Heavenly Sword (PS3)
When a game lets you run down ropes hung across huge canyons, slicing and dicing enemies as you land, there is a good chance somebody is trying to mimic God of War. And when the short but sweet demo throws the above scenario at you, coupled with a few dozen enemies who are just waiting to get impaled on your sword one can’t help but wonder if the game is nothing more than a God of War clone (Not that there is anything wrong with that!). Can Heavenly Sword be the killer title the Playstation 3 has been waiting for? Or is the game a huge disappointment, killing the last of the black console’s chances? History is filled with prophecies and games often build upon them. This is even more obvious when the game in question is set in a more fantastic adaptation of our past, mixing elements of countless cultures, myths, combat techniques and environments. One day, in the year of the Fire Horse a child was supposed to be born. A boy, son of the clan chief, destined to wield the Heavenly Sword and usher in an era of peace and prosperity. But when the child is finally born, the death of its mother isn’t the only ill omen. The child, to great shame of the whole clan is a baby girl, a direct affront to the prophecy. This is the life story of Nariko, the curse of her nomadic tribe. Even her father, a wise and respected leader can’t stomach her because of what she represents, so he is primarily her tutor, playing the role of the father only on rare occasions. And even then, it is the face of a stern, angry man he puts on, not that of a warm, loving parent.
Official Launch Trailer Blame it on the woman!The game starts at the end of the story, with Nariko wielding the Heavenly sword on a huge battlefield, slaying hundreds of enemies as she tries to defend a huge fortress behind her back. But just as she is about to prevail the curse of the sword strikes her down, draining the last of her life force. Separated from her body Nariko tries to persuade the sword entity to let her finish her fight, and through six chapters explains how she came in possession of the sword, paving the way for the final confrontation.  For an action game the story is rather good, though it is average at best by other standards. What is above standards are the characters though. Take Nariko for example. Being the eternal outsider made her a rebellious girl, defying orders from her father Shen, but that doesn’t prevent her from seeking vengeance when the evil king Bohan captures her entire clan, including Shen. But it’s not the nature of the situation she is faced with that makes here more than just a regular fantasy heroine. It is the incredible facial and body animation engine of the game that breathes life to her and all the other characters. Believe me, seeing still pictures or low resolution videos of the game simply doesn’t compare to how the characters look in the game. All of the lead figures are very charismatic due to the body language and faces they make, with king Bohan at the top. No surprise, since the actor behind his every move is the very talented Andy Serkis. If his name doesn’t ring a bell, I’m sure that his roles as Golum and King Kong will. One thing I noticed when playing Heavenly Sword is that although the gameplay mechanics have nothing in common with the Metal Gear franchise, the structure mirrors it almost perfectly. Lots of games use this technique, where short gameplay sequences (3-4 minutes tops) get interrupted with cinematics, but only with Metal Gear are the playable sequences roughly of the same length as the non-playable ones. Heavenly Sword isn’t nearly as bad, as certain gameplay segments take up to 10 minutes, but you’ll still be watching in-engine videos more often than you might be used to. This isn’t a problem by itself, but with the game only about 7-8 hours long spending a few hours watching videos isn’t ideal.
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