Heavenly Sword Demo could be out at 12:00 GMT

Peonic from Ninja Theory comments on their official forums that the demo should be out today at noon GMT and that the file is about 1 gigabyte in size.

Time to discuss initial reactions and hands on impressions about the game here on N4G.

[techie]

:)

[Siesser]

Hey, I recognize that third poster...

Geesh, a full gig, eh? Well, nothing to complain about; that's another reason I sprang for the 60. But I'm going to have to upgrade the size soon, with all the media I've got on there.

Anyways, I'm EST, which means I'll probably not be seeing the thing until late afternoon :( Phooey; usually it's better to live in the future.

[PS360PCROCKS]

:) indeed Deep. It is almost time. haha.

[techie]

SO 5% downloaded now...I must not use the internet to save download time - I will give my impressions in an hour or so :( it will take that long.

Enjoy everyone! It's been a long wait.

ps/ loving the three ps1 games, Haze, RE5 and Assassin's Creed trailers!

Deep

[Omegasyde]

Not bad at all, but damn the demo is short. I expected a bit more to show...but it is better than nothing.

[DixieNormS]

If this is a ONE GIG demo and it lasts 5 minutes. Does this mean that the game will be 4 to maybe 5 hours long. 5 minutes x 50 gigs= 250 minutes. J/k Wish I could play it. Too broke to get a ps3 still.

[Rockstar]

Bring it!

Can't wait to see this in all it's 50 inch high definition glory.

[Chava]

this better b good, it's got 2 go up against halo3...

[boodybandit]

Huh?
No it doesn't.
It just needs to be another solid game for the PS3. MS and Sony don't have to play chess title for title. That is as bad as PS3 fans that say what does MS have to go up against MGS4, GT5, Final Fantasy, Killzone 2, Little Big Planet, etc... Both console just need to keep on keeping on. I own both the 360 and PS3 so I gues to guys like me it doesn't matter as much.

If anything UT3, Haze, Warhawk and Socom have to be good to go up against Halo 3. MS doesn't really have any games like Heavenly Sword. That's what is so great about having both consoles.

[dantesparda]

Why are you even responding to him? he's just being a fanboy. Its useless trying to talk sense to those people

[LSDARBY]

cant wait :D

[Jaws Jr]

that lost quite a bit of sleep about this demo? I've been refreshing the darn PSN ever since it hit midnight in the UK.

Nice to have some official thoughts about release time by Ninja Theory.

[mikeslemonade]

My expectations aren't very high for this game which is a good thing. This game can impress me if it's good. Why is the demo coming out during noon? Could the Ratchet demo be arriving at night?

[THC CELL]

huh there is a ratchet demo?

This game has been on my mind alot. hope its worth it

[DiLeCtioN]

if this is true then just 15 minutes left till i slash some baddies

[travsbassist]

ya, 15 minutes then the hour its going to take to download...lol

[Sevir04]

because i cant see it all i see the the darkness demo.

[boi]

lol noon 12 it snot even 12 yet lol

well im not going to sit around im going to have my breakfast and go gym then start playing some Heavenly Sword demo when i get back hehe

[achira]

i sit here and wait for the demo. cant wait.
lol, a disagree ? how dumb is that ? some ppl here are without brains.

[Maddens Raiders]

bubbl3s achira. It's surreal seeing some of the N4G members re-loaded and back to virgin status. Be careful man. The same motherh8ters are out there trying to prove a point. Be careful. I got the the back though, of the PSNation.

Someone is purposefully disagreeing just because its you obviously (with a question? lol), and that person most likely is mad at the rrod issue and likes to take it out by being a sneaky little tool. Don't let it get you down bro. All idiots die someday.

cheers

[Jaws Jr]

Just in case US is delayed ;) 5 mins to go on my watch!

[LSDARBY]

its not on there yet

[hotshot1237]

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[DarkJedi]

Que?

Well it's 12:10 here, no demo :(
Is there a ratchet & clank demo coming too? would be sweet if there was.

[pandabear]

Is it there yet? is it there yet??

[hikikimori]

Nothing as yet I just checked again...
I'm in the US btw.

[hongthay]

GMT time, guys. We still have another 42 minutes. British is in Summer Time, adjusted an hour ahead, right now. GMT time does not change, so it is still 11:18.

[Jaws Jr]

for the heads up Hongthay!

[boi]

no guys im from UK its 12.25pm now...It will take sometime to upload it on the psn so be patient people lol

yea i thought about going to the gym but Heavenly sword demo waiting got me staying lol

[V2oom]

:-)

[Jaws Jr]

must be playing the demo themselves and have forgotten to upload it lol :)

But seriously I've phoned in sick for this demo so COME ON Sony!

[hotshot1237]

http://www.gametrailers.com...

[THC CELL]

MSN? PSN...

Anyways if we have 40 min remaining im getting a coffee

[hikikimori]

Well I'm going to bed, I'll play it tomorrow!
Hit me up Ps3 owners!

PSN - spAcetoilet

night.

