Heavenly Sword may be short, but it is surely one of the PS3's best.
User Rating: 9 | Heavenly Sword PS3
Heavenly Sword, one of the most anticipated titles for the PS3 is finally upon us. And let me tell you something--it does not disappoint. Heavenly Sword has an outstanding presentation and story. Great voice acting by Andy Serkis and amazing facial animations and textures add to the impressive presentation. Honestly, I must say that Heavenly Sword has one of the best presentations that I had ever seen in a game. I am just stunned. Ninja Theory really deserves a round of applause for this aspect of the game. The story in Heavenly Sword is actually quite a simple one. King Bohan wants the Heavenly Sword from Nariko's clan, which obviously refuses to give the sword up to him. So, an all-out war breaks out, and, as most of you probably know, King Bohan's army captures Nariko's fellow clan members, including her father. Now it is up to Nariko to free her clan from the jails of King Bohan, but to do this successfully, she will need the precious Heavenly Sword--the possession that is ever so dear to her clan, and that also drains the life out of the person that wields it. So therefore, she is basically sacrificing herself for her father and fellow can members--a very honorable thing to do. Once Nariko decides that she must wield the sword, you will find yourself gracefully hacking and slashing your way through waves of enemies. In Heavenly Sword, there are 3 different fighting stances--Speed, Range, and Power. The Speed stance is really the main stance that you will be using throughout most of the game. Attacks while using the Speed stance are swift and effective, and work quite well against many enemies, although it is not very effective against enemies with shields, armor, and/or other defensive equipment. The Range stance (hold L1 to use) makes use of the Heavenly Sword is a rather weak way, but if you are completely surrounded by enemies, it is the perfect time to use the Range stance. The range stance can be used for clearing things up--you can't inflict any serious damage on individual enemies while in the range stance, but it really is helpful if you want to get enemies off of your back for a short period of time. And finally, we have the Power Stance (hold R1 to use) which is the most powerful of all the stances. Although Nariko becomes much more slow while using the Power Stance, it does allow her to inflict huge amounts of damage on most enemies. It is very helpful when you have to battle more powerful enemies. So, there we have it--the 3 stances of the Heavenly Sword. They all work very well, and it adds a nice level of complexity to the game's combat system. Oh, did I mention that each stance has its own large set of combos that you can perform? Guess I didn't . . . But combos are always a joy to pull off in Heavenly Sword. Oh! One last thing--there are things called Superstyle attacks which you use by pressing O while near enemy. Superstyle attacks are very unique moves that Nariko can perform every so often. And these are absolutely fantastic to watch . . . simply awesome. Overall, the combat in Heavenly Sword is very impressive, although it has a few issues here and there, such as some bland, boring, enemies, and definitely a bit too much repetition at times, too. Regardless, this is an excellent combat system. Now let's talk about the visuals. Well, there's not much to say except AMAZING--possibly the PS3's best-looking game up to date. Heavenly Sword is a very sharp, detailed, and colorful game that is simply beautiful to look at and admire. And, those oh-so-wonderful and realistic facial animations that leave you literally stunned. This is what I call top-notch. Heavenly Sword's sounds also delivers--from the great voice acting (Andy Serkis!!!) to the amazing musical score, this game isn't only eye candy--it's ear candy as well. One thing that people complained about in Heavenly Sword was its length--a games that takes you only 6-8 hours to complete. Right now, I would say that I've been playing the game for roughly 6.5 hours now, and I'm on the last level. So, yeah, it is short, but it's good enough that you'll be finding yourself playing it over and over again. Yeah, it's that sweet. Short but sweet. Regardless of its length and a couple of flaws in its combat system, Heavenly Sword is an excellent game that every PS3 owner should buy, or at least rent. This is a truly unforgettable experience, and makes me proud to own a PS3. 
