Scoffed at HS when it first came out because of its apparent shortness. Well it's been out for years and is quite cheap now. Do you guys recommend I play it? Also, is the combat similar enough to Enslaved?

No don't bother.

The combat is quite different from Enslaved. It's really not as bad as people make it sound to be, though. And it's very much worth the price it can be found at these days. Just don't expect it to prepare you much in the way for Enslaved - except maybe for its amazing production values.

 It depends. Do you like sixaxis related gameplay?  Some of it is cool, but I know most people kinda hate it.

Play it for the story and characters, not for the combat.

I found several of the missions almost impossible because of how sloppy the controls are

The games are barely comparable imo, Heavenly Sword is a perfectly fine game with a great story, but the gameplay lets it down a little sometimes, from what I've seen and played of Enslaved, it combines brilliant gameplay with a brilliant story so I'm just gonna wait for that. Just play the demo over and over, it's awesome.

I'm in the minority that really really enjoyed Heavenly Sword. Kai was among one of the most memorable characters in any series, and the action was fun. The story was kind of goofy at times, but it had a charm to it. I still have it in my collection when I've traded off a lot of other "critical darling" titles, and there is a reason for it.  
 
That said, I've played the demo for Enslaved, and I really liked it. It doesn't have too much in common with Heavenly Sword aside from the quality of the facial animations.

"  It depends. Do you like sixaxis related gameplay?  Some of it is cool, but I know most people kinda hate it. "

Enslaved was alright.  I played the demo last night and it didn't really grab me, didn't make me say "OMG that is so awesome"....but I'm more excited for fable 3.

you could just monkey around

They're not really comparable games, but I really enjoyed Heavenly Sword. If you haven't played it give it a shot. 

Definitely pick up Heavenly Sword. You'll get used to the combat and the way it uses the sixaxis is pretty damn good. One thing to also look at is the cut scenes. I don't know how they do it, but you can literally see all the different expressions each character makes. It's incredible. The only reason people usually hate on it is because it's short. When it first came out, I paid the full price for it because the way the game plays justifies the purchase for me.

It's really just short and not great.  but not great isn't a bad thing.

" @DXmagma:  I agree , that was the best part!  It's just that I know it's not everyone's cup-o-tea, specially since it's  been branded as failed tech.  "

I wasn't a fan of the gameplay. The sixaxis parts were horrible and the rest of the game was nothing special. Great story and graphics.

i liked it :) played at a mates for like 2 hours when they has passed out  
i had fun though from what i rember 

it seemed like the combat was out of God of war. Enslaved looks different then Sword

You should play Heavenly Sword just for the cutscenes with the main bad guy.  He's the most overacted character I've ever seen in anything.  It really is something that must be seen.

Sure. HS was an excellent game. The last boss is a SoB tho.

It's worth it just for the cannon sequence.