Nariko and her quest for vengeance are, quite simply, the best reason to date to buy a PS3.
Storyline and characters are top shelf and brought vividly to life by excellent voice acting, thrilling dialog, and wonderful animations. Action is God of War like in the form of a beautiful redhead. Graphics are stunning and visual presentation is the best yet seen on the PS3. The game makes good use of the Sixaxis controls to add variety and spice to the gameplay. The game ends on a high note, leaving you begging for more.
The Bad:
The game is over too soon. Some of the voices get drowned out by the music at the default settings. Audio fluctuates a bit. Brief and minor stuttering occurs at times during cut scenes. Plenty of things left unexplained to leave room for the sequel.
If you're looking for the signature title for the PS3 then look no further. Heavenly Sword is a visceral thrill ride of a game that takes you through a tumultuous roller coaster ride of emotion and leaves you feeling both satisfied and eager for the next installment at the end.
The game opens with a sequence titled “The Final Battle”. Immediately, you hear Nariko narrating as she explains that she was meant to be born a man, according to the prophecy of the clan. Her being born a woman was taken as an omen of doom. She was considered to be an abomination.
After a couple of minutes of slaughter wherein you dispatch a few dozen of the thousands of soldier grunts without breaking a sweat, you're introduced to the first storyline sequence of the game, and the stage is set. Nariko has chosen to wield the Heavenly Sword, which no mortal was ever meant to wield. To wield it grants incredible power...for a time. And then it grants death to the wielder as a price for that power.
As Nariko lays on the battlefield dying from the sword claiming its payment, you see the insidious Lord Bohan, the main villain of the game, looking on with a mysterious raven behind him. Nariko's soul starts flying skyward and she screams, “Wait!”
And then you see her in a barren looking place, and she begins arguing with someone off camera, pleading to be sent back. The game has begun. You are moved back in time in the story to three days prior, where you now get to act out the events leading up to the opening sequence before you catch up to where the game started. These events will encompass an epic trial that is truly worthy of this highly anticipated title.
Gameplay for Heavenly Sword is one of the many strong points for the title and is divided into three main parts. The first part is combat, with you controlling Nariko, and will feel immediately familiar to anyone who has ever played either of the two God of War games. In fact, it is nearly identical and was likely copied for that very purpose. You have two main attack buttons, the square and the triangle, and will automatically block when you are not attacking. The left analog stick moves you around, and the right analog stick lets you dodge.
In addition, the X button allows you to pick up a very wide variety of objects to throw either at other enemies or at triggers. Last, but not least, you can also unleash devastating counterattacks by blocking and then timing the attack correctly. Once you get the Heavenly Sword, the complexity of the combat increases dramatically from mere button mashing to something a bit more in-depth.
At that point, you are introduced to three different “styles” for using the sword: Range, Speed and Power. Each style has different strengths and weaknesses, and is appropriate for different situations. Range for example, can be used to deflect missile attacks. Enemies will also make use of varying attack styles going forward. So now, it is no longer a matter of just facing the right direction to block incoming attacks. If you're blocking in the speed style, and your opponent attacks in the power style, you're going to get hurt.
Also given when you obtain the Heavenly Sword are the “Super Styles”. These are your finishing moves and must be charged up to use. And believe me, they finish hard. There are three levels of super style moves that you can unlock throughout the game through winning style points through consecutive hits without someone hitting you.
Last but not least is the Sixaxis controls for the combat. Any time you get hit and knocked into the air, if you shake the controller quickly enough, you can recover in mid air by latching onto a nearby enemy, yanking yourself downwards. This puts you back on your feet immediately and stuns the enemy you latch onto. As a bonus, it looks wicked cool. Yeah, I used the phrase “wicked cool”. I went there. Deal with it.
The second form of gameplay the game gives you is when you are called upon to wield either a cannon, a bow, or some other form of ranged weaponry. This is where the Sixaxis controller gets used in a truly meaningful way for the first time in a top-shelf exclusive title for the PS3. By holding down the fire button after you shoot your weapon, you can have the camera go along for a ride on your projectile. Then, by moving the controller, you can guide the projectile to its target. The game refers to this as “after touch” and it is very fun. That's a good thing since you'll use it frequently throughout the game. You can also use this with thrown weapons in combat if you like.
Finally, for a couple of sequences you will control a girl named Kai. Kai is a nimble archer friend of Nariko. She is a bit of a wild child, but someone you will quickly grow attached to since not only is she a great deal of fun to play, but she is also a truly pure, good soul. With Kai, the gameplay is to stay away from enemies, dodging over and around various parts of the scenery to find cover to shoot from. Kai can hit people with her bow to temporarily stun them if they get close and give herself time to get away, but she is absolutely useless in head to head combat.
The graphics on the game range from great, to groundbreaking during some of the more dramatic cut scenes. Perhaps most impressive is how many enemies the game puts on screen without the frame rate protesting. While the main combat graphics are very good, it is during some of the storyline sequences that they truly reach another level. The facial expressions are lifelike and the mouth movements are spot on when someone is talking.
Also worthy of note is the look and feel of the setting itself. Once again like God of War, the game has a tendency to really feel massive. Everything in the background lends the impression that it is a huge world that you are moving around in, and while the game itself is entirely linear and you don't get to go and explore it, the setting feels majestic nonetheless.
One of the few downsides to the game occurs at times during the audio. While the voice acting is impressive, it can at times be difficult to hear what the characters are setting when the actors alter their volume for dramatic effect and the music doesn't go down in volume at the same time. This can be very frustrating because someone like Bohan will be ranting in a loud screech one moment, and then drop down to a whisper and you'll miss something he said unless you've turned down the music significantly. This can be a bit of a recurring problem as the sound of the game goes up and down.
As other reviews have no doubt mentioned, the other main drawback of the game is that it is quite short. It clocks in at around seven hours of playtime without rushing anything. On the plus side, the game is so damned impressive that you'll probably play it at least twice since you unlock a higher difficulty level when you beat it the first time.
I can also understand why the game was so short. The developers of the game were undoubtedly trying to tell a tight, focused, creative story. They sacrificed quantity of game time for quality, and, frankly, I consider that a worthy trade-off. If they had thrown a couple more hours of gametime in just to make it longer, I'm not sure the game would be as intense and focused as it is. Overall, while I am disappointed the game didn't last me longer, I can't say that I feel that I didn't get more than my money's worth for it.
In summary, this game is the first true “must buy” exclusive title for PS3 owners who previously played Ninja Gaiden in one of its prior incarnations. It earns the title masterpiece in my mind, and I would highly recommend it for anyone who doesn't mind spending $60 for a short game.