We all have those games that we miss the first time around. With the busy release schedule of modern gaming, no one has time to play everything. That is why we at WingDamage present to you “Fashionably Late Reviews“. This is our series on games from the current generation of consoles that we may have missed on their initial release, but have gone back to experience now.

“Heavenly Sword” has just about everything wanted in a launch title. Though the reviews from the big names only pegged it as “Decent”. From my admittedly average gamer’s point of view, this game was surprisingly awesome.

Even on a standard definition television, the graphics are gorgeous. I am especially impressed by character expressions. Little nuances that make dialogue and character development more believable, lifelike and compelling. I’m sure we’ve all played games where the camera zooms in on a character’s intense expression in order to indicate “It’s on now” and we’re left sitting, waiting for some kind of change, that is never quite as fulfilling as we want.

Another often overlooked aspect that really contributes to the story is the voice acting. “Heavenly Sword” takes place in what appears to be an amalgamation of Eastern Asian countries, yet everyone speaks with a vaguely British accent. At least those are well done. Both Nariko, the heroine, and Bohan, the villain are brilliantly played out, with no cringe-worthy cutscenese dragging down the game.

The gameplay is smooth, intuitive, familiar and yet still innovative. All the talk of this being “God of War” with a chick? Completely true. You dual-wield two swords which can be utilized in one of three modes: Ranged, Normal and Heavy.

Ranged has you swinging the Heavenly Sword and its mate on chains just like the Chaos Blades. Like God of War, the real trick to combat is stringing together long lines of combo attacks. Not just because it looks wicked, but because you unlock new abilities, artwork and special features by doing so. Movement also has some clever moments with timed-button presses that allow Nariko to perform crazy acrobatics in order to scale walls, fall down a mountain and in general, look like raw pwnage.

Also like God of War, there is a focus on puzzle-solving to move past an area. These frequently utilize the most rewarding, yet frustrating feature of the game, “AfterTouch” controls. AfterTouch allows the player to slow down time and control where a thrown or shot projectile goes by using the motion sensor in the PS3 controller itself. The one drawback is that I frequently had to keep my arms raised to get the angles right, which was very tiring when the level requires you continue firing arrows for a good twenty minutes.

However, the game takes full advantage of this system, whether it is firing cannons, throwing shields or just about any object on the ground…turning a stool chair into a lethal weapon. The core fighting is still done with your blades and like all good hack-and-slash titles, this one delivers fast-paced action with brutal graphics, though little blood.

The story doesn’t hold too many mysteries. Nariko, cursed with a sword that will drain the life-force from her in exchange for its power, seeks vengeance on Bohan, a suspiciously Crusader-like King who seeks to subvert her clan along with all the others of the Land. Between his freakish generals (the snakelike Whiptail, the creepy Flying Fox and Bohan’s unfortunate son, Roach) and his seemingly endless horde of soldiers, Nariko has her bloody hands full. The strength of the story rests in how seamlessly the game moves from full motion cutscene to normal gameplay to minigame to in-game cutscene and back again.

“Heavenly Sword” may not have brought anything significantly new to the table. It is Dynasty Warriors meets God of War with a prettier, sassier protagonist. But what it does accomplish is take familiar characteristics and revamp them for the next generation of consoles. The graphics and gameplay it boasts could not have been done on a Playstation 2, thus allowing it to showcase some new features while taking advantage of a tried formula of melee-and-puzzle fun.

I would suggest a one-day rental. If after the first hour or so you’re not convinced you want to buy this game, the next four hours will not change your mind. If you like what you see though, the replay value is sufficiently high to warrant shelling out for your own copy.

Tags: 3rd Person, action, AfterTouch, exclusive, Fashionably Late Reviews, God of War, Hack and Slash, Heavenly Sword, motion controls, ps3, sixaxis, voice acting

This entry was posted on Friday, August 7th, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.