Heavenly Sword Review

REVIEW

Introduction:

One of the launch titles for the PS3 back in 2007 Heavenly Sword is a hack and slash adventure game with an all star cast to rival even the best hollywood block buster including the Talents of Anna Trov from the Saturn Award Winning show Fringe as the lead role of Nariko as well as Andy Serkis known for his appearance in The Lord Of The Rings as the lovable Golem playing the main villain of the game King Bohan the game takes a wild ride of adventure and emotions but is this Hack and Slash a game still worth picking up or is this a Sword that is a little less than Heavenly 

Story:

The game starts with the main character Nariko at the end of the story the game is largely played through flash backs of Nariko speaking directly to the player with the sub text of her talking to the spirit of the Heavenly Sword a blade that will inevitably take the life of who ever decides to wield its immense power as you play through the game the story takes twists and turns finding out more and more from the protagonist in a haunting narrative that feels somewhat like you are being read a novel the story plays out well and with solid story telling by the all star cast with some fantastic performances makes this to be a game that give the games cinematic's the feel that you are watching a hollywood movie that you will find very hard to stop watching before you see the climax the only thing that can be said is that it would be nice if the game was just slightly longer it dose feel that the game ends a little prematurely 

Design:

For a Launch title this game still has very striking graphics are beautiful stunning environments on a massive scale the game never fails to strike you with a look of sheer beauty as well as incredible facial motion captures that make the faces strikingly realistic for its time with a strong sense of asian insperation to the game and stunning beauty the game is more than worth a look if for nothing else to take in the solid beauty of the game 

Gameplay:

The gameplay in Heavenly Sword is nothing short of compelling the combat is strong and confident with a hint of influence from many other titles of the same genre this dose come at a cost considering the game has no jump button at all the only time you will jump is when you are mid combo or in one of the special attack's the games attack system is based around the swords ability rather than Nariko's the sword has 3 sets of abilities Speed , Heavy and Swift each have there own specific combos some with branching combos that come with pressing the assigned button to activate ether Heavy or Swift  where as Speed which is the default setting for the sword the combat is fluid and exiting with a raiting system that will allow you to unlock artwork and new level's for the sword to gain new combo's as well as some behind the scenes videos the gameplay keeps fresh mixing it up between the combo ground gameplay to the shooting game play of Nariko's sister Kai with her trusty bow the game gives you a nice mini game when throwing arrows or firing rockets or arrows with a press of the R1 button and a tilt of your controller you are able to control the direction of the arrow for some chilling shots while the gameplay is solid its far from flawless the game has some issues and some that should have been adressed such as the blocking system and the ability to jump would have been nice while it is strong the gameplay and confident but at the same time it has room for improvement 

Verdict:

Heavenly Sword is a great confident outing and an exelent way to introduce anyone to the PS3 it was a solid launch title the game has its flaws but Ninja Theory has done a fantastic job while they could have made a ton of improvements to make the game perfect but with its all star cast and stunning visuals the game makes a great case for itself and brings action to the table with force the game may not be the perfect game and it may not stand the test of time and be one that is remembered fondly for generations but it will definitely be remembered for a long time  and is certainly worth a visit 

Rating out of 10:

7.5/10 

Solid Confident certainly worth a vist and with solid replay value the game will keep you entertained for long enough to take in the story