Reviews// Heavenly Sword

Posted 7 Sep 2007 18:56 by
A sexy, leggy redhead. Father issues. A great big sword that developer Ninja Theory calls 'heavenly'. Where to start? Oh, alright, I'll start by talking about the game. Congratulations, you've just been spared an analysis of all the Freudian sexual angst knocking about in Heavenly Sword.

I'm lucky enough to have already previewed Heavenly Sword a little while back and found it to be... well, not quite heavenly, but damn good. Having sat down with the full game I'm happy to report that not a vast amount has changed, but a few things have crept up either through more time spent playing the hack 'n' slash or thanks to niggles brought about by elements that I thought would be removed from the final code.

First up, however, a recap.

Exhibit A: One Sexy Redhead
Exhibit A: One Sexy Redhead
For the uninitiated (and if you've come through Sony's barrage of hype and remained unintiated, congratulations), you play Nariko, the sexy redhead mentioned above. Nariko is in the unfortunate position of having inherited her dad's job as leader of her clan. Sounds quite cushty, I know. But it's not. We all like sexy redheads, but playing one who just sits around in the lap of luxury all day wouldn't be much of a lark, would it? The problem is that Nariko's tribe is on the run from King Bohan, a nasty sort who's out to conquer Nariko's land and capture the über-powerful Heavenly Sword for himself.

That would be a bad thing, so when her father gets kidnapped Nariko decides to take up the blade herself and take on the Big Bad. Unfortunately, that means she's on the fast track to death, giving her just a few days to sort things out.

That leaves you, the gamer, to hack, slash, kick and Twing Twang your way through the conquering horde.

By far the most celebrated aspect of Heavenly Sword has been the graphics, and they do, indeed, look great. Unsurprisingly, Ninja Theory hasn't done anything to make them worse since the preview copy I played was released.

Exhibit B: Hacking
Exhibit B: Hacking
A couple of flaws did pop out this time round, however. The first is scissoring. I was happy to put up with the on-screen image spontaneously shearing in the middle of the game when I was playing the preview code, but in the final version of a game that's being sold to a large degree on the strength of its graphics, it niggles. It doesn't inherently damage the quality of the graphics, but it does make the game look less polished than it could.

Another niggle was certain body parts of the characters. Before I go on – yes, I know, I'm being granular - I'll get to that. The primary niggle here are the character's teeth. They just look... wrong. Wrong in the same way that a man in a false beard looks wrong. They look added in afterwards.

Exhibit C: Slashing
Exhibit C: Slashing
Similarly, various characters' fingers and Nariko's legs look a bit rushed. But – as I say, it's granular stuff.

I point it out because Ninja Theory seems to invite it by making everything else look so stunning. The faces look nothing short of amazing, with Hollywood rivalling textures and shaders (right down to pores on Nariko's face) decorating some really great motion capture and acting. Similarly, the in-game action looks great, with beautifully-lit backdrops and action that flows wonderfully. All of which makes the tiny niggles that there are stand out. In all fairness to Ninja Theory, however, I'm being a bit of a whiny bastard.

Exhibit D: Nice view
Exhibit D: Nice view
One major element in the full game that didn't feature much in the preview code is Kai. Kai is the creepiest and most endearing supporting character I've ever come across in a game - and it takes a lot for a game character to charm me. She's probably somewhere in her early teens and mad as a bag of frogs. She comes into play as a sniper character, lugging around her massive tubular crossbow and taking pot-shots at attackers.
-1- 2   next >>

Read More Like This


Comments

hollywooda 11 Sep 2007 11:10
1/5
we'll thats the 1st game that i thought would make me rush out & buy a PS3 gone out the window.... pheww...right MGS4 better be 100% solid amazing & 100% exclusive.
tyrion 11 Sep 2007 12:29
2/5
hollywooda wrote:
we'll thats the 1st game that i thought would make me rush out & buy a PS3 gone out the window.... pheww...right MGS4 better be 100% solid amazing & 100% exclusive.

Give it a go, you'll probably like it. You like the God of War games, don't you?

I loved GoW and GoWII (see my review here if you haven't already) and I really like Heavenly Sword.

Of course, I already have a PS3, so it's a no brainer for me. If you're not already a PS3 owner this may or may not be the game that gets you to buy one.

I'm sure there will be demo pods on Friday, see what you think of it.
more comments below our sponsor's message
hollywooda 11 Sep 2007 13:32
3/5
yer i might like it, but i wont like it enough 2 spend 425 quid, besides i'm not gonna have any cash or time for anything else other than my 360 with the line up we've got this year!! soooo cant wait, the PS3 is gonna have to get in a very long cue.
daz 14 Sep 2007 02:30
4/5
a briiliant game, the lenth is perfect any longer and it would just be repetative, and besides is it really any shorter than these great game that DON'T get critisised for it

MGS (6-7 hours)
MGS 2 (6-7 hours)
Shadow of the collosus (5-6 hours)

those are based on my times
hollywooda 14 Sep 2007 08:48
5/5
if it took u 6-7 hours to complete MGS1/2 u must of done heavenly sword in 30 mins!!!, its not a system seller, there's no way i'm gonna pay 400 quid to play a game that i'll finish in an afternoon & has no replay value wot so ever. i thought this game was gonna be epic, a game that takes u on a journey but its just a quick fix for a very hungry PS3 community.
I've got the 360 now & i have sooo many great titles on the horizon that the PS3 just fades into the background. I would like a PS3 (not a current price) but i STILL cant justify a single reason (other than a cheap blu-ray player) to buy one!!... which as a huge impulse buy i find amazing.
Posting of new comments is now locked for this page.