My review of Heavenly Sword (PS3)

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.

Post your Mario Kart Wii friend number here

Sign your name and your ID to hook up online and do some racing. I will add anyone who posts their number. My friend code is:

0774-4678-5003

So, I Now Have a PS3

Eventually, I knew this would happen; eventually, I knew there would be a line crossed from which the temptation could not be overcome; eventually, I knew that I would find myself owning one of Sony’s most love-hate debated toys, the convexoconvex-shaped obsidian-black PS3.  I have the 40GB model, which means I was also treated to a comp of Spiderman 3 (THWIPP!) on Blu-Ray and I got a single sixaxis controller, but that was about it.

My first thought was something like “damn this hog is heavy” when I compare it to the Wii, which is about the size and weight of 3 DVD cases stacked together.  Granted, the Wii isn’t the biggest badass in gaming over the last year+ and it isn’t the most highly rated fun machine in the universe … oh wait, yeah it is.  Ok so granted, the Wii doesn’t advertise 1080p graphics and Blu-Ray playback, but my dissertation on the Wii is a different post.  The point is, the PS3 is a big bitch, and she’s got a fat ass to go with it; must be a Georgia girl.

Of course I had to have a game with it to justify taking it out of the box.  My game of choice - Rock Band.  As the proud owner of GH3 on Wii, and a prior owner of GH2 and GH2 80’s encore both on PS2, I have to admit that I’m pretty sold on the GH line of games except for the coming title that is GH:Aerosmith.  While I believe Joe Perry is one of the iconic music figures of the last 30 years, there are a zillion people who don’t think so and the target audience for GH:Aerosmith is going to be the 30+ crowd since today’s heavy gamers aren’t old enough to truly respect Aerosmith’s heyday.  Anyway, second sidebar finished.  I got Rock Band.  I love it. 

Most people who are experience GH players will say Rock Band is “too easy” in its guitar parts.  What I’ve played of the guitar sets, comparing the “Hard” level difficulty on both games, I am inclined to agree that GH3 is “harder” than Rock Band at the end of the game.  I haven’t played through Rock Band on “Expert” with the guitar yet so I don’t know how it stacks up.  HOWEVER, that is where the comparisons effectively end.  In every other way - from character creation to online play to downloadable music (I’m biased here b/c of GH3 on Wii and RB on PS3) to just the overall soundtrack of the game - RB is hands down better than GH3.  Plus, if I get bored of “Green Grass and High Tides Forever” on expert, I can always plug in the microphone and sing while I play for an added challenge that GH3 could never provide.  My only knock on Rock Band is that there should be a tour mode available for the bass guitar parts - bass is pretty fun in RB.

Back to the PS3 itself.  I found the “home” menu a little unwieldy, honestly.  Sure it has all of the options, but the fishbone layout is nearly awful and some features aren’t where I’d expect them to be in their main menu categories.  The sixaxis controller, regardless of the palindrome, is actually pretty nice once it gets a full charge - I learned that I could just charge it off of my PC instead of leaving the PS3 on for years, so that helped.  My one other knock on the PS3 overall is that it doesn’t have a standby mode.  It is either fully on or fully off with no happy medium.  But that is where the Wii smokes it with its messaging protocol/feature.  My blue Wii lights are flashing right now, even.

What I need in order to make the PS3 a mainstay at home - some family titles like stuff I could do with my boys.  Assassin’s Creed doesn’t quite cut it, neither does COD4, Heavenly Sword or GTA4, though those titles would be great for me by myself.  The EA sports line just won’t ever make it at my house because, except for Tiger Woods’ golf games, their sports games blow.  The other thing that needs to happen here is that Sony needs to branch out and stop reaching into only the heaviest gamer genres with their titles.  They could certainly take a lesson from Nintendo on this one.  But, now that the Blu-Ray versus HD-DVD (HHD DVVDD BVD for those in the know) battle is officially over, it looks like PS3 sales are going to have a leg to stand on, finally.

Wii GH3 Friend Codes

I’m surfing the Internets for some decent GH3 players that want to do some co-op on the Wii version and realized that I could just ask for people to submit if they want to play.

My GH3 friend code is 4811 5093 9408. If you want to do some hard/expert level co-op play then add me. Don’t forget to leave your friend code as a comment to this post.

Nintendo’s Wii Protective Covers Not too Shabby

As a Wii owner I was privy to the offer of protective covers for my Wii remotes that Nintendo recently posted.  Under their agreement, they are including the covers in all new Wii console packaging and therefore those of us who already own a Wii are not being short-changed by the offer.  It’s a nice touch though it will cost them millions all in the realm of improving the safety for the user and providing some durability for the remote itself.

I got my covers yesterday; though I only own 2 Wii remotes I obviously got the max available during the offer, which was 4.  They’re pretty nice, actually; in fact, they are so nice that I consider them to be the second generation of protective covering for Wii remotes.  Initially we’ve been rimjobbed by glorified skins that do nothing more than keep the original remote clean and perhaps make a house full of kids’ remotes easier to identify.  This new, Nintendo-issued cover is much more than that.  It offers grip assistance, a protective “plug” for the nunchuk port, and it provides air-pocket cushioning on the front half of the remote where the delicate work is housed inside (and also to provide some protection from projectile remotes being launched at much costlier television screens).

What is my rating for the new protective covers?  On a 1-10 scale they are an 8.8.  I wish you didn’t have to remove nearly the whole thing to change batteries, and I wish there was a grip assisting cover for the nunchuk, which there is not.

Who has these that cares to comment?

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