Heavenly Sword

Is Sony's latest big game PS3's killer app?

	Version PS3	Developer Ninja Theory	Publisher SCE	Genre Action

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As you play through the game and earn tokens for completing subsections you'll unlock more and more moves (and movies and artwork too). Stringing them together is fun but the combat doesn't feel as nuanced as that in the God of War games. The counter system is, however, spot on and lets you repel attacks no matter what stance your enemies are in as long as you're standing likewise. Learning how to counter is one of the most important parts of the game.

It's the curse of the action genre that it's all too easy for combat to devolve into button mashing, but here the enemies keep you in check. They're varied enough in their character and their placement through the game that it helps if you quickly figure out the best way to take care of each of them. And by the time you get to the handful of boss characters you'll have an arsenal of hurt ready to hand out.

Where the game started to fall apart for me was in the numerous projectile stages. At various points throughout the game you'll be able to throw objects at enemies. Playing as Nariko, you'll need to fire cannonballs to take out Bohan's catapults. You can control the flight of the cannonball in the air using the Sixaxis' tilt sensors to hit conspicuous targets on the vehicles. There are also a few times when you'll play not as Nariko but as clan mate Kai, shooting her bow and arrow.

I found these missions frustrating and it took me a long time to master the tilt controls. That meant I had to repeat some missions over and over - much more often than the straight action scenes. Had it not been for the handful of missions where you're forced to use these controls (you can use them when you want but sometimes you have to) I would have finished the game not in the eight-or-so hours it took me but somewhere closer to five instead. I'm not making a case for overly short games, but it seems to me that Ninja Theory has relied on this belaboured mechanic to extend what is a brief experience.

That brings up issues of value that Heavenly Sword is ill equipped to deal with. Is eight hours of gameplay enough for you, keeping in mind that there isn't all that much incentive to play through the game again and there are no other modes to speak of, apart from a higher difficulty setting? I'm not much bothered by short games as long as they feel as if they last as long as they should, but the projectile missions made this game feel artificially extended.

Heavenly Sword, then, is not the game that's going to make most people rush out to buy a PlayStation 3. The combat is fun and Andy Serkis makes the story come alive, but the game is short and some scenes really tested my perseverance. Still, the PlayStation 3 is hurting for good software and that alone means that it's worth overlooking some of the game's flaws.

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