Special thanks to Nathan Grayson for the following review:

Can Nariko out-Kratos the God of War himself? Or is she doomed to be remembered as the main character in an over-hyped letdown of a game?

The sword from heaven and the girl with hair that’s possibly from subterranean depths

Title: Heavenly Sword
Genre: Action
Publisher: Sony
Players: One

Slimy-looking, seemingly self-propelled, and able to detach to ward off prey – you may think that’s a description of the arms of an octopus, and you’re right! However, it’s also describing Nariko’s (the main character of Heavenly Sword) hair – well, except for that last part. But while Nariko’s hair can’t be used in times of extreme danger, it certainly doesn’t hold back her game. In fact, Heavenly Sword is a fairly competent God of War wannabe for the PS3 set, but with less (read: none) random sex, and with more eccentric characters who use the phrase “twing-twang.” It's a shame, then, that its fun doesn't even last through its far too-short length.

Graphics
Are you not-blind? Do you enjoy seeing pretty things? Because Heavenly Sword’s graphics are quite angelic. And thankfully, unlike many other “next-gen” games, these graphics aren’t purely technical. Yes, there’s plenty of bumps mapped and self-shadows casted, but Heavenly Sword’s biggest graphical asset is its lush art style. Vibrant trees and grass, radiant lighting, and a myriad of colors – yes, colors -- characterize the beauty.

The characters are exaggerated in some ways (the aforementioned crazy hair), but retain eerily realistic faces. Thanks to some absolutely top-notch motion capture, every little intricacy of human facial movement is preserved in the transition from the “people in suits with white balls all over them” stage to the “I can’t believe it’s not butt…er, a videogame” phase. The evil king, Bohan, – aka Andy Serkis of Lord of the Rings fame – is an especially incredible example. Each scene in which he’s present will actually cause you to stand up and applaud as though you just saw Gollum in Lord of the Rings -- an odd coincidence, isn’t it? All of the raw emotion present in each cut scene conveys the story of an all-out war between good (Nariko and co.) and evil (Bohan and his gang of freaks) very well.

The animation in cut-scenes also emulates human movements quite proficiently, although it can still look a little unnatural – but that’s just nitpicking. Actual combat looks very stylish, and counter attacks are over the top in a wonderful way.

Gameplay
First you spin about in a whirlwind of blades, then transition to a golf club-esque swing with a sword of Cloud Strife proportions, and finally top it all off with a viscous stab to your opponent’s mid-section. That sounds pretty fun, doesn’t it? And it is, until bad game design steps in, that is. Heavenly Sword revolves around the Heavenly Sword, a weapon capable of switching between three different forms at any time. That ability makes up the majority of the depth in what is actually a fairly enjoyable combat system. Unfortunately, many other aspects of the game cause the combat system to suffer. More specifically, boss fights feel overly prolonged through their different stages, and much of the combat dissolves into doing the same combos for unnecessarily lengthy periods of time. In a game as short as Heavenly Sword, it’s really saddening that the developers went so far as to use artificial game lengthening techniques yet still ended up with such a length-deficient game. Enemy types are disappointingly lacking in diversity, and many of the tougher ones annoy more than they provide legitimate challenge. And while the ability to counterattack in outrageous fashions is admittedly neat, it’s severely marginalized by the crowds of enemies that prevent you from pulling it off effectively.

But Nariko only makes up one part of the pumpkin pie known as Heavenly Sword’s combat. Kai, Nariko’s sister, participates in a completely different style of combat – one that’s not quite as visceral or easy to control, but that’s still moderately enjoyable. All Kai can do is shoot things with her bow; she has to avoid enemies in order to send them to the place opposite of the Heavenly Sword’s origin. Her variety of gameplay does, however, highlight Heavenly Sword’s obligatory inclusion of the PS3’s Sixaxis controller. Upon – in Kai’s case – firing an arrow, you can tilt the Sixaxis to control the path the arrow takes through the air, and hopefully, right into your enemies’ eyes/legs/torsos/unmentionables. Similarly, you can –and will – use this “after touch” ability to solve almost all of the game’s puzzles. Depressingly, the “after touch” controls are very imprecise, and by the time you finally achieve some level of competence with them, you’ll be just about done with the game. And once again, certain puzzles also contain elements that needlessly lengthen the game; they will most likely frustrate you to no end.

Sound
Heavenly Sword is excellent in all aspects of presentation, and sound doesn't buck that trend. The music is suitably epic while still representing the vaguely Chinese feel of the game. But where the game really outclasses just about everything else in its genre is the voice acting. Both the acting and the script really are movie-quality – and the characters actually deserve the title of “digital actors”; needless to say, Sony pumped a lot of money into this game.

Lasting Appeal
Heavenly Sword is not unlike a tall midget – it’s a big and high profile amongst its particular audience, but in actuality it’s really short. The game can be beaten in five to six hours, and while there are some unlockables (art, making-of movies, and better combos for combat) earned by playing the game well, they’re not really much of an incentive for a second playthrough. Once you’ve beaten the game, you’ve seen most everything there is to see; and besides, you’ll probably be tired of the game by then anyway.

Fun Factor
And thus, we reach the culmination of Heavenly Sword’s troubles – it stops being fun before it even reaches the end of its inexcusably short playtime. The gameplay quickly becomes repetitive and frustrating, and cheap boss fights don’t help. Even worse, puzzles are fun for all of a few minutes; really, how many hats are you going to enjoy throwing at gongs before you start to tire of it? Obvious artificial lengthening only compounds those problems. Heavenly Sword’s not completely devoid of fun, but it definitely has issues.

Overall 7.0 [ Good ]