[super bill]

crappy sony playstation store.nothing on there bloody rubbish.now xbox market place has demos galore because microsoft deliever more than sony will ever do.keep waiting boys.you still be waiting tomorrow.

[Chava]

"OH MY GOD, IT'S HALF AN HOUR LATE, LET'S THEREFORE START BASHING A SERIES OF MENUS WHERE YOU BUY GAMES"

come on...

[monkey602]

and its past half 12 no HS :(

[the_bebop]

The time for those of us in Australia in Sydney will be at 10:00 PM.

[Havince]

false promises ahoy

[The Wood]

still waiting 12:37 gmt

[DarkJedi]

no, 12:37 BST.

British Summer Time is GMT+1

[monkey602]

im in ireland on gmt and at the moment its 12:44 so at the time of post he was correct

[hongthay]

http://wwp.greenwichmeantim... this explains the difference between actual GMT time and the Bristish Standard time you use during the summer throughout the UK and Ireland.

[monkey602]

i give it till 1 then i get worried

[Chava]

give them chance, ppl on here can b so impatient, it's like everyone gets stressed out if it comes at 12:00:01 instead of 12:00:00

[boi]

*yea downloading the demo now* :D

.

.

jks.

[pandabear]

Fantastic, it's here - 6% complete. And Ratchet video is here too!!!!

[Snake_Doctor]

a ratchet and clank demo?
So nothing on lair?

edit: Oh, I overlooked where you said R&C video... my bad

[Snake_Doctor]

a 1 gig demo!!! I can only hope by the time I get home from work everyone will already have downloaded it.

Guys post your impressions for those poor souls who are suck at work!

[Ivalice]

What are you guys talking about!? There's noooo demo up yet.. :(

[Jaws Jr]

Are you guys serious about downloading it now? :S

[boi]

lol no if you read my last comment it says jks at the end under my avatar ...lol give it time people, make some tea and just relax

[pandabear]

Ok, Ok I was dreaming - I don't have it and suspect the other dude doesn't have it either - so where is it??

[masterg]

There is nothing in the UK store. What are you talking about?

Whoa.. What just happened. Yesterday I had two bubbles. Now I have five.
Did it finally happen. Did I really say something that somebody liked. Nah that can't be. Must be a glitch in the system :)

[hongthay]

they just reset all the bubbles. There is an article on the front page about that.

[zoibie]

I don't see it either but i think each account gets updated individually or something. This has happened before.

[vitord1]

i am in uk store and nothin so dont lie...

[monkey602]

time is around 4 o clock so im just gonna put my money on it arriving about then

[nnonne]

Stock at work ill have to wait 8 fking hours i think im gonna get sick...........

[JustInTlME]

i was hoping it would have been up wen i woke up this morning so i could start it before i went to work, and have it done and waiting for me when i got home. but that wasnt the case, i will have to get it when i get off work. CANT WAIT TO PLAY IT!!!!

[boi]

lol yea every1 needs a laugh and chill down...nice dream btw! did you dream of Nariko at all? hehe

and

nnonne - dw you be finished soon enough to play the demo plus work is important (money for more games):D the demo is not here yet properly as stated above me by *monkey602* it be at 4pm...but hey good things are worth the wait

damn need more bubbles...anyone pls...

cheers *Devilbringer* a bubble for you too

[Devilbringer]

the demo will be here any minuet now. and i give you a buble here you go :))

DevilBringer sending - O - reciving Boi Gratz!

Cheers BOI :D

[vitord1]

suckfony!!

[Devilbringer]

damn these hours are going in slowmo!!

[tmax]

waiting....waiting.........wai ting....................waiting ......................waitingzz zzzzzzzzzzzz

[jtmill07]

Were going to read of someone having a heart attack if we don’t calm down everyone. It will come. :-)

[The Wood]

or do you have to exit and load it back again??

[Rama26285]

Has anyone wondered if they meant 12:00 Midnight?!? lol

(yes I do realise midnight would actually be 00:00, but you know how some people are ;)

[Devilbringer]

they said noon oO. well anyone can make mistake. and everyone hates mistake >< still checking every 5 minuts. i cant relax someone sing a song for me

[Rama26285]

Spider pig! Spider pig! Does whatever a spider pig does! lol lol

(I wasn't able to see the bit about midday. I can't click the link cause so many sites are blocked at my work. Doh!)

[The Wood]

kum ba yah my lord kum ba ya..................

[Devilbringer]

i feel better allready :p

Haha Zoibie that song match this situasion

LOL Darthbillboy that was Funnt stuff xD

[zoibie]

"THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
DO DO DO DOOO, DO DO DO DO DOOO...."

lol

[ShiftyLookingCow]

I feel like smacking Peter Dille's rearend.

hey Devilbringer, here is video you mostly likely seen already but will still find funny, and go read of about the Oscar the Feline Furry Grim Reaper

[Devilbringer]

anyone Post a Link to A Funny Video, that would burn some time fast !!

HAHAHA look at monkyes link its so funny and true too ^^ funny stuff

EDIT: damn i wish i had more bubbles so i could post more comments xD hate to edit

Edit: Btw anyone add me to frinds on the PSN my nick is Devilbringer :) like my nick here :))i live in EU !!

