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Review: Heavenly Sword (PS3)
Mar. 7th, 2009 04:58 pmI know some of my past reviews have been pretty critical, but I’m happy to break the trend with Heavenly Sword for the PS3. It really is that good. The production values are excellent, the writing is strong, and the action is fun.
Here’s the story (and one of my quibbles is that the intro movies are either unlockable after you start playing or viewable on the computer, so you’re dropped in the middle of the story with no clue why this sword is so important or why people keep calling Nariko an abomination. I know she’s a ginger, but that’s a bit much): Our redheaded heroine Nariko is part of the Vaguely Asiatic Tribe, who are sworn to defend the titular sword from those who would use its power for evil, like King Bohan of the Vaguely British Empire. This guy’s GF is a fish and his kid’s the Blob, so you know giving him a magic sword isn’t going to poll well.
Nariko was prophesied to weld the Heavenly Sword to bring about Utopia, or Sean Penn’s idea of pre-invasion Iraq, same difference. Finding out “The One” is really “The One With Ovaries” was seen as the worst gender-bender since The Crying Game. So now Nariko (played by the girl from Fringe, only with a personality) and her hetero life partner Kya – think Delirium with a crossbow – are all that stands between Bohan (a scene-stealing Andy Serkis) and the Heavenly Sword, which is itself more than it seems.
Gameplay-wise, it’s your standard God of War clone. I liked the story better than GOW though, because I can sympathize better with Nariko than Angry McPsychoNoPants. I’ll give GOW the edge when it comes to gameplay because a lot of the enemies in HS have blocks that are impossible to break through unless you use a specific combo. Why can’t I just use the power stance? Some WMD I’ve got, when it can’t even break a block without three different buttons.
A lot of time, the appeal of ‘cinematic’ games are how they ape real movies. Max Payne and Uncharted are fun, but seeing a movie adaptation would strip away all the interest since you can't pick up a controller and tell Mark Wahlberg what to do. Here, the story is so good and the characters are so sympathetic and well-written, that I’d take it as a book, a movie, a radio play, whatever. Now, it is short, but the pacing is so tight and the gameplay is so constantly intriguing that it satisfies.
Now it was released a couple years ago, so the price has gone down and I think by now it’s well-worth your gaming dollar.
Here’s the story (and one of my quibbles is that the intro movies are either unlockable after you start playing or viewable on the computer, so you’re dropped in the middle of the story with no clue why this sword is so important or why people keep calling Nariko an abomination. I know she’s a ginger, but that’s a bit much): Our redheaded heroine Nariko is part of the Vaguely Asiatic Tribe, who are sworn to defend the titular sword from those who would use its power for evil, like King Bohan of the Vaguely British Empire. This guy’s GF is a fish and his kid’s the Blob, so you know giving him a magic sword isn’t going to poll well.
Nariko was prophesied to weld the Heavenly Sword to bring about Utopia, or Sean Penn’s idea of pre-invasion Iraq, same difference. Finding out “The One” is really “The One With Ovaries” was seen as the worst gender-bender since The Crying Game. So now Nariko (played by the girl from Fringe, only with a personality) and her hetero life partner Kya – think Delirium with a crossbow – are all that stands between Bohan (a scene-stealing Andy Serkis) and the Heavenly Sword, which is itself more than it seems.
Gameplay-wise, it’s your standard God of War clone. I liked the story better than GOW though, because I can sympathize better with Nariko than Angry McPsychoNoPants. I’ll give GOW the edge when it comes to gameplay because a lot of the enemies in HS have blocks that are impossible to break through unless you use a specific combo. Why can’t I just use the power stance? Some WMD I’ve got, when it can’t even break a block without three different buttons.
A lot of time, the appeal of ‘cinematic’ games are how they ape real movies. Max Payne and Uncharted are fun, but seeing a movie adaptation would strip away all the interest since you can't pick up a controller and tell Mark Wahlberg what to do. Here, the story is so good and the characters are so sympathetic and well-written, that I’d take it as a book, a movie, a radio play, whatever. Now, it is short, but the pacing is so tight and the gameplay is so constantly intriguing that it satisfies.
Now it was released a couple years ago, so the price has gone down and I think by now it’s well-worth your gaming dollar.
