through a personal hell with a sword that has the power to banish evil in the hands of its proper beholder. Nariko and her clansmen, including her father Shem, are the last clan of the land to remain free from the unitarian rule of King Bohan, who also seeks the sword as an emblem to demonstrate his power.
The story begins at the end. This is one of those games where you don’t need the instruction manual to tell you how to play; when you encounter something for the first time, the game pauses to teach you how to do it. I think that’s a plus; some people would be annoyed by it. But, the story (the game) begins at the end. Soon after, it begins the “real” game with a trip back in time to learn how the end at the beginning came to be.
Over the chapterized episodes of the story, Nariko (and sometimes her friend Kai) works through pre-defined routes and basically just kicks a lot of ass that leads back to an ultimate good vs. evil fight at the end, which comes full circle back to the beginning of the game.
On the story, I think it’s one of the better stories out there for this type of first-person hack/slash game. Graphically, it’s amazing – especially in the cutscenes, but even during gameplay at a very fast pace, the game and the motions are just wonderfully done.
However, I thought the game needed a bit more freestyle – the possiblity of multiple paths to achieve the same outcome – where some paths are riskier but more rewarding and others are more tame but more mediocre in the end. It is certainly not that kind of game. There are very few places where Nariko or Kai have any choice as to how they can complete an episode.
Being fair, the main focus of this game is hand-to-hand, combination ass whipping courtesy of the heavenly sword itself. It’s a literal button-mashing frenzy that leaves little to be desired for those who enjoy games like mortal kombat or its likes. While it’s combo heavy, it lacks in things like the ability to aim easily. There are many points in the game where you either have to shoot something or throw something, and it’s difficult to aim in some spots because of the movement system, which is pretty NSEW and doesn’t do very well with corner movements.
The boss fights are pretty ho-hum. Yes, they’re difficult at first, but once you learn how to counter-attack properly (in like chapter 2) then these fights are really not that difficult. Even the last fight of the game is not hard for a player who can counter properly and consistently.
Once you beat the game, you unlock a new mode called “Hell mode”. I didn’t bother to try it; I’d had my fill of hack by the time I beat it the first time.
Overall – I’d rate Heavenly Sword with the following scores:
Gameplay: 8
Challenge: 6
Graphics: 10
Fun factor: 8.5
Replay value: 7.5
Total: 8.25
Would I recommend this game to someone else? Yes, if you can find a used copy. Don’t spend $60 for a new one.