The wood 52" LOL look at that Flying cat i bet he enjoyed that little space trip xD poot kitty

[zoibie]

Well i don't know about funny vids but this site has a lot of funny pics

www.thefunniest.info

[monkey602]

anyways this is my last bubble so i'll love and leave you all but check the store at about 4 o clock (its 2:10 now) thats when we usually get our new stuff

[erosevaporator]

COULD be, and SHOULD be out by noon...of course, all of us over the age of 12 should know that that means "sometime around there." It's only damn 8:30 here...I live in central time, so it should be here shortly, if I am correct. Dunno though. I usualy don't get updated until about 10 or 11.

[The Wood]

bit mean but still a short sharp burst of fun

[Crazyglues]

bubbles for you that was priceless.... lol

[Darth Gamer]

And this is one of the games that has me excited. So far I am loving this machine. It looks nice next to my 360. (yes, I've had one since launch and have been one of the lucky ones, no problems yet!) If any one needs a friend, my tag is " LordDarthGamer " on PSN and " The Darth Gamer " on LIVE. Anyway, I can't wait for this demo, hurry up already!!

[teh_tourist]

you post impressions here
so ic an read them since i'm at work

[dino645]

arrrrr its 3:00 pm and i stull dont have it..............

o and if any one needs a m8 u can add me on PSN its dino645 :D......

[VirusE]

Does anyone have it yet? I am at work so i cant get it for a few hours but i am dying to know it kicks arse! Some please post your opinion of it.

[dino645]

m8 i dont think its even out in the PS store yet.
its not out in mine anyway :(...........

[Meus Renaissance]

Rumour is that we won't see it until Friday unfortunately.

[masterg]

Of course it's coming out today.

[Rama26285]

Where has this 'rumour' come from? I hope it's nothing more than that...

[Meus Renaissance]

It is just a rumour. I don't understand how someone can disagree with a rumour lol.

[THE_JUDGE]

I have to work all damn day and by all day I mean 9am to 11:30pm so I will be waiting along time to acutually get to play it so everyone should just cool it and give me bubbles cuz I have to wait the longest. That GMT time thing really threw me off too.

[sonarus]

alright everyone state your usual update time GMT time. Us store is around 6pm EST for me so that should be like 12am GMT. (not sure) what about UK. When do you usually get yours?

[DiLeCtioN]

where is the dam demo man i hate waiting..they said at around lunch time and its not here yet wth is going on

[pandabear]

Well it's now 4pm UK time (time of normal store updates)....So where is it?????????????

[dino645]

hay man i agree i been waitin for it for ages in shud be here by now :(

[jromao]

Pay atention to the title, "...could be...", usualy demos and other stuff are showned on stores about 5pm, not before, Japanese Store got lot of PS1 tiltes today and NO demos.

So, go play outside and return home later to check again.

PS. DEMO should avaiable to ALL stores today, not just UK/Europe ones.

[pandabear]

There is nothing Heavenly about this - it like waking up in the middle of the night on christmas eve and realising there is another 5 hrs until 'Santa comes' ;-( Last Bubble ;-(

[Maddens Raiders]

I've got the Japanese store, the UK store and the US PS store going with refresh's every 10 minutes or so and still NOTHING. Well, the XBots are right so far on this one issue -- Because this is waiting Ninja Theory!!! =]

[SuperSaiyan4]

Or its delayed till later?

[Lex Luthor]

I still can't see the demo. It might be delayed till 2moro.

[plexdk]

As far as I remember, last weeks update didn't arrive until 6-7pm.

[jam9]

I believes only Europe and US stores get the demo. Japanese site will not get the demo since SCEJ never released a demo that is not translated into Japanese, sadly.

So, I guess Europe store will get the demo first. Then, US store will follows.

[sheng long]

we're all getting pwned! lol
I stayed up until 2:30 last night hoping i could download it then. Hopefully when i come back from work it will be here.
No Big deal though, I just hope it comes out today or tomorrow, i don't know if i can handle another week without HS.

[VirusE]

What is the deal!! I had my night planned around this demo!

[The Wood]

what, still no demo. Maybe theres a problem with it. Ar well we'll live *profanity, clenched fists followed by more profanity under ones breath* Lets just chill for a touch. It WILL come

edit 18:10 bst
its alive its alive

[Jen5en]

I don't really get the idea of having a US, UK and JPN store when I can log into them all without problems. Isn't Xbox Live globally synchronized?

[skynidas]

it will be out at 6pm. y'all are going to see the playstation store updates are always in the afternoon like at 5, 6 or 7...at least in NA

[tmax]

Maybe they are delaying because PSN is scared of their servers overloading and crashing

[Marceles]

God...will you guys wait? "It's not up yet for me!! Did they delay it??!?! Stupid Sony, I knew they would delay it!" No, there's no set time that something will appear on PSN so just wait until the demo comes live, it'll be here today

[BubblesDAVERAGE]

I guess Ill play when I get back from school....I should really start playing games with you guys on PSN...im w8ing on warhawk..plus my BL is almost full because or PSU they need to make the list longer

[Maddens Raiders]

the list needs to be longer. And it is so cool seeing you with your bubbl3s back. I knew it was coming* =]

[Snake_Doctor]

As long as she isn't late for our date tonight. (I'm at work now)

[super bill]

telling porkies again are you sony.i just on my palystation store and it still isn,t there.and look at the time 5 0,clock in the afternoon.

