After getting the crap beat out of me by the Heavenly Sword build that kept crashing -- I think I lost track after three consecutive Mr. Freezes -- I was finally treated to another short and sweet demo of a game that easily could pass as the sexy girl version of God of War for the next generation.
Just about every aspect of this game screams God of War -- whether it be the controls, fixed camera or timed-button presses; the lead character just doesn't have a penis this time, unless she's one of those. But, would you complain about another chocolate bar trying to be like Hershey or any other quality candy? No, you'd eat that sh*t up just the same.
Well, I guess the same principle applies to Heavenly Sword. Why try to divert from such a successful formula? Hey, it works for just about everyone else.
Anyway, from the five minutes or so that the demo did last, the game was fairly solid -- nevermind the previous crashes that took place before actually being able to play. The combos and moves this scantily-clad warrior are able to pull off are pretty much awesome and, well, off the hook if I may be frank. And the various counters and sword moves ... mmmm, delicious.
OVERVIEW
Emotionally charged, stunningly beautiful, and delivering unprecedented dramatic character performance, Heavenly Sword™ showcases the power of PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system. A dramatic tale of revenge sees Nariko, a fiery red-haired heroine, embark on a quest for vengeance against an invading King and his army. The story builds around the ancient Heavenly Sword, which once belonged to a powerful deity. It can never be wielded by a mortal without it slowly but inevitably draining their life-force.
When the invading King (played by Andy Serkis) destroys the warrior clan that guards the Heavenly Sword, the clan leader’s daughter, Nariko, takes up the sword in a desperate fight for survival. Nariko must now pay the ultimate price as she embarks on one last mission of vengeance against the King and his army before her life is finally and irreparably overtaken by the omnipotent Heavenly Sword…
Andy Serkis, the world’s leading CG actor, famous for his roles as Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings” and Kong in “King Kong,” was heavily involved in the creative process. As well as starring in Heavenly Sword as the villain, King Botan, Andy was a major contributor to the character development, writing, casting, directing and performance capture for the PS3 title.
Heavenly Sword features a deep, diverse combat experience made possible only on PS3.
KEY FEATURES
The Heavenly Sword – The Heavenly Sword itself can transform into three distinct weapons, each with its own accompanying fighting stance used by Nariko to vary combat styles. The Combat Engine – The combat engine can scale up from sophisticated one-on-one encounters to one-on-many, where enemies employ intelligent squad-based dynamics, right up to combat against battalions pushing real-time gameplay and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to unprecedented new levels. Physics-Based Combat – The physics-based combat allows players to sweep debris against opponents, kick tables to halt an oncoming surge of fighters, smash the enemy into the scenery, or throw bodies into other enemies using “aftertouch” controls. Wide range