Heavenly Sword Clan Review

Clan Overall Score: B+ (89%)     overview of the rating system
  Presentation: (4.5) Excellent
  GamePlay: (3.0) Decent
  Ambiance: (5.0) Peerless
  Fun Factor: (3.0) Decent
Dark Gyraen's Scoring
  Presentation: (4.5) Excellent - This is one of the main area's Heavenly Sword truly seems to excel. The base character models for the various bad guys throughout the game are pretty good at the distance you see them, although not overly impressive. What's truly remarkable about HS is the animation of the characters, especially during the cut scenes. Andy Serkis does a fantastic job as the villain, and all of the characters portray an almost frightening reality to their movements.
  A beautiful soundtrack accompanies views of sweeping and impressive backdrops. While the art direction and much of the game is done exceedingly well, occasional clipping pops up here and there. And while the basic model for the bad guys is decent looking, there isn't much variety. Overall, the graphics are beautiful and the cinematic scenes set a new bar with near realistic movement.
  GamePlay: (3.0) Decent - It's impossible not to compare Heavenly Sword to God of War, as they both fall into this new style of action game genre that's developed. Heavenly Sword's combat is good, but it really leaves much to be desired. The three stance idea (Heavy, Regular, and Speed) is great on paper, but its implementation doesn't come across as well. While some people may be able to switch the stances according to the color of each enemies attacks, most will find it frustrating and in many cases, having to watch the color of an attack to figure out how to block seems to almost take away from the fighting itself.
  The use of the Six Axis controller in this game is creative, but often equally as frustrating. Playing as Kai, players get the opportunity to guide their arrows through the air, and there aren't many things more satisfying than guiding an arrow into the skull of a rushing enemy. But the cannon levels, while sharing the same control scheme, drain the fun out of this. These levels require a precision with the guided ammo that the Six Axis makes very difficult to pull off. Also, the inclusion of aerial combos is great, but having to whip the Six Axis back in order to get Nariko into the air to do them isn't as smooth as you find in normally mapped games.
  The inclusion of what is becoming a staple in action games today, button pressing cinema sequences can be entertaining, but often just feel tacked on as a way to try and keep the player engaged. In the end, it's fantastic to watch Nariko flip from enemy to enemy in wonderful killing fashion, unfortunately, getting Nariko to that point can often be frustrating.
  Ambiance: (5.0) Peerless - Heavenly Sword's story is one of its highlights, and probably the strongest area of the game. The tragic story is one of devotion, honor, and duty. Nariko is truly a character that players can get behind, which is a great deviation from the growing number of main characters that are evil, faceless, or simply morally ambiguous. One aspect that truly has to be commended is the use of Nariko's discussions with the camera between levels, it's truly done in a way that makes the player feel as if the character is almost speaking to them, and fleshes out the story incredibly well. A great cast of supporting characters helps as well, as players will no doubt fall in love with the off the wall Kai, and find the incredibly well voiced and animated King Bohan and his gang of villains incredibly interesting. From beginning to end, Heavenly Sword sweeps players away on a great tale, and keeps the player engrossed until the end.
  Fun Factor: (3.0) Decent - Overall Heavenly Sword is an enjoyable game, decent gameplay, beautiful graphics, and a wonderful story. Unfortunately, the draw backs include a horribly short play time, roughly six to seven hours, as well as a lack of any real character progression. Kratos goes through his adventures earning new powers and weapons, and the lack of that is one of the biggest drawbacks to Heavenly Sword. Once Nariko gets the games namesake, there is almost no character development from that point forward. No health increases, no bonuses to damage, no new weapons or items.
  The lack of character development is compensated to a point by the use of changing gameplay, with a cannon level or by playing as Kai, but it never really overcomes that hurdle. The lack of any type of multi-player or any online support leaves almost no replayability after the initial play through. Added to this are the annoying boss fights, that while not hard, are long and drawn out thanks to what seems to be a near endless amount of life each of them has. One day, the truly great AI seen in many games will make it into the boss fights for games like this, but unfortunately Heavenly Sword falls back on the age old method of programmed attack patters. In the end, they all come down to watching and adapting, over a great period of time to beat the bosses.
  In Summary - In the end, Heavenly Sword offers players a grand story and good enough gameplay to get through it the first time. Despite the brevity of the game and the lack of any type of online options, the game is certainly worth playing, if for no other reason than to see what the future of games may look like. The character animation is second to none, and while it's impressive, it's not worth $60. Owners of the Playstation 3 that are waiting for the first truly incredible game of the system will have to keep waiting, because Heavenly Sword is good, but not great.
Overall Score: B+ (89%)