[rowdy 1]

updates have been known to arrive later in the evening. ANd you know how Sony loves to make us wait.

[DiLeCtioN]

its nearly 5 o'clock man where the hell is my demo. ok maybe am over doing it but this game AAA material we need to play it man....common already!!

[rowdy 1]

Some of you guys sound like Pookie in New Jack City, "cmon man i've gotta have a fix man" LOL

[sonarus]

you all need to cool down. sony say it will be here it will be here. hsword devs said it will be here it will be here. As far as i know sony has never said a demo would appear on a specific date and it didnt. So excercise some patience ppls

[Lumbo]

jpn store updated

but i see no HS :S

well, good things come to those who wait

*wait*

...

*wait more*

...

*gnaaaaaaaaa*

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

It's only 11:07 AM here...in Illinois. (Central Standard Time)

WHEN WILL IT BE HERE?

[LightofDarkness]

I can't wait here with my PS3 any longer, have to catch a bus. Looks like I'll have to wait till Monday to play it :( THIS IS WAITING INDEED LOLZ SONY DROIDS (just kidding!)

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Thinking about it now...this might just be a sick joke from some fanboys.

I really don't know.

I'm depressed.

I'm gonna go play The Darkness.

[Bathyj]

Ha, I was just playing the darkness, when I thought I'd check the store again. DL @ 10% now. Glad I stayed up and I'm lucky Fridays a public holiday. (Its 3am)

[PS360PCROCKS]

ahh man!!! I totally forgot about this but from the look of this it's not out yet, lol...well Sony should hurry the hell up seriously

[Frulond]

its noon cst i would like to know :D

[s8anicslayer]

i'm patiently waiting for this demo

[LeShin]

AT LAST!!!!!!

[LeShin]

ITS HERE!!!!!
With the RE5 Trailer

[PS360PCROCKS]

you best be right if I get up from this chair to go downstairs for nothing, lol, I'll kill you...j/k :)

[wantedboys]

the demo is out

[dino645]

Its here YAY YAY :D

[XXChallengerXX]

Demoa out and other nice little gifts, Haze video and Resident evil 5. Man sony may have delivered late but they compensated us with new videos as well. Thanks!!

[DiLeCtioN]

My blood can finally cool down for some heavenly slashing woooh enjoy guys.

[MannyHarlem141]

not in new york obviously

[Frulond]

I can't wait to get home now.......... damnit

[JustInTlME]

DITTO

[Snake_Doctor]

Same here... I do feel a little warm after that Chipolte burrito. I feel a tickle in my throat now too. lol

[hotshot1237]

i cant wait 4 u guys impressions on it.

[PS360PCROCKS]

yea me either!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!!!REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS!!!

[drtysouf21]

now! 6%

[PS360PCROCKS]

I'm disagreeing because I am jealous of you lol since I have to wait! :)

[mkzleon]

I am in San Antonio. Where is everybody that got the demo?

[XXChallengerXX]

Ps thanks guys for for sending me the bubbles whoever you're I have only been on this site for 5 days, and love it, The PS3 people really stick together and I already know who to avoid, xD The Mart ect.

I would love to get some gamertags off some of you. Mine is XXChallengerXX Feel free to add me!

[MannyHarlem141]

request sent.. im "MannyHarlem141", big whoop lolz

seriosuly tho.. it's like a party down here

[MannyHarlem141]

The european stores got it.. bubbles for everyone!!

6% downloading...

[Lumbo]

UK ;)

its not hard to make an UK account :p I have at least 4 to cover most of the world, including Jpn, Uk, US

ps: 16%

[xRiotmanx]

did america get it yet

[Bathyj]

ITS HERE !! Its 3am in Australia and I'm downloading the HS demo as well as a new Haze and a Res Evil 5 trailer. WOOHOO. 5% and counting.

[SmokeyMcBear]

wtf are you doing up at 3 am ? Lucky bastard

[Bathyj]

I'm a Vampire, and I must feed. 15%

[Crazyglues]

Ok I can confirm that US has nothing but the Europe PSN has it all they got the demo an assassin creed trailer a Haze trailer man then even got a superman Blu-ray tralier.

what's up with that how come ya'll get stuff before us... Be back with an update on the demo... bubbles for you all...

[gnothe1]

yeah its on the U.S store, im getting it now, but I have to go back to work, but now I'm offically excited. THIS is the game I want for the PS3, but yeah its on the U.S store I'm on the east coast!!

[gnothe1]

if you dont see it on the U.S store when you first sign in , go into the demo section an it will be there, thats what I did. an when I exited to the main page it had updated the store as well!!

