Great hack n slash gameplay,with some other creative gameplay elements and beautiful presentation.
I guess you can say the game plays similar to God of War.You can do hack n slash and use special moves/combo attacks against your enemies.There is QTE style segments where you'll need to perform them to kill off bosses(failure to do so will see the boss remain alive and they will regain more health) or when you're climbing or platform jumping(and failure to do them properly can result in you falling to your death).
The story is about an evil king named Bohan and his army who continously attack a kingdom and a woman named 'Nariko' comes into possesion of a weapon a weapon named the 'heavenly sword' and whoever holds it will receive godlike abilities and be capable of destroying entire armies by themselves.There's segments when Nariko will be surrounded by hundreds of enemies and she can take them all on herself and swipe them away as if she's godly.I also like how Nariko can throw enemies around and they become airborne as if she's very powerful.
The story can be a bit emotional at times as you'll become attached to Kai(Nariko's little adopted sister) and there's horrific/sad things that happen in the story.
Other gameplay elements include shooting cannonballs which you guide with the axis and you'll need to hit certain weak spots on some catapults(represented by targets)before the catapults destroy your kingdom.The cannonball sections are challenging and kinda fun but frustrating too because if you fail in your objective(and it's easy to fail your objective if you're not very efficient guiding the cannonballs with the axis)you'll have to redo the ones that you failed again.
There's some segments where you'll use the cannonballs to only kill people and you can blast and hundreds of enemies rushing your base and it's cool to watch many enemies become airborne from the cannonball blasts .
You can control Kai's arrows and use them to take out enemies when they're very far away.There's also a gameplay section that involves protect a certain character using Kai's arrows and guiding them towards enemies before they can kill a certain person.You can guide the arrows long distances using the six axis and you can use this method to kill enemies before they come anywhere near Kai,but you'll need to as well,because Kai is very weak in up close combat.It can be frustrating when only one enemy sneaks past and kills the person Kai is supposed to protect and you'll have to redo a lot of work again.
When you aim with Kai's bow,it's done in First Person view and there's even a light beam that acts like a targeting system for your bow.
The boss battles are challenging,even on the easiest difficulty level and require you to be good at dodging and fast when you button mash special moves.
In Heavenly Sword,there is no levelling up or weapon upgrading.Your combos get upgraded automatically,and I guess it saves you the trouble from having to upgrade multiple things and it prevents you from overpowering your character.
The graphics are beautiful,you'll see things such as breath taking waterfalls,palm trees,beautiful scenery from high altitude.For atmosphere,sometimes the sky will be yellowish color.I like how the buildings and how things such as boats and the pond with the lily pads blends Asian style and Mediterranean style cultures together.
and it looks cool when enemies are swiped aside from Nariko's powerful attacks to show how powerful she is.However I've noticed some slowdown during the battle sections of gameplay.The cutscenes are very detailed and colorful.You see lots of detail in skin texture,facial expressions and everything looks very smooth and you see Nariko's long,flowing red hair.The FMV sequences are great and make the presentation more enjoyable.
There's some beautiful cinematics in the game too.
The music is beautiful and suits the mood of what's happening in the story.
Overall this is a great hack n slash game and despite it's short length,every PS3 owner who likes action games should give it a try.