Heavenly Sword was a highly anticipated game in 07. This was mainly due to the similarities to the popular franchise God of War. Many believed that this was the next-gen God of War-style game we had all been waiting for. Unfortunately it didn't manage to please most reviewers and was awarded fairly average review scores. But here is one gamer who thought it was excellent this is my review:
Heavenly Sword is unmistakably a high-budget game. It has high production values, great voice-acting, lavish visuals and outstanding cut-scenes. IT certainly is presented very very well. In one of the unlockabkle interviews, one of the devs said that the team would watch a random kung-fu flick every friday night to get some inspiration. And it's obvious that they did. The game's story is standard Japanese martial arts fare, but thats not to say it's bad. It might not be one of the most original stories out there, but the combination of great-looking character models, flawless voice acting and gorgeous cut-scenes make the story very engaging and enjoyable.
It basically goes like this: A red-haired heroine named Nariko is part of a prestigious clan that posseses the Heavenly Sword- a mystical weopon capable of granting it's wielder unprecendented power (how many times have you heard that before?). The sword attracts the attention of King Bohan, who is a tyrannical emperor bent on eradicating all the various clans of the world and creating a new world ruled by him. After being attacked by the king, the clans leader -Shen- hands the sword to Nariko, much to the anger of his fellow clan mates who believe Nariko to be an evil entity sent from hell. But after Bohan kid-naps Shen (who also happens to be Nariko's father) Nariko sets off on a quest to save Shen and end Bohans rule.
I wont go into any more detail about the story, but i will tell you that it does it's job of keeping you engaged and eager to find out. King Bohan is voiced by Andy "gollum" Serkis who does an outstanding job. As do the rest of the voice actors. Apart from the one for Nariko herself, who makes such a feminine figure sound like a gruff man at times.
The graphics are good, but nothing spectacular. Where the game really excels is the draw-distance and number of dynamic enemies on screen. At one point there are literally hundreds of soldiers all eager to cut you down.
The score is top-notch, with dramatical music accompanying the game's dramatical events.
The combat system works great. Let's just say that it's better that God of War, but not as good as DMC. It introduces the use of three unique stances (speed, power and range) which are activated by using the R1 and L1 buttons (speed is default). Using these stances at the right moment is key to eliminating the game's challenging enemies, this adds an element of strategy to the game. For example- the range stance is good for taking out multitude of weaker enemies while the power stance is required to take down some heavy-hitters. Another thing i like about the combat system is the balancing of the attacks and combos. Not one combo is over-powered and can be used throughout the while game. Unlike God of War, where you could use the Cyclone of Chaos move to clear just about any enemy. It's just a case of using the right move at the right time, which makes the combat system satisfingly complex and deep.
You also occasionally take control of Kai- Nariko's childish friends to take part in some slo-mo archery head-popping sections which are not only genius, but are one of the best implementations of the PS3's SixAxis capabilities yet.
And i would also like to add that the game's ending is the most epic ending OF ALL TIME bar none. Thought killing Zeus in GOW2 was cool, think again- Heavenly Sword raises the bar for epic endings. You really have to experience it. I'm bursting to tell you about it, but i'm trying to keep this spoiler free.
But alas, the time has come to outline the game's biggest shortcoming- literally, its way too short. Your average gamer can clock this in about 7 hours on normal difficulty. And while there is some incentive to replay the game because of the "Hell" difficulty setting you unlock after finishing the game and all the unlockable extras, you can't help but feel that your £35 could've gone towards a game with more value for money.
Which in effect makes Heavenly Sword the best rental in existence. So go to Blockbusters, pester your friends to borrow it or go to ebay to buy it cheap because HS is a must-play.
The PlayStation 3 may not have been the strongest generation for Sony, but there were still some diamonds in the rough that deserve a revisit as PS5 remasters.
Even if they could just remaster and put on PSVR2, some would still look great as VR titles and could do a whole lot to bolster the headset w these exclusives! I'd imagine the investment of reworking these titles into VR would be way less than building new games from the ground up, and they could be amazing experiences, and VR often makes flat games feel fresh again. The Resistance and Killzone games are particularly what I want to see!!