[leshrac55]

I JUST looked at the US store and saw nothing, including going into the "Demos" section separately. Guess I'll go look again.

[OutLaw]

It's on the front page I'm downloading it now

[leshrac55]

Yeah, it must have shown up right after I turned off my PS3. Downloading and will try it out momentarily.

[sheng long]

It's here, downloading 16% done.
US East coast.

[Pika-pie]

Downloading right now.. 996MB

[skynidas]

hey the rumor is that the demo is very short is like 5 mins
dwnloading 79% hell yeah!!!

[San anto]

hope its better than the darkness demo :)
The wait is agonising

[Hallerludvig]

OH GOOD I'M SO EXCITED!!! I'M GONNA EXPLODE ANY SECOND NOW

[Crazyglues]

Jesus, Demo is coming in slow as hell - 2% so far... from US store, I don't think My PS3 likes me very much.

Did download that haZe trailer first, is it me or is that game looking just ok, from the trailers I saw before the game look more detail but now after seeing the 1080p version - it just looks Ok. (don't attack my bubbles I'm just saying, How did you feel it looked?)

[chaosdemon09]

Welp, I downloaded it, its everything I thought it would be ^^. Which is amazing. Only thing is the demo is really short :(

Feel free to ask me anything since its seems I'm the only one whos finished the download and played it, trying out the aerial combos now ^^.

[Crazyglues]

How does it look is it really nice and clear like Ninja Gaiden Sigma's 1080p? was there anything you didn't like?

[San anto]

is it new material or is it stuff weve seen from previous demos?

[chaosdemon09]

It looks fantastic, better then NGS. (Which I own) After you fight guys on the rock top, you jump down and fight a butch of guys below, after that the demo is over. In have a 720p (also 1080i) HDTV and it looks crisp, clean, and just ugh great lol. Again I wish it wasnt so short, but theres alot of combos to try so going back and beating up the same guys again isnt a big deal. Its a demo, we've been spoiled by the other ps3 demos, sony knows they dont have to try to "sell" this game. They know everyone wants it. (hell its the reason I got my ps3)in janurary(thinking it was coming out in march) lol. But anyway the demo, Its a teaser plain and simple. Which is ok, cause now I just want to get the game even more :P

[Crazyglues]

Dam now I'm really excited... I'm only at 6% I don't know why this thing is coming in so slow for me, everything else was lighten fast. (all the trailers I downloaded..Haze, 30days nights whatever...) and for some reason the demo is crawling..

But still can't wait... and thanks to your review I'm even more amped up now.

Bubbles for you thanks for the Review..

[San anto]

thx a lot for the review this download sure is takin longer than expected.
shame we couldnt see new material although i wanna see wat happens wen u dont press the commands on screen.

[solideagle1]

please tell us that this isnt run in the mill game and u dont miss the damn JUMP button. thanx

[cityofgod]

downloading , 30%,doesnt help dat my lil bro is also playing resistance team deathmatch though at the same time. damn siblings

[okcomputer]

I see people in the usa are downloading the demo too. Do you have to make up a europe account or is it open on the usa store as well?? Either way I can't wait to see it, this is going to be one long afternoon at work.

[San anto]

its on the us store aswell

[schabeugen04]

This demo takes longer to install than to beat it which is sad. but not a negative for this review.
Graphics :
I'll be honest the Graphics are beautiful and the vista in the background are huge.
Game play:
I found the combat to be a little lack luster, I mean its serviceable, but where the hell is block? I'm fighting 10 guys and I cant block WHAT!!!!!All i can do is counter **bleep**? Also, the combat doesn't stack up against God of War's or NGS, they are more visceral.
I give this a 7.5 out of 10.

p.s. I hope Drake is better than this

EDIT BELOW

YES I KNOW IF U LET GO YOU OF THE BUTTONS U BLOCK BUT IT REALLY NEEDS TO BE A BUTTON, ITS MORE INTUITIVE ALSO THIS IS A RATING OF THE DEMO NOT THE WHOLE GAME. I MEAN IT ABOUT 3 MIN TOPS

[bee2427]

yea u gave it a 7.5 without knowing how to use the controls, you should go to the beggining and look at controls but i didnt even need to read that to know that if u just dont hit any buttons, the hot fire crotch will block for you... neways... they game is awsome, did you even try picking up things off the ground, I picked up a sledge hammer and when u hold down the throw button, the screen follows the beautiful path of the hammer and it rickashade off of 3 guys and destroyed them... this demo in my opinion beats god of war

Edit
quote "but where the hell is block? I'm fighting 10 guys and I cant block WHAT!!!!!" now ure telling me u do know how to block?... dont get mad at me your not making sense man

[icechai]

hey no need to go caps crazy, I wasn't attacking you. Your preference is the button to block. For me, it wouldn't feel as natural since you're getting knocked backwards or sideways and you see her arms flailing... you press the button, expecting her to throw up her arms in sync with your button press... but she won't be able to block right away because she's falling backwards. People don't recover that quick (unless you're a Ninja ;)) Maybe i'm just justifying what they did (oh noes, i'm turning into a Heavenly Sword fanboy), but the way the animation system works you figure you either roll to recover, or let yourself regain balance in your stance. This game definitely has a very different action feel than Ninja Gaiden Sigma, so it might put off some people who were expecting that.

