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"[GAME] Heavenly Sword"

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This thread has been linked to the game 'Heavenly Sword'.
Sun 26/05/13 at 20:48
Regular
Posts: 261
Heavenly Sword is a PS3 exclusive title that was released in 2007 on the year of the console’s European release. The game was published by Sony and developed by Ninja Theory; a UK studio now more famously known for its development of the latest devil may cry game.

The main character of Heavenly Sword, Nariko, is usually seen as a female version of Kratos with long red hair and white clothing; displays of aggression and balletic sword fighting skills. However, Nariko shows compassion and fights for the welfare of her family and her warrior clan.

The story begins at the final battle where Nariko and his clan defend against King Bohan’s army. King Bohan wishes to obtain the Heavenly Sword which used to be guarded by the warrior clan but is now wielded by Nariko. However, the sword drains the user’s life force and Nariko eventually is completely drained and she ends up in some form of purgatory where she tells the story of the events that lead up to that moment. The previous events give details of Nariko’s family members, her clan, the sword and the attempts of King Bohan’s henchmen to obtain the sword.
The gameplay is mostly combat based but there are many gameplay sections where six axis motion controls is used to control the directions of projectiles.

Combat is fairly simple at first but once Nariko obtains the Heavenly Sword you are introduced to three combat stances: Ranged, Power and Speed. When an enemy attacks they glow blue, orange, yellow or red. Blue attacks are blocked in Speed stance which is the default stance. To block Nariko has to stand still in the correct stance. Orange attacks are blocked in the power stance (R1) and ranged attacks are blocked in the ranged stance (L1). Red attacks are unblockable and is avoided by dodging with the right control stick. If you successfully block an attack you can press triangle immediately after to perform a counter which usually kills the enemy outright. Memorizing the stances and watching the colour of your enemies’ attacks is what makes combat engaging.

As well as blocking correctly, you also need to memorize certain combos from your move list to break the guard of enemies that constantly block to make the game easier for yourself.

Bosses have attack patterns and also use the colour scheme when attacking. I found all but the final boss to be fairly easy on normal as you can break pots around the environment to replenish your health.

The first time you will use the six axis controls for projectiles will be with Nariko’s sister Kai who attacks with a crossbow. Kai has the mental age of a child and refers to crossbow sniping as “Twing Twang”. You fire arrows by pressing X but if you hold the button down, the projectile flies in slow motion and you can control its direction by tilting you controller in the direction you want it to go. At first I found this fairly difficult but I got used to it and it was fun.

Nariko also has sections where motion controls are required, but she uses cannon balls instead. This is fine but there are catapults that have three targets on them that you have to hit which take a fair amount of precision which I found annoying and took a few attempts to do but Nariko usually gets to fire cannon balls into large groups of soldiers so you can see them ragdoll across the battlefield.

There are sections where motion controls are used to solve environmental puzzles, some of which took a few attempts for me to complete with frustration. Quick time events are used in this game to get to certain areas and also deliver finishing moves to the bosses.

The story is straightforward to understand and it is satisfactory but the best part is the voice acting of King Bohan provided by Andy Serkis (aka Gollum from Lord of The Rings) to deliver amusing lines to his oddball henchmen. He also does the motion capture work and some of the writing. Although I have played a fair number of games that use motion capture I found the King to be very memorable.

Some have referred to Heavenly Sword as a glorified tech demo and the game is short at eight hours, but with good voice acting, engaging combat and interesting use of sixaxis motion controls this game is worth a play though if you enjoy hack and slash games and due to how long it has been since it was released you should be able to find it for a fairly low price.

7.0
Mon 03/06/13 at 08:19
Moderator
"possibly impossible"
Posts: 24,985
It's one of those classic games every PS3 owner should have played through. For an early PS3 game it's still pretty impressive.

Anyway, good review and well done on the win.
Sun 26/05/13 at 20:48
Regular
Posts: 261
Heavenly Sword is a PS3 exclusive title that was released in 2007 on the year of the console’s European release. The game was published by Sony and developed by Ninja Theory; a UK studio now more famously known for its development of the latest devil may cry game.

The main character of Heavenly Sword, Nariko, is usually seen as a female version of Kratos with long red hair and white clothing; displays of aggression and balletic sword fighting skills. However, Nariko shows compassion and fights for the welfare of her family and her warrior clan.

The story begins at the final battle where Nariko and his clan defend against King Bohan’s army. King Bohan wishes to obtain the Heavenly Sword which used to be guarded by the warrior clan but is now wielded by Nariko. However, the sword drains the user’s life force and Nariko eventually is completely drained and she ends up in some form of purgatory where she tells the story of the events that lead up to that moment. The previous events give details of Nariko’s family members, her clan, the sword and the attempts of King Bohan’s henchmen to obtain the sword.
The gameplay is mostly combat based but there are many gameplay sections where six axis motion controls is used to control the directions of projectiles.

Combat is fairly simple at first but once Nariko obtains the Heavenly Sword you are introduced to three combat stances: Ranged, Power and Speed. When an enemy attacks they glow blue, orange, yellow or red. Blue attacks are blocked in Speed stance which is the default stance. To block Nariko has to stand still in the correct stance. Orange attacks are blocked in the power stance (R1) and ranged attacks are blocked in the ranged stance (L1). Red attacks are unblockable and is avoided by dodging with the right control stick. If you successfully block an attack you can press triangle immediately after to perform a counter which usually kills the enemy outright. Memorizing the stances and watching the colour of your enemies’ attacks is what makes combat engaging.

As well as blocking correctly, you also need to memorize certain combos from your move list to break the guard of enemies that constantly block to make the game easier for yourself.

Bosses have attack patterns and also use the colour scheme when attacking. I found all but the final boss to be fairly easy on normal as you can break pots around the environment to replenish your health.

The first time you will use the six axis controls for projectiles will be with Nariko’s sister Kai who attacks with a crossbow. Kai has the mental age of a child and refers to crossbow sniping as “Twing Twang”. You fire arrows by pressing X but if you hold the button down, the projectile flies in slow motion and you can control its direction by tilting you controller in the direction you want it to go. At first I found this fairly difficult but I got used to it and it was fun.

Nariko also has sections where motion controls are required, but she uses cannon balls instead. This is fine but there are catapults that have three targets on them that you have to hit which take a fair amount of precision which I found annoying and took a few attempts to do but Nariko usually gets to fire cannon balls into large groups of soldiers so you can see them ragdoll across the battlefield.

There are sections where motion controls are used to solve environmental puzzles, some of which took a few attempts for me to complete with frustration. Quick time events are used in this game to get to certain areas and also deliver finishing moves to the bosses.

The story is straightforward to understand and it is satisfactory but the best part is the voice acting of King Bohan provided by Andy Serkis (aka Gollum from Lord of The Rings) to deliver amusing lines to his oddball henchmen. He also does the motion capture work and some of the writing. Although I have played a fair number of games that use motion capture I found the King to be very memorable.

Some have referred to Heavenly Sword as a glorified tech demo and the game is short at eight hours, but with good voice acting, engaging combat and interesting use of sixaxis motion controls this game is worth a play though if you enjoy hack and slash games and due to how long it has been since it was released you should be able to find it for a fairly low price.

7.0

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