The best 8 hours of video gaming this year, the next 20+ aren't bad either
User Rating: 9.5 | Heavenly Sword PS3
A lot of people have faulted heavenly sword for being "short" at between 6 and 10 hours. This seems to be a somewhat valid criticisim until you look at most similar action games which are far less polished. Many of the "clasics" aren't a whole lot longer including Halo 2, Gears of War, Devil May Cry, God of War (both parts) ect. A few games with an action core make it to 20 hours or thereabouts but only through item hunts, back tracking and simplistic side quests. Take Ninja Gaiden for instance, subtract the searching for orbs and other items in the backgrounds and the backtracking through the confusing city streets and the true action crux of the game doesn't last much more then 6-10 hours with another 6-10 of filler. The same applies to Metroid Prime 3, without back tracking if you add up the boss fights, the large scale pirate battles and the other parts of the game that "pop" so to speak theres really not much over 6 hours of real goodness in there either. The point is that Heavenly Sword is as good or better then the best 6-10 hours in any game ever. Yes, I mean that. I've played games since the original NES and in terms of impact, production values, insane 100 on 1 fun and depth of combat options this game ranks at the top. At first when you start out with only a longsword and 15 combos using square and triangle it seems like you're headed for a Lord of the Rings: Two Towers type experience with simplistic combat and combos you'll do over and over till the end. At the end of the first chapter this all turns around as you get the Heavenly Sword. You have 3 stances, ranged (Kratos style blades you can create huge whirlwinds with and deflect projectiles), Speed (where the sword becoems two fast daggers) and Power (where the sword is used in one giant shield breaking piece). Thats pretty nice but what REALLY makes the game great is integrating the 3 styles into your attack. You can change from one form to the other without delay letting you do the first half of a speed combo then slam the guy with a power sword smash as a finisher or use ranged to push everyone but the guy with the shield away and then break his block with a fast fluid switch to power attack mode. This is the best example of an easy to use/rewarding to master combat system I've come across in an action game and it keeps things fresh and interesting until the end especially as you unlock new moves throught the game. Much like Devil May Cry and others you are rewarded as much for style as for simply kiling enemies. If you just hack them to bits you'll only go so far. Theres a meter at the bottem with 3 glyphs each of which represent unlockable content (combos, artwork, videos ect) and depending on the level of style you display you will get a 0, 1, 2 or 3 glyph rating at the end of the action sequence. This encourages you to be at the top of your game at all times and rewards you for doing difficult manuvers like counters (which greatly boost your score) and for not being hit (which is required to keep the meter running). The most rewarding glyph levels of all are with Kai, the second playable character who acts as a sort of sniper. You will find yourself with 20 enemies coming at you and each one will need to be hit in succession to get the full 3 glyph rating. Its amazingly fun trying to line up your shots then using the siraxis controller to make the arrow bend and move in slow motion flight for the elusive head shot. A lot of sequences are very difficult and well worth the effort of getting 3 glyphs. This system adds far more to the replay value then simply having items randomly hidden in rocks you have to find.
The music, scenery and character acting are all top notch. Outside of movies like Lord of the Rings never has there been so much attention to cinematography, music and acting in a fantasy enviornment in any medium. Yes if this wasn't a game it would be one of the best fantasy movies you've ever seen. As it stands its far and away the greatest movie you will ever play. 
