Heavenly Sword is an intense showcase for your PS3 that ends all too soon, leaving you begging for more.

User Rating: 8.5 | Heavenly Sword PS3
For years now, video games have had to straddle the line between pure interactive engagement of the olden days' platformers and the passive entertainment society craves at the movie theatres. I would hazard a guess that the blame is mostly on the improvement of graphics in games, allowing designers to consider the option of the so-called 'interactive movie'. For every Castlevania: SotN there's a MGS - and detractors and avid fans abound for both. Heavenly Sword, in my opinion, is squarely on the interactive movie side of things, but it holds its own as a splendid game that will make you want to show off your shiny new PS3 to all your friends.

As can be easily be discerned from the many trailers and interviews prior to the game's release, Ninja Theory wanted to delve into bringing as movie-like a performance to the PS3 as possible. They even went so far as to hire Andy Serkis - Gollum of 'Lord of the Rings' fame - and work with the same studio as Peter Jackson chose for the same film. With arguably one of the most experienced and talented motion-capture actors of this decade on their side, the designers are able to bring the characters in this game to life in a way I have never seen before, and scarcely ever expected to see in a video game. From tiny gestures and all-too-human twitches, to fully developed, emotional expositions, Ninja Theory have made for us a movie that we could just as easily sit back and watch as we can take the reins and kick butt for ourselves.

And on that note, the butt-kicking, sword slashing tornado of a battle we get to control, from start to finish, is completely accessible and incredibly fun. The controls are such that you can focus on tactical use of the combos and maneuvers or just button-mash and whichever way pleases you the most you will never feel like you're being cheaped-out. Kai's levels I found a little more frustrating, but once I got the hang of the Aftertouch motion control system I actually looked forward to her scenes. (A special comment on the Aftertouch: there were a couple scenes when Nariko is in a desperate hurry to get from place to place and yet the sense of urgency is completely broken down by a puzzle that requires you to precisely lob stuff a-la-Captain America to advance. I wonder if they could have moved these puzzles into different parts of the game?)

Unfortunately, given how fabulously fun the game is, I found it frustrating that I had completed it in less than a week of casual play. I recognize that Ninja Theory wanted to hold their game to such high standards that they didn't want to stretch out the story anymore, but some of the fight sequences could easily have been lengthened by simply adding more enemies to battle. Heck, even just adding an arena mode at the end of the game and allowing people to fight ad infinitum could have been a simple addition. Coupled with even a basic online leaderboard for the arena, many gamers would probably sink several more hours competing for high scores. To me, this minimal enhancement would have easily pushed the game into the 9+ ratings. As it stands, while I'm not sorry I bought Heavenly Sword by any stretch, I wouldn't hesitate to encourage people to rent over buy this game - and unfortunately by virtue of the game's length alone.