I played killzone 3 in 3d and it really changed the game per being immersive.
In vr, that would be even more awesome.
Funny you mention that... my son wanted to play some PS3 games in 3d on my PS tv and he was blown away by how good KZ3 was. It really was a great addition to the game. Im surprised there have not been more 3d games from that era being ported to the PSVR/VR2.
resistance 1-3, killzone 1-3, uncharted 1-3, uncharted golden abyss, folklore, socom 4 , motorstorm, twisted metal, MAG, heavenly sword
Killzone 2+3
Sly Thieves in Time
Crack in Time
God of War Ascension
Motorstorm
Modnation racer
Infamous 1+2
Killzone trilogy in VR would be amazing bonus points if they offer shadow fall.
There was a psvr1 Killzone project that supermassive was working on at one stage which wasn't up to scratch and Sony brand it back in house I was hoping we would see that on psvr2 eventually.
Personally I'd love to see some more love or acknowledgement of psvr2 from Sony in general it was a expensive headset and Sony barely acknowledge it's existence
The amount of work needed to remaster these games wouldn't be beneficial on a financial and business sense.. MGS4 would probably be the best bet as it would need the least amount of work!
The time is perfect for a resistance fall of man game campaign coop multiplayer
The resistance series is str8 trash to me. Socom 3 I would welcome. Or killzone MP.
Resistance was ok but Warhawk and Starhawk was better and kept me coming back for almost a decade of fun and petty revenge on the loud mouth unskilled players 🤣
Edit I loved capture the flag dropping the pot on the flag carrier was extremely satisfying as well as transforming your plane in bot form and stumping them to death 😱
In this interview, we will delve into the creative process of David Brochard. Behind the scenes with concept artist David Brochard, showcasing his creative process in gaming industry from Call of Duty to Dark Souls 3 and Star Citizen. Discover how his passion & skills bring immersive worlds to life.
Grab your katana, and slice your way through this list featuring the best hack and slash games the PlayStation 3 had to offer.
Dante's inferno... an excellent GoW inspired game. So sad the sequels will never be.
I recall enjoying it well enough at the time, but it wasn't a patch on God of War 3 which came out around the same time I think.
I own it and fired it up on my PS3 about 6 months ago and time hadn't been particularly kind to it although it still very much nailed the atmosphere and it is a cool as he'll setting and universe.
Dante's Inferno needs the GOW treatment. No cut camera, with a real hellish depiction of the 9 circles and a story as dark and as serious would be amazing.
Still pretty amazing there was a PSP version that was actually pretty good. I remember playing it 10 years ago. I had the PS3 version when it first came out and loved it.
Yup, I remember being blown away with Heavenly Sword. I remember holding out hope that they would go back and add trophy support as a incentive to go back and replay the game, but I don't think they ever did?
I couldn't beat the final boss though! Spent several days trying but eventually gave up, lol. Still enjoyed it though.
heavenly sword was such a short, but amazing game. that game should be prime material to be made into a download only remaster.
I really enjoyed Castlevania, but struggled to get into it again reattempting it a few years back. I still think it does another of things well; story, presentation, level varietily and art style at least. Gameplay maybe has not stood test of time unfortunately which makes it a chore to get through.
Well written. Even though I thought the scores were slighty exaggerated, I believed in your writing.
But I have a question
If one of the review categories was longevity what would you rate it out of 10? And would this affect the final score?
I've only played about 15 minutes of this game, but if it's as short as everyone says it is I can't wait to write my review for it :D
for this type of game, i would give longevity a 7/10. because you will play twice in a harder difficulty. Should provide you with around 15-18 hours of playtime.
i was thinking of renting assassin's creed but blockbuster didn't have it, but rented heavenly sword and it was a good investment. the graphics, and sound were epic but the game shined in telling it's story and going from one sequence to the next. i would have to disagree that the gameplay is better than gow. i thought it was good. actually i didn't try it out that much but since it was so short, i didn't bother. But it's the best rental to have.