Heavenly Sword

Heavenly Sword has been a long time coming, teasing us with promises of a luscious game, amazing graphics, atmospheric music and a compelling story. It manages to fulfill this quota but also manages to be fundamentally broken. Blasphemy, I know, given the game’s exalted status as the reason to purchase a PS3. Unfortunately, Nariko’s adventures feel a little too much Onimusha and not enough God of War.

Nariko wields a sacred blade known as the Heavenly Sword which will sap the life out of any mortal who uses it. Accepting of her demise, Nariko’s only desire is to destroy the evil King Bohan before the blade takes her life. The blade has three styles of attack which allow Nariko to devastate enemies, all of which give players an opportunity to mash buttons.

The setting is a beautiful world that seems to mix everything from Hindu temples to streets lined with sakura blossom trees. This is also reflected in the gorgeous soundtrack that blends aspects from various parts of the world, from Japan to deepest India. There’s no denying that Heavenly Sword is beautiful, the graphics and facial animations are completely mind-blowing but this doesn’t completely detract from fundamental issues – nay flaws – with its design.

For starters, much like Onimusha, Nariko is limited in where she can go, guided by invisible boundaries and annoying camera controls. She can throw enemies off cliffs but is prevented from stepping off herself. Even worse, important actions are triggered by pressing the appropriate button, normally X, while the game also uses combo sections where you must press the right sequence at the right time in order to survive. This is an unfortunate trend in modern gaming which is overused. The final nail in the coffin is the complete and utter lack of a jump button, an almost impossible thing to conceive in this day and age and which makes boss fights more difficult than they should be.

They are difficult, almost impossibly so. Take Whiptail, a siren-like mistress of water. In terms of fighting, this encounter is one of the hardest but it’s also the most graphically lacking in the game. Nariko must get in close to attack but Whiptail sends devastating – and badly animated — waves as long range attacks. Due to a lack of jumping ability, timing must be exact for Nariko to block using her blade. Even worse, Whiptail’s health periodically replenishes and there are no chests to crack open or any method of restoring your own health. If death doesn’t immediately take you, the fight soon becomes impossibly long with the odds heavily stacked against you.

Almost as an afterthought, there is some utilisation of the SIXAXIS controller in completing puzzles, although it does work rather well once you get the knack. A prime example is having to throw a disc, Frisbee-like, off various obstacles until you hit the target. The first person view really assists in completing what would otherwise be an irritating exercise.

Playing Heavenly Sword, it’s nigh on impossible not to want to give it a high score just for the stunning graphics, compelling storyline, acting, music and facial animations. If games were judged only by these factors, it would be our game of the year. Sadly, life just isn’t like that and Heavenly Sword will ultimately disappoint many who have been waiting with baited breath for it’s long overdue release.