A beautiful intro to the PS3 console hampered only by its short duration, True Score=8.8
***Extensive Review, skip to the Conclusion for an overview of the game***
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Game Play 8.7
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Controls (Excellent)
>> The controls never held back my enjoyment of this game, the menus were easy to navigate, and battle control scheme was laid out really well. The camera is fixed (You can move it slightly to the left or right w/ R2 or L2, doesn't make much of a difference though), but this never became an issue. It moves w/ you really well and always seemed to be in the right place for convenience and/or capturing aesthetic nuances.
Battle System (Excellent)
>> As I said before, this battle system is similar to GoW and other similar action games. You attack w/ Square and Triangle, and holding L1 or R1 while pressing the attack buttons also triggers different types of attacks. It is simple, but allows for a plethora of combos and ways to dispatch your enemies. You can also counterattack enemy moves for instant kills and execute special finishing attacks when the time is right. Brilliant battle system that makes you really think on your toes at all times
You also have a few shooting scenes where the key to victory is using the PS3s six axis capability. After you shoot you can guide your arrows straight into your enemy slow motion style (it's called aftertouch in the game). This is very fun and a great change of pace in the game. And if you have never played a PS3 game before (like me) this is a great intro to the PS3s six axis capability.
Puzzles & Mini Games (Poor)
>> There aren't any mini games and there are only a few puzzles in the game and those are all the same. They all pretty much consisted of throwing an object into a gong or something. They were never hard to figure out and I just found them to be an annoying obstacle between me and the battle scenes.
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Graphics 10.0
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Background & Environment (Excellent)
>> The PS3s graphics are impressive, in many ways this is the most impressive game I have seen to date. The backdrops are no exception. They are amazingly detailed and very aesthetically pleasing
Characters (Exceptional)
>> These are probably the best character graphics I have ever seen. Gears of War was good, but there was just so much detail in this game. The main antagonist, King Bohan, is definitely the best looking in game character I have ever seen. This sets the bar high for the PS3 in the future.
Special Effects (Exellent)
>> All the cutscenes and other SE looked terrific. I especially loved how the screen would split up to show what was going on in two separately places simultaneously, another wonderful display of the PS3s abilities. I think this game is worth playing just to witness its beauty.
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Sound 10.0
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Music (Excellent)
>> Every song in every moment of this game was awesome. Most of the music has an Indian feel to it and is just as beautiful and harmonious as the game itself.
Sound Effects (Excellent)
>> Once again awesome. The sound of weapons colliding with enemies was extremely satisfying, as was there shrieks of fear your enemies let out as you tore through their ranks. You can tell there is a lot of attention to detail here and in every other technical aspect in this game.
Voice Acting (Excellent)
>> The VA was seamless as if there was no VA and therefore perfect. The VA for King Bohan was the best I have ever seen in a game. He was voiced by the same guy who voiced Gollum in LotR, thanks to Ron (SavoyPrime) and Mike (15th_archangel) for informing me of this. King Bohan's facial expressions fit perfectly with the dialogue as well, which goes back to the amazing character graphics.
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Story 9.0
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Plot (Good)
>> The plot in Heavenly Sword is pretty straight forward and there aren't any significant twists that I can think of. I was able to tell what was going to happen from the very beginning, not that it actually took any skill to predict that. That aside, the story is entertaining enough to hold your interest throughout the short duration of the game.
Characters (Great)
>> Heavenly Sword has a pretty small cast of characters, good and bad. It was perfect for the length of the game though and they were all developed pretty well. There were a few things I was wondering about even after the game was over though, especially pertaining to a few of your enemies. King Bohan was great though, I never got bored of watching his mannerisms.
Writing (Excellent)
>> The script and lines in this game were written well and very clever. This seems to be the norm with most games these days as they are starting to become more mainstream w/ Hollywood production values.
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Value 5.0
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Main Story (Bad)
>> The main quest in Heavenly Sword will probably last you about 6-8 hours. This is really short for any genre of video game and even worse there isn't much else to this game. If they stretched the quality of this game to about twice as long this game would have been a classic.
Sidequests & Secrets (Awful)
>> During and after you beat the game there is nothing extra to due besides the main quest itself. You can unluck the cutscenes and some artwork, but that's about it.
Replay Value (Ok)
>> This is a story in this game is pretty easy to grasp w/ one play through so I didn't have any motivation to play it again. You can unlock harder difficulties though which gives it pretty good replay value. Especially since it isn't that hard on the standard difficulty level and the battle system is extremely fun.
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Tilt 10.0
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Cool Factor (Excellent)
>> Nariko is a beautiful woman and one of my favorite heroines ever. Also, the heavenly sword is an awesome looking blade, the combos you can pull off with it are extremely exciting, and the finishing moves you can pull off are satisfying. And despite the short duration of the game there are quite a few awesome boss battles.
Fun Factor (Excellent)
>> Pulling off combos and countering your foes attacks was extremely fun and satisfying from beginning to end. And the game was paced perfectly even if it was too short.
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Conclusion
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Pros
-Well mapped control scheme results in an awesome combo based battle system
-Top notch graphics, artistically and technically show off the PS3s capabilities
-Top notch musical score, sound effects, and voice acting
-Well written script, especially w/ respect to the main antagonist, King Bohan
-Fun and Easy to play through
Cons
-Main quest is extremely short and that is the only value this game has
-Puzzles (if you want to call them that) are overly simplistic and all the same
Gameplay (20%) – 8.7
Graphics (15%) – 10.0
Sound (15%) – 10.0
Story (20%) - 9.0
Value (15%) - 5.0
Tilt (15%) – 10.0
Final Score – 8.8
>> Let's face it, money is a huge factor that goes into the purchase of any game. And w/ that in mind you might want to wait until Heavenly Sword gets cheaper before purchasing it or maybe just rent it. You can easily beat this game in a few couple hour gaming sessions. That aside, Heavenly Sword is an amazing gaming experience that should be experienced by all. This is an amazing introduction to and example of what the PS3 is capable of. The graphics, music, and battle system are amazing. Therefore, the quality of the time that is spent playing this game is top notch. Whether you play through this game in a rental, wait until it gets cheap, or even if you buy it at its current price Heavenly Sword is definitely a worth while endeavor.