Not so Heavenly!
You take on soldiers and bosses in hack and slash style by using two weapons and performing a series of attacks. The attacking methods vary from power stance to speed stance to range stance. By using the heavenly sword, you are able to fight in power stance mode which allows you to inflict a massive damage to enemies, but it slows Nariko's movement due it being heavy to carry. The heavenly sword also uses range stance mode, where the sword splits into two long chains which can hit enemies who are far yet inflict weaker damage. The speed stance mode is activated by simply using the standard sword Nariko usually wields. Nariko also fights enemies using bazookas, cannons and objects she picks up such as fallen enemies' bodies, knives and shields.
In HS, there's only one kind of puzzle which is repeated throughout game, and that is picking up an object and throwing it somewhere to unlock a gate in first person view mode. Controlling flying objects could be either done by after touch, which requires you to move the controller so that the object moves towards the direction you want, or by using the left analog stick.
Though eighty percent of the game-play is about killing masses of soldiers with the three sword techniques or firing missiles and projectiles, don't think that all baddies will be gone just by hammering one button. Some of the baddies including main baddies such as Bohan can only be killed by following a certain strategy. Most enemies in the game are programmed according to a block, counter-attack and attack system where they'll be surrounded by a colorful lighting which indicates their next move, as each color shows whether they were about to attack or counter-attack or block your attacks. I find it shameful that Nariko uses auto blocking system as a way to avoid enemies' hits when baddies are given more options in battles, for she won't be able to block all the attacks when she's killing that many of soldiers which makes killing thousands of enemies rather frustrating.
HS also has QTE sequences which are used as a finishing move when killing main baddies and also used for a quick transportation between locations. The environments aren't destructible but you can always take advantage of the barrels, tables and wagons around to hit enemies, as well as jars which are essential for healing.
HS introduces another playable character named Kai, whose mission is to help Nariko protect the sword all the way through fighting soldiers in archer's style. With a crossbow in hand, Kai can knock down enemies with a single arrow shot from her bow to their bodies from a far range in FP mode. Despite using a bow and an arrow, she can't hit enemies from a close range and all she can do is jump over them to avoid being hit and stun them for a moment.
The game has astounding visuals. For the first time in a videogame, you'll be able to see the characters acting on screen. I'm not talking about voice acting. What I mean is characters performing and conveying their inner feelings and emotions via dramatic facial expressions, lip syncing and body language. Nariko, Bohan, Kai and every character you meet are beautifully animated and detailed with motion capturing technology. Aside from their appearance, the voice acting is also superb. With Andy Serkis directing the scenes, watching HS cut-scenes truly feels as if you were watching a high production value movie. Even though Ninja Theory did a magnificent job telling a simple story in an epic presentation, Heavenly Sword still feels like a bad gift in a nice wrapping. The story in the game isn't engaging. The characters are flat, shallow and introduced in jocular manner. The game's supposedly strong points which are presentation and storyline are weak for there's not much to tell, watch or listen to in the game.
Heavenly Sword didn't only fall short in the diversity and duration of game-play. The story itself was rushed and instead of taking advantage of the huge technical and financial capabilities to come up with a decent and a longer story-line, where each character isn't one dimensional as shown in the game, Ninja Theory thought it was best to leave things as they were. The result to them might have been satisfying but to me, it was disappointing.
The sound work is decent. Voice acting as I mentioned before is something the game is praised for as well as the original score which borrows from many cultures such as Arabic, Chinese and many other regions. While it's nice to hear but I personally think the music of a work should reflect the atmosphere of that work and the main theme didn't. It seemed to me that the art director was clueless about what fits the setting of Heavenly Sword and what doesn't.
Overall, Heavenly Sword is a game which some might enjoy and others will detest but it'll mostly be remembered for having so much potential to be one of the greatest games yet it didn't deliver.