Reviews// Heavenly Sword

She's used in various different capacities – sometimes to provide covering fire, sometimes to pick off long range enemies and sometimes for getting to those hard to reach places. On her first appearance I groaned mightily, wanting to get back to the hacking and slashing I signed up for. On her second appearance, everyone else in the SPOnG office groaned, because they didn't want to watch me hamfistedly try to use the Sixaxis to control the after touch on the arrows. By halfway through the very same second appearance of Kai, however, I was thoroughly enjoying myself. There's something immensely satisfying about picking off an enemy who's barely visible when you fire your arrow, then guide it meticulously to thud into him with a fountain of blood.

Similarly, sending an arrow through a flame so you can land it in a barrel of fireworks, sending multiple foes to their death, is thoroughly enjoyable. Kai comes a-cropper, however, when you get charged down and off load multiple arrows into the baddies only to see them seemingly unaffected. It means that when you do come into close quarters with a baddie, you're screwed.

Overall, however, Kai's inclusion serves to break up the game nicely and stop your progression becoming repetitive.

That's not to say, however, that individual sections of the game don't suffer from repetition. In particular, the bosses can be immensely frustrating.

Something needs pointing out here – I am not great at hack and slash games. When facing bosses, my pattern recognition can trip me up. I have a nasty habit of failing to beat a boss first time, then repeating the exact same mistakes while trying to be a bit quicker, only to be annoyed when I'm once again dispatched. That's not a mistake I made with Heavenly Sword, however.

One boss in particular – Whiptail, a snake woman-type with a penchant for playing around in water and sending huge waves to do you damage – brought me to the brink of destroying the SPOnG PS3. I knew exactly what to do - a range attack to disperse the waves, a roll to dodge what's best described as a deadly plume of water - yet still found myself howling in frustration when I died about four times trying to whittle down her seemingly endless supply of health. Needless to say, the SPOnG office was rocked by a mighty cry of victory and much punching of the air when I finally took the nasty bitch down. In short, fighting her was a big old chore.

Also annoying was the fact that the boss fights tend to end with an interactive cut scene, but the correct button sequences flash up so briefly that the cut scenes often have to be repeated just to memorise the sequence.

That said, on the whole Heavenly Sword manages to avoid being repetitive. The cut scenes (which are genuinely entertaining thanks to the quality of the animation and acting), puzzles, Kai's involvement and boss battles break up the game enough to stop it falling prey to that complaint, which is easily made with a brawler. It probably won't have you coming back to play it through multiple times, but it won't leave you bored.

The controls are generally fluid and intuitive without being overly simple. Directional control can be a little clumsy, but in a game where you mostly face foes on all sides, that's not much of a problem. The combos add depth that will prevent seasoned gamers from becoming bored, while the less experienced won't become vexed by endless complex sequences of button bashes.

SPOnG Score: 80%

Conclusion/
Heavenly Sword is a graphical masterwork. It looks stunning, and the animation and acting are superb, with only a few very granular niggles. The gameplay is frustrating at times, but it's fluid and fun, offering a decent amount of variety. If you want a game to sit alongside MotorStorm in terms of showing what your buxom next-gen hardware can do, this is for you. Similarly, if you want a solid brawler, you'll get your money's worth here. If, however, you're expecting to be utterly blown away by the Next Big Game, you may be a little disappointed.