Heavenly Sword - PS3

[ezee ryder]

Just played through the first chapter of the game so far so I thought I would post my views on the game so far.
I will start with the annoyingly long installation time even before you begin a game, I reckon you could make a cup of tea in the time it takes to install (don't hold me to that though). Its not as annoying as the stupidly long installation time for Virtua Fighter 5 but annoying nonetheless.
OK now on to the game itself, my feelings so far are mixed to say the least. The combat is stylish and sublime, it feels damn good taking on a group of enemies and this is even before you get control of the Heavenly Sword itself. When you do get the Heavenly Sword you it just increases the fun in taking out a whole load of enemies, switching between stances feels natural and oh so satisfying when you pull off a nice combo. The issue I have is with the shooting/aftertouch sections whether it be with arrows or catapult bombs, they just feel tacked on and it seems like they are just there for the sake of it. Whether you use the six axis motion or the analog sticks you just don't really feel in control of what you are doing. As I said I only played the first chapter and there were two of these sections and I just didnt enjoy as much as the sword based combat.
Graphically the game is stunning to say the least! The facial animations are some of the best you will see and are shown off brilliantly in the cut-scenes. Andy Serkis (aka Gollum) plays King Bohan and the facial animation stuff for his character is superb, you have to see it to realise how good it is. The game deals with quite a few enemies on screen at once and so far I have not experienced any drop in the framerate whatsoever which is always good eh?!
Overall the game seems very cinematic and "epic", even the menus of the game portray this. At the end of a chapter you are taken to a scene where Nariko is talking to the sword and that seamlessly integrates back into the menu where once again you can see the brilliant facial animation and detail as you get a close up of Nariko's face. So far I am liking it but the enjoyment is a little hampered by the "shooting" sections, more sword combat sections please

[Dazzyman]

Isnt that post longer than the full game

[ezee ryder]

Us PS3 owners need something to play man, no matter how short it may be! Seriously though it is a good game when it sticks to the sword combat though

[Spatial]

And lo, the sword came down from the Heavens and with it console gaming got one step nearer to being like playing on a PC. I can't believe this game does a massive and lengthy install to the hard drive the first time you play it

But then...

Wow! This is one mighty fine looking game without a doubt. The opening levels are lovely with the setting sun and the snow. There's lots going on to please and distract they eye, even if some little details like footprints in the snow are strangely missing (but then this is the Internet so nitpicking is a legal requirement).

Like ezee I was really, really impressed by the facial animations. When Nariko's expressing pained emotion (she does that a lot) the look on her face is scarily realistic and exceptionally well done. The motion capture and voice acting is very good too. I'm already a big Kai fan

And I also have to agree with him on the sixaxis aftertouch system - it's bloody awful and I spent ages grappling with it. It could be my penchant for not liking the PS3 motion control but I really couldn't get on with it here at all. In the end I just turned it off and went back to stick control and before you could say "Twing Twang!" I was sticking arrows through peoples heads and dropping cannon balls on groups of enemies.

The combat - hmm, well it's definitely more of a button masher than anything else right now (kind of like God Of War was from start to finish). If you've played the demo then you know how it plays.

It's restrictive right at the start as you don't have the Heavenly Sword so if you're used to the demo and styles then the opening might feel a little lacking. Naturally it opens up a bit afterwards but it is possible to just slam away and take people down left right and centre. That said the tutorial implies there's more to it in terms of enemies stances, their attacks and blocks. But at this early stage they're pretty much just using the speed attack which is you standard stance to block.

I'm definitely having some problems though. I have no idea why but it seems to be juddering, almost like it's caching something to the hard drive or reading the disc (even when it doesn't appear to be). Anyone else getting this or know why?

edit: having read around it seems that could actually just be the game caching. Blerk!

[chopemon]

I'm really enjoying this (only just completed Chapter 1) and can't wait to cut some more fools up.

I haven't got anything more to say at the moment because Spatial and Ezee have already said it.

It's a great game and really worth picking up if you have a PS3.

[watusi]

I'm really enjoying this (only just completed Chapter 1) and can't wait to cut some more fools up.

I haven't got anything more to say at the moment because Spatial and Ezee have already said it.

It's a great game and really worth picking up if you have a PS3.

What he said, played the first chapter and loved every minute of it. Doesn't bother that its a short game as i've too much to play anyway!!

[Dazzyman]

Well Ive got this and Paper Mario on trade for ?2 after digging a load of old stuff I never use out of the cupboard and sending the parents off to Scarborough for us (hope yet of Stranglehold for ?10 with Dirt praying now on their way back hehe). I cant whinge for ?2 as I would never have played the games I found again so Im going to kane this tonight and have no thoughts on it one way or the other beforehand (I did actually really enjoy the demo even if it was abit laggy but the short thing is what has put me off paying full whack for it as Ive got ?800 of games to buy to Christmas and cannot afford this with it!). I do usually find though when Im not that bothered about something beforehand I enjoy it more (ie Bluedragon impulse purchase = OMG soiling time).

[Revolution6000]

Cancelled my US pre-order a few weeks back as I didn't really have the money for it, but after a pretty crap week, decided I needed something to cheer myself up with.

Now where to start, the game looks good but seems to run pretty much at the same FPS regardless of what is going on. Now that sounds like a good thing, unfortunately the game seems slow whether you have three people on screen of three hundred. It's never bad to make you want to put down the controller and give up on the game, but still for the length of the game, and generally the supposed power of the PS3 it's a little annoying.

I'd imagine the game took me around 6-7 hours to finish, might of been less, and it's pretty much the easiest game you'll play all year until the final boss. You can pretty much just button mash, or just sit back and counter everything, the game only rewards you with the tokens that are mainly used for artwork. The 'puzzles' are pretty much insulting, it's generally throw this shield at the gong, that's it, not even bouncing it off anything, just throw it at something. And everything you need to interact with has the usual sheen to it, and seriously, and I got sick of this in GoW2, stop making me mash a button just to open a door.

I really wish they had went down the GoW2 route when you finish the game and really reward you, now the artwork is pretty cool, it's not really a good enough incentive to go back and finish the levels with full tokens. Finishing the game does unlock Hell Mode, not bothered to check out what it changes though.

Cutscenes are amazing, and I love how over the top and crazy everything is, and the acting/lip-synch is just insane. Hopefully we'll start to see more games with these sorts of scenes.

Oh dear, the motion controls? Seriously, please stop using them, make them stop! There is no way to calibrate/configure the Six Axis so the sections that require heavy use of it become incredibly frustrating. I turned it off, and they became one of my fav. parts of the game nothing like guiding an arrow into someones face/arse.

Supposed to be part of a triology so they have a pretty good base to work with, just need to make the game another 4-5 hours longer, make the combat a little deeper and maybe not so button mashery, and please fix the framerate/caching whatever makes the gun feel slow at times.

I did enjoy the game, even though I pretty much pointed out the flaws, it's a very solid game to play if you have PS3, I wouldn't run out and get a PS3 just to play it though, def give it a rent if you don't want to spend ?30 or so on a six hour game.

[suicidepirate]

just need to make the game another 4-5 hours longer

Care to explain why? I understand your other criticisms and agree with most of them; i just don't see how making the game longer would address any of them...?

I don't understand everyones passion for long(er) games; and it annoys me to see it always raised as a criticism (particularly when the game is decent or great... the game's i've most heard the charge levelled at are Ico and Rez - two great games imo). I quite like an experience that I can finish in one long sitting (assuming the experience is enjoyable); not that i think about the gaming experience in those terms - i.e completing it in one sitting. Perhaps that's the problem, maybe the people who have this issue with shorter games are not really playing it for the experience but playing it to simply get through as quick as.

I suppose it's a valid point to raise for RPGs, that's a slightly different kettle of fish; but really in other types of games I don't see the point in making a game 15 hours long if it doesn't require it and having played Heavenly Sword to completion I feel they dealt with everything economically and without any of the unnecessary padding that goes on in many games (same with Gears of War, which a lot of people also complained about re: length). It's fine to want to play more of a game you like; but to expect something to be a certain length and dismiss/criticise it for not meeting your pre-purchase requirements (...presumable because people equate ?35-40 with "a solid 15 hours of game play" or something) seems a tad unreasonable.

