More than just the Goddess of War
Much has been said about Ninja Theory's action-adventure starring the fiery red-head Nariko. Called a shameless God of War clone with roots going back to the days of the original XBox and reviews both amazingly positive and crushingly mediocre, Heavenly Sword has had a hard stand leading up to its release.
The title's namesake, a powerful blade once wielded by a celestial hero and now guarded by a warrior tribe awaiting the foretold rebirth of said hero is the object of King Bohan's desire. You play as the aforementioned beauty Nariko, a member of the sword keepers who are relentlessly hunted by Bohan's enormous army. When her father is captured by the malicious tyrant, she sees no other choice than to wield the legendary blade herself, well-knowing that any mortal carrying it into battle will inevitably be devoured by the sword's lust for blood.
The story remains entertaining throughout the game which is mostly a testimony to the great dialog and charismatic characters coupled with a fantastic presentation similar to movies like Hero. However, one can't help but think that some elements, more specifically Bohan's crow ally, could have been more fleshed out and might have actually been kept in the dark for a possible sequel.
The Heavenly Sword is actually two separate blades though, as Nariko has the choice between three different stances. Per default, she'll be using the speed stance allowing her to trade quick blows, while the power stance merges the two blades into one colossal zweihander for great amounts of damage at the cost of agility. Lastly, the range stance attaches the two blades onto long chains reaching farther off enemies and excellent for mowing down her immediate surroundings at the expense of all blocking capabilities.
Incidentally, blocking is performed automatically, given you're in the stance your attacker is currently using. This is signaled by a short, colored flash around attacking enemies, of which there usually are about a dozen, carefully circling our heroine, waiting for the opportune moment. While most enemies will stick to the default speed stance early on, later parts of the game can get rather hectic with different enemies attacking at the same time with various attacks, demanding a great deal of careful attention and reflexes.
More demanding than the common grunt enemies are the few but lengthy boss battles, each of which demands a fair amount of strategy as you use Nariko's stances to counter their hard-hitting special attacks. At certain points during boss battles and sometimes while traversing terrain, you're forced into timed button pressing sequences similar to games like Shenmue or God of War, which are noticeably more difficult, but often result in rewarding cinematics as Nariko wears her enemies down.
You'll not be fighting solely as Nariko however, her emotionally scarred sister Kai gets some play-time as well. Her parts play vastly different from Nariko's as the nimble Kai is equipped with only an automated crossbow and not trained in any melee combat, so you'll always want to keep a save distance between her and her targets. Although some of her sequences tend to drag on a bit, Kai is certainly a welcomed diversion and her quirky character and funny monologues make her a joy to play.
Like all projectiles in the game, notably the sparsely available rocket launcher and just about any debris or weapon on the ground, Kai's bolts can be steered via after-touch using the Sixaxis' tilty-support. This technique incidentally works quite well after a few tries and if you feel uncomfortable with it, there's always the option to turn it off. There are even a couple of environmental puzzles requiring precise throws, however they are usually not overly complicated and few and far between.
Simply by looking at a couple of pictures, it quickly becomes apparent that the game looks marvelously, thanks to not only the stunning art design but also great technical proficiency. The most outstanding features are the incredible facial animations throughout the game, used to give every character the kind of expressiveness other games are lacking. This becomes apparent during the many cutscenes done with professional actors and directed by motion-capture-experienced actor Andy Serkis, who played Golum and King Kong. The environments are similarly charming in their architecture and the graphics engine is capable of handling hundreds of enemies on screen fairly well. It's of notice however that the frame rate feels constantly slow, not to the extend of unplayability, but it's definitely noticeable. The audio in the game is just as fantastic as the visuals, featuring razor-sharp dialog coupled with fantastic acting. And while the plot is certainly sinister and dark, you can't help but giggle when Kai threatens a soldier to hit his weak point for massive damage. The entire soundtrack is just as outstanding with an orchestral score accompanying the action-packed adventure.
Even with all that praise though, Heavenly Sword's weakness is its disappointingly short length. An experienced player can finish the game within 6-7 hours and while there are a ton of unlockable extras as well as a harder difficulty mode once you finished Nariko's vengeance tour, it's hard to justify the full price. However, the production values are certainly there and the game is a fantastic experience from start to finish. One can only wonder what might have been, if the experience lasted just a bit longer...
