I have finally beat this game and I just have to say that this is one of the best PS3 games that I have ever played. I could not have been more surprised considering some of the reviews that I have heard and read. You play as Nariko, daughter of the leader of your clan. The game starts out with you and your clan taking refuge in an abandoned fort, it seems as though you are running from an entire army that is after the Heavenly Sword. The first few levels are training but are still an excellent base for the story as everything you need to know about your plight is set up in the first five levels. The difficulty is just right and provides the right amount of challenge to all levels of gamers.
The reason why I love this game so much is its use in the six-axis controller. No game has used so extensively and effectively as Heavenly Sword (I don’t even want to mention Lair, as I am sure everyone would like to forget it even exists). When you play as Kai, Nariko’s young friend, you use the controller to guide the arrows that she fires to their targets. It takes some practice, but once you get it down it is very fun to shoot the same guy several times in the head before he even hit’s the ground. Another way to use the six-axis controller is when you pick up and throw objects (and people) you can guide them to where you want them to go. This is also used to solve many puzzles and is most effectively used to fight one of the final bosses.
The controls themselves are very simple and intuitive. Mostly it is just button mashing, but if you choose to have more finesse in you slaughter, there are plenty of combo’s you can use to dispatch your foes. Speaking of foes, this is the only spot where the game falls short (IMHO) is that there is a very small variety in enemies. You pretty much see the same guys over and over again. But that doesn’t really matter as you wont see them for long because of how quickly you will blow past them. Which leads to the shear number of enemies that appear on screen. One level has you taking on an entire army all by yourself, over 400 people all on screen at once.
The graphics are amazing. Even in game cut scenes are nearly flawless. Rendered cut scenes are almost perfect. And to top it off, there are over 20 of them, each one is at least a minute long. This is my favourite part of the game, Andy Serkis (King Kong, Smeagle) plays the leader of the enemy army, Lord Bohan. You should see the `making of` videos showing how they translated Serkis`facial movements onto his character (spoiler: motion sensors lol). The voice work of all the characters is spot on, everyone sounds full of real emotion as they speak (or yell) to each other. The dialog is also creative.
Overall I have really enjoyed this game. It provided more than just the time waster that I assumed it would be. If you need any other reason to buy this listen to this. I rented this game, when it came time to return it I did so only after much resistance and threats of late fees. On my way home from the video store I stopped by the mall and bought my very own copy. If that doesn’t say something about this game, I don’t know what will.