Odd thing is it seems to be a malaise affecting other industries: films too of late have become overlong borefests, even when they're good! Pirates of the Caribbean is a good example - good film but just too damn long. It's as though games-makers (and film-makers) feel pressured by the price-tag to artifically make games longer, which in the world of games means lazy level design as designers are forced to include more content (i.e. pointless sub-quests and backtracking through levels being the result most of the time). It's a viscious cycle and I hope it stops.

Anyway, back on topic - thought the game was good; slightly disappointing that the cutscenes, as magnificent as they were, were let down by some tearing issues and loss of detail in the background during parts. I actually thought the combat was quite deep and I imagine in Hell mode it becomes much more tactical in regards to using the stance-blocking and countering. I agree that the puzzle elements were quite weak and spread too thinly, but i could forgive it that since it is primarily meant to be an action game. Similarly the odd yet suddent dips in frame rate were too frequent and a shame. Music, voice acting and mo-cap were of course great, and I have to admit I had a lump in my throat at the ending . All in all a good experience, though one tinged with disappointment at the knowledge that some more development time could have helped resolve the flaws mentioned and raised it to a higher poilished state.

[Daragon]

I think what most games companies need to start doing, is to produce the 5-10 hour game (rpgs aside) yet create reasons to return to the game. Perhaps experiencing it as a different character on your next playthrough (but then you'd need new cutscenes so I'm not too sure on that one). Unlocking new weapons to use (resistance employed this tactic, but stupidly spaced the weapons too far apart) or some meaty bonus content such as extensive videos.

Those animated episodes of HS on the PS store were quite well done I thought, a proper feature length animation unlockable would have been nice for the game though.

So the problem isn't the length of the game itself, it's the fact that there's little reason to go back to it after you're done, apart from an extra difficulty mode. The problem there, is that the difficulty doesn't change the core game, it just means you die alot more.

[John Beaulieu]

Pirates of the Caribbean is nearly 3 hours long - and you pay ?6-?7 quid to watch it ... Heavenly Sword is 2 hours longer - I am sure you can see why someone is complaining about the length of the game

[fishbowlhead]

No complaints from me about the game, and im usually the first to have a good moan.

I loved every minuite of it, combat is good, graphics are the best ive seen so far, and the cutscenes are so good its like being rewarded every time you see one. Ki is now my favorit character in a game so far as well. Oh and the presentation on the menus is fantastic as well.

I think this game has taken a completly needless bashing by pretty much everyone, theres just no need for it, especially when such love and atention has gone in to it and i see ****e like the darkness getting pretty much universal praise (just as an example of course).


So anyway if your on the fence about bying it just take a risk and go for it, you wont be dissapointed.

[John Beaulieu]

Rent it and you won't be disappointed - buy it and you might...

[Jebus]

I really don't see length as a valid criticism to be honest. Nobody forces anyone to buy a game or go to a long movie. They are two different mediums anyway and this is why reviews exist. Fine, it's short, but I don't think that's a reason to mark it down. If it controls like ****, looks like **** and feels like ****, fair enough, that's a valid criticism in my book and reason enough to mark a game down but length...I'm not sure I can agree with that.

I'm quite partial to a shorter game now and again, sometimes we get bogged down with games that you can really tell they've shoehorned another few hours into it because of some irritating fetch quest or backtracking. Even BioShock suffered from it with the fetch quests which really slowed the game up needlessley.

If this game has none of that, I might be tempted at a later date. Sure, it's short, but not everything has to be an epic Final Fantasy 70 hour-er.

[venom743]

I've been playing this for two days and I still haven't finished it because I'm playing through the same section (before the first boss fight) over and over learning/adapting to the combat mechanics. I don't want to rush through it and play it like a regular button masher as I'm sure that's not how it's supposed to be played. The combo system doesn't compare to DMC or Ninja Gaiden but has some depth that's worth experimenting with. Any action game with a half decent combo system deserves to be played through multiple times, but I guess not all gamers feel the same. The way I see it, if you've finished it, think it's too short, and don't plan on going back to it, why not sell it? You might lose a few quid, but you'll have ended up paying the price to see a film!