Ninja Theory has spent a many years in
development creating one of the PS3's most-anticipated launch titles,
Heavenly Sword. First spotted several years ago at the PS3's infamous E3
press conference unveiling, the game has suffered seemingly endless delays
and while it's not quite perfect, Heavenly Sword has definitely been worth
the wait. The ambitious title attempts to create a synthesis of
action-gaming and cinematic production values, and largely succeeds
despite some mis-steps along the way. The epic quest follows the
adventurer Nariko as she tries to protect the Heavenly Sword from the grip
of the evil King Bolan. Along the way, she encounters hundreds of soldiers
in her path along with a few daunting boss battles. The game unfolds in a
linear fashion with a series of arena-style battles against multiple
opponents, which are punctuated by extensive cinematic sequences and
mini-games which help to break up the unrelenting action. Heavenly Sword
takes place in a series of beautifully rendered proto-Asian environments
replete with elaborate fortresses, lush forests and other locations. At
the start of her quest, Nariko only has a standard sword to use, but gains
possession of the Heavenly Sword itself early on. Once she has this
powerful, holy weapon she can perform a variety of attacks.
There
are three different basic stances to use, which players can access
instantly using the shift buttons. The first of these are Nariko's
standard attacks which she can use to take out enemies nearby and cause
substantial damage. She can also switch to a ranged attack, which doesn't
cause as much damage to foes but allows her to keep a safe distance from
her enemies. Finally, Nariko can use the Power Stance to inflict a
devastating attack at close range, which significantly damages any enemies
nearby. When she builds up enough glypths, Nariko can also perform special
power moves that inflict an unblockable and usually fatal amount of damage
on a nearby opponent. This is an excellent system that allows players to
balance attacks and use the Heavenly Sword's different abilities
effectively during these intense combat sequences. Since she usually has
to dispatch more than one opponent at the same time, Nariko has to time
and use her attacks to defeat as many opponents as possible without
leaving herself vulnerable to their attacks. The game is fairly easy to
play in these sequences, and most players should have very little getting
the hang of things, especially when you consider the on-screen tutorials
which give you the basics as you play through in a simple manner.
These standard fighting scenes comprise
the majority of Heavenly Sword's gameplay and are highly polished and
entertaining. Most of the enemies aren't that difficult to beat in
isolation, but the fact that they attack in numbers makes them more
challenging. Luckily, there are usually several vases in each level that
offer a full health recharge when broken, which means you won't have to
spend a lot of time backtracking. There are also frequent save points,
which should further help your progression through Heavenly Sword.
Additionally, there are several cinematic sequences when Nariko has to use
other techniques to progress through a level. These can involve firing a
cannon, shooting arrows at attacking forced or shooting a bazooka-type
weapon. During these sequences, players switch to a first person
perspective and can affect the trajectory of objects by using either the
Sixaxis controller or standard d-pad maneuvers. This gives the player a
cool ability like aftertouch that allows you to guide the projectiles to
your targets in a cool and visceral way unlike many other games on the
market. Heavenly Sword also has several puzzle sections where you have to
throw and guide metal hats at gongs and perform elaborate multi-objective
acts in order to unlock doors or gates, which helps to further immerse
players into the action. The developers have done an excellent job of
mixing these different types of gameplay into one title and the
transitions make for a relatively seamless experience, though you are
fairly constrained in your actions overall.
Sadly, this is where some significant
problems emerge with the design during the course of play that detract
from the overall experience to a large degree. This is especially true in
Heavenly Sword's cinematic action sequences, where you are reduced to
pressing buttons in sequence while Nariko does the rest. For example, when
you are using the chains on her sword to swing and scale up the sides of
buildings, you are not in direct control of Nariko, instead a series of
buttons to press are displayed and you must hit them in time or return to
the beginning of the sequence. This can be quite annoying and it helps to
take you out of the action to some degree, and reduces the players into a
near spectator. This is they kind of context sensitive action seen in God
of War, and while the execution is similar, it feels more annoying than
anything else, like the developers were taking a short cut instead of
implementing actual controls. This makes the game easier to play, but also
reduces the challenge significantly which is disappointing considering the
high-quality the rest of the game brings to the table.
These context sensitive controls and the
shooting mini-games make the endless swordplay somewhat less monotonous,
but the trade-off comes with a reduction in the game's flow which makes
for a choppy and somewhat disorienting design where you never know what's
coming next. This inconsistency comes into sharper focus during the game's
elaborate boss battles, where the distracting taunts of your opponents and
frequent shift in perspective make them much more complicated than they
need to be. The changes in camera perspective when you use one of Nariko's
special moves are also annoying and feel out of place next to the standard
attacks. There are also some cinematic sequences that attempt to be funny,
but end up falling flat - some of the more over-the-top dialogue and jokes
attempt to lighten the mood, but don't really fall into place. Finally,
the sequences with Nariko's half-sister Kai feel like they've been tacked
on and don't really engage the player nearly as well as the main
adventure, making this attempt at comic relief feel really hackneyed and
obnoxious at time. However, these levels are only a small fraction of the
game and once you look past these problems, there are many aspects of
Heavenly Sword that deserve praise which more than counter-balances the
parts of the game that don't work.
Many
attempts have been made to create a cross-pollination between Hollywood
and Silicon Valley over the past few years, and most have fallen short of
their goals. However, Heavenly Sword is one of the few titles where the
production values actually live up to its ambitions. It doesn't hurt that
the developers enlisted the aid of Andy Serkis from Lord of the Rings to
play some of the lead characters, including King Borat. The use of motion
capturing on the facial expressions for all the characters in the game
gives them a remarkable range of emotion, giving them more depth and
believability than you'd typically find in most games. The facial
close-ups, where you can see every pore of the characters' skins is
particularly impressive and makes Heavenly Sword's cinematic sequences
feel every bit as elaborate and punchy as an actual movie. The highly
polished production values extend to the in-game sequences as well, with
Nariko herself displaying fluid animation and movement while she performs
her acrobatic and elaborate attacks. Heavenly Sword's dialogue is
excellently acted throughout for the most part, though some of the
over-acting on the part of the king and his minions can be annoying.
Still, there is a definite high-quality to the game overall which is no
doubt due to the professional, highly talented actors enlisted for the
experience. Rounding out the game is its excellent orchestral soundtrack
that mixes western and eastern sounds, with some memorable results. It
compliments Heavenly Sword's epic feel and scale during battle and sets
the mood effectively while the slower cinematic sequences unfold.
While there are plenty of issues which
can be seen as annoying during the course of the game, Heavenly Sword
largely ignores many of the pitfalls that occur when developers
over-reach. Unfortunately, there are a few major problems that Heavenly
Sword can't overcome. The game is a bit too linear, which hurts its replay
value and it's overall level of difficulty isn't as high as you'd expect
it to be meaning that a good player will be able to get through most areas
of the game quickly without much effort. It doesn't help that you can get
through several sequences with button mashing, which is annoying and the
lack of challenge in the quicktime events is an unfortunate byproduct of
trying to appeal to a mass audience. Despite these predicaments, Heavenly
Sword is still an impressive technical accomplishment, with a sense of
scale and drama most games don't even attempt. The main character is
attractive and sympathetic, despite her bloody quest and the supporting
characters are also interesting. The gameplay itself is interesting and
offers some diversity in its mix of action, strategy and puzzle elements,
though this isn't always executed as flawlessly as you would like. In the
end, Heavenly Sword's fantastic production values, immersive storyline and
occasionally breathtaking battles are superb and should be more than
enough to keep players satisfied and thrilled for its duration.
- Michael Palisano
Grade:
B-