[icechai]

First off, lets get the negative things out of the way:
-If you try to skip the cutscene, it takes ages to load the gameplay, why?
-Sound volume changes really strangely whenever you do a super move (circle button)

Now onto the good stuff:

This game looks good! Actually playing the game on the big screen really makes all the details from the trailers stand out. Animation is also amazing, as there are a TON of moves (and so many yet to unlock in the real game). I've seen at least 5 different counters so far, and sometimes the dynamic camera just makes it so satisfying. Also switching between stances and combos is very seamless. One thing that we never really saw was the aerial combo system. If a guy is wide open (from block breaker) or on the ground, you can knock them up w/ Range stance triangle, shake your controller and it will go into a closeup of you in mid-air where you have a variety of different combos to knock them around.

Is this a button masher? DEFINITELY NOT. This is the first level and if you try to button mash, you get rocked. Its all about waiting for the right opportunity, countering, and block breaking. Of course you can also do a variety of combos when there's too many around you to cause some havok, but as soon as your back is turned someone will come in and try to hit you.

Now a lot of people might miss out on the X button in battle. Picking up stuff from enemy weapons, barrels, lids, and even enemy bodies proves quite fun to throw around. Nothing like after touch while throwing a bad guy's body into his teammate. On the last segment one playthrough I grabbed a dropped knife on the floor and threw it into a guy's chest who was by the edge, he proceeded to get hit, go over the railing and drop out of view... in slow mo after touch buhahaha.

Oh, its also amusing to mess up on the button sequences when she's going towards the 2nd battle :P Oh, and if you dont kick the guy in the first sequence, you get to fight one of the harder minions (he's not anywhere else in the demo, but 3 of them come in as the demo ends). I just landed a counter on him... and it was the 6th counter!!! Its very satisfying, try it yourself and you will see :P

If you really like the beat em up style game, you will love this demo as it takes all that we love about the beat em up and adds in a ton of depth.

@121: If you are in your default stance, she blocks automatically. Can you imagine fighting four times the amount and having to worry about block all the time? I think this was a good decision on their part. If you get hit, just dont press anything to start blocking, or if their chain is really fast or unblockable, roll out of the way w/ right analog.

[Crazyglues]

Yes bubbles for you that review was amazing... thanks..

[bee2427]

icechai if you havnt thrown the sledge hammer in the second part, definitely do and hold down X for slow motion, that weapon f'd them up

[leshrac55]

But I think you probably could sort of button mash the demo. You barely even have to use your left hand during combat. You can pretty much keep alternating square and triangle and your character will take care of the rest.

That said, I'm interested to see how the full game pans out, but this demo was far too short to make a purchasing decision on. While I liked it enough, I wasn't blown away and I had a few other problems with it that you don't mention. I talk a bit more about it on my site.

-Jeff
http://alinktothefuture.com

[tonsoffun]

downloading now and I can't wait man.

Thanks for the review - pos rep for you.

[cityofgod]

extremely short demo, I love the control scheme though. combat is very stylized, graphics are amazing. all in all it left me wanting more.

[snittolo]

Totally in love with this demo for sure. Found out the hard way that button mashing don't get you far at all. The combos are just ridiculous once you start learning them it is an entirely new game. Played it through about 5-6 times now trying out the different stances and combos, making a movie of the demo for a buddy whos at work so I'm going to try and master the combos.

I for sure will be picking this up on release day!

[NaAsAr]

i have to say that the realtime cut scenes are the best i have ever seen in a game. the game play is stylish as stated above by another user here. but my only gripe is the FRAMERATE!!! its hard to see how nariko moves coz it seems as though its skipping frames during her animation at times. prime example would be when she is in the speed stance and using her weapon. she looks as though she is spazin' out rather than moving gracefully. maybe its just my brain is interpreting the frame animations weird. i hope they can iron this out a bit for the final release. other than that. the game is pretty nice. i am still trying to figure out all the different combos..hehehe

[Annihilator]

you are right ! the framerate is no good in the demo.
Is this an old build ??

[Rasecul]

Tell that's not true!!! Nothing worst than a choppy game. I'd rather have smooth PS2 graphics instead.

If it does not run perfectly, I do not want to see it on the shelves.

I do not mind waiting.

[N1nJar]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Heres me playing through the whole demo. I intentionally missed hitting square :P, wanted to fight the dude with the big axe (read the blog on ign for that little tip), well worth it. Demo is incredibly short, but I'm liking it more each time I play it. Starting to get a feel for countering and stringing combos together.

[Crazyglues]

and that's for one: at the end of the demo it says Redemption starts September 2007 - How sweet is that... that means Halo 3 and Heavenly Sword touch down in September... what a month.

(so now you have HS (9-04-07) out early enough so you can beat it by the time Halo 3 (9-25-07) rolls around, gonna be a sweet month)

Now I must say I loved the demo.. wow

The visuals where amazing but I thought people where just saying that you know how sony fans get, then I was suprised to see it look so good. I'm on a computer monitor so it does HD- 1920 x 1080p no problem. (It can actually do much high res then that)

But man it looks sweet, so if you have HDTV it's nice.. Now let's talk gameplay because I was expecting it to be a button presser, you know how companies say their game is not one and then you get it and, of course it is.... well not here.

I mean you can go that route if you want but it makes things harder since timing and combos work so much better. Someone said where is the block button before? Well it's not a button, if you don't do anything then she blocks automatically. Which works out sweet if you ask me.

I loved the feel of the game, and the fighting does not get old or boring as you might think, I mean the demo is short, but he way you fight it becomes about how you attack and what combos you use. That keeps it interesting every time.

You find yourself thinking mid combo, hmmm.. what attack should I use on this guy right next to him.

I love when she picks stuff up (just press x ) it's done really smooth in it looks so life like, you will see what I mean when you play.

The A.I. is not just dumb and it doesn't just attack every second, instead they are on the side waiting for a good moment to jump in. And it just adds to the over all feel of the game because it seems much more real.

Should you get the game. Oh hell yeah, just based off of playing the demo this one is now in my Amazon cart. It was just much better then I had expected it to be, and in the end when the doors opened I was sad it ended, because I was just about to go all Ku Fu upside their heads with a super combo... LoL - that's when I knew I was hooked and had to have the game when it comes out.

Hope this helps if you didn't get to experience the demo for yourself, and don't forget to give some bubbles because what would life be without bubbles... LoL

(thanks for reading my review and enjoy the game it's definitely worth the wait.)

[Dogswithguns]

from work. and Im downloading HS. it's only 9% right now.

[JIN KAZAMA]

to download it, and now I am at work so it should ebr eady when I get home. I cant wait to play this game. Is there any blood in the game?

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Frickin' YEAH there's blood...and lots of it!

This is definitely the best demo out now. It's a bit on the short side, but the action, the environments, and the cutscenes are worth it. I can't wait to pick this up!

[mintrieri]

Only three minutes and nothing new to see? Is that really enough to base a $60 purchase on? Ok, ok, I'm being 360-biased. So, I'll just add, enjoy your demo PS3 fans.

(Geez, you'd think they'd give you the arena from E3'06 which had a ton of enemies and aerial combat.)

[sumfood4u]

Heavenly Sword looks Amazing!

[schabeugen04]

ummm DUHHHH!!!! lol

[JustInTlME]

so i had to DL a 1 GB demo to play 3 mins of game??? ok maybe a little longer, but that was the shortest demo i have ever played, slightly dissapointed!!!!! still want the game, but i hope its better then the demo.

[MannyHarlem141]

that is why this game would not be possible w/o blu-ray... 1 gigabyte for only 2 1/2 minutes of gameplay.. it's really startling what detail went into this marvelous game

[Juevani]

Best graphics I've ever seen so far (includin games from other consoles) gameplay is so hot I start smilin when Im smashin these guys on the floor. I'll give a 9,8 / 10 .. prolly give the full game 10 / 10..

and guys lets not forget its a demo, the will polish the graphics and fix the gliches and bugs before its out, and that will be perfect. more games like this please.

[BrotherNick]

It was beautiful, but way too short :| kinda angered me, I may get it :D

[LightofDarkness]

Can't wait any longer.... must freeze self till Monday...

Seriously, been following this game since it's announcement back about 3 years ago. I'm finally starting to be proud to own a PS3, the fall line-up looks to be stellar. I now only have two issues:

A) How the hell am I supposed to afford all these amazing games between my Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 before Christmas?

B) Which version of GTAIV do I buy?

Still, this is one of THE games for me this year, so I'm quite envious of all those who have access to their PS3s :( Still, hope y'all enjoy it, because that's a likely indicator that I will too when I finally get back to my PS3 on Monday :D

@Juevani: don't get your hopes up, the game is practically finished, don't expect ANY changes to the graphics engine at this point, heck it's so far beyond baselining now that by the time the changes were approved and made, it would be time to release the game without them.

[Juevani]

Nah I didnt mean they gon be changin the graphics or anything for that mather (As i said the game is abselotly fantastic the way it is, and the graphics are one of the hotest to date) but a Polish and bug/gliches cleanin will defently be made, the game will look cleaner, it happends will all games before realese/or after demo, its kinda the whole point with a demo, u na mean man..

[NaAsAr]

even at its current state..... ninjas...please iron those little idiosyncricies out as much as u can. :)

[MannyHarlem141]

yea, i hope they do... at least they arent as bad as those in Gears (a final release! lol)

[Trick Nolte]

I was happy for you lucky people but sad for myself. There seems to be alot of excitement from u dudes over the HS demo and i wanted to be a part of it. Wish it were me man... wish it were me!

[Rama26285]

I got home from work last night and started downloading the new trailers and the Heavenly Sword demo. Since it was taking waaaaaay too long to download (I presume too many people downloading at the same time) and it was late, I paused everything and went to bed. Woke up this morning and resumed my downloads and they were all done in like 5 minutes! Waiting for the installation and began the demo.

The first thing that strikes you is the music and the atmosphere it creates for the game. You then check out the controls and the combo's(there's too many to remember first time). You start the game and the first scene is a cinematic introduction that is first class. You then walk around and start the rope descent which involves pressing buttons to stay on. (Get these right otherwise you fall and die straight away!) You then land on a rock platform with around 8 guys to beat up. It took me a while to realize how to block, but I find countering more effective. When you start to figure out the combo's you start to "ooooo" and "aaaahh" and there is certainly enough variety for them not to become repetitive. Also trip picking up things - you can even throw the dead bodies that you've killed at the enemy!!

You then cut the rope holding up the platform and it starts falling to a lower platform. Again, some timely pressing of the X while ensure you land smoothly (if not, you sort of stumble to the ground). You then get some more guys to beat up and try more moves on. Then after they're all dead, the doors burst open with some harder looking guys - then it fades and the demo is over!! What a tease!!!!

Yes, the demo is very short, but it's enough to get a feel of the game and also practice your moves to get ready for the full thing. Definitely has the potential to be a great game - the graphics and combat is certainly up there with the best. The only thing which can stop this being a great game, IMHO, is if the story lets it down.

(Does anyone know if it's possible to transfer the demo to another PS3 which doesn't have internet connection??)

[Taz X14]

I have the exact opposite feeling for this demo. I hated it, every single moment of it. Yes the little button sequences were nice looking, but it wasn't fluent or too appealing when the crossover from gameplay-button sequence began and ended.

That was just my first quirk with this game, next up is the aspect I'm sure everyone will disagree with. The fighting system is horrendous, I mean there really can't be something out there worse than this. So lemme get this straight, to hit a guy I must pull off a decent combo all the while either stopped so I don't get hit, in the right stance so I don't get hit, or rolling which ends the combo I was in.

Not to mention every single guy blocks, which is completely messed up, they have no problem, why is it so difficult for me?Oh, L and R are to move the camera around, hmm. Well here, lemme help out with this system just a bit, one, either put the camera fully into the player's control or come up with a great system for the player to not have to care about it.

To me this game's fighting system is like a worse version of PoP's with some horrible Sixaxis controls tacked on. Here's an idea, L2/R2, turn one into block, is it that hard to do?

Every guy in the combo blocks everything, so why can't I?

I hate to use these as examples but let's face it, these are the games this one'll be compared to, and in my eyes, just lost bigtime! Devil may cry, this game even has a jump button but for the combos that require a jump, you don't even need to press it and look at it, it's so fluent.

Honestly, even GoW, has a jump button, but whenduring combos, not always required, and look at it, nice and... what's he word... oh ya, fluent. This game cannot figure out what it is really. It's like an old 2-d, 5 move game that when you get hit or blocked stops all of what you were doing, add in some cheaply tacked on Sixaxis controls, a wanna be GoW, button sequence style events, and bad hair movement, and this is what you get. Waste of developer's time!

If you hadn't noticed yes my last complaint is how stupid her hair looked, nice and fluent, takes so much work to make, blah blah blah, well guess what developers, go back and do it again, because you failed.

Once again nothing in this game neither looks or plays fluently, the biggest aspect of why Devil May Cry and God of War, and Ninja Gaiden were such great games was because of how the game was smooth. Prince of persia at least had GREAT puzzles, but this as far as I can see has all the faults of these games and it's only strength being the graphics.

I really don't care what everyone will say, and I'll probably get flamed ten different ways from sunday on most of this, but in my eyes the developer's failed to hit their target audience. I know most'll say I fail or how do I know what their target was, but in my opnion, if you're going to show off a game in all the trailers as being a great mix of great combo's while fighting massive fights, adding in button sequences, in the manner it had done previously, it has failed in the heart of one of DMC's, GoW's, and NG's biggest fans.

[Kirderf]

... a lot of comments.

[BubblesDAVERAGE]

Its not what i expected its in its own league..nothing like GOW...more life like but still cool...you should all get it ...its fun

[Bolts]

Have to agree with Taz here. This demo is a huge let down. The graphics for one, isn't 1080p. WTF? ANOTHER 720p game for a 1080p system? If the PS3 is so powerfull then why can't this game run at 1080p. If all Xbox 360 games run at 1080i, the system's advertised max res, then why can't all PS3 exclusives run at max 1080p res? I mean if this game can't even run at 1080p then it should be able to fly through 720p at 60 fps right? Nope, it can't even do that either! Now it might be understandable if this is an effects power house like Crysis or Kill Zone 2 we're talking about here, but it isn't. There is nothing ground breaking or amazing about the graphics here. Just good graphics in 720p at so-so fps.

So where the hell are all mythical "power" of the PS3 when even AAA titles like this can't even muster the so called system's resolution of 1080p. I guess the devs must've thrown all the Cell's processing power into the worst of dynamic hair in recent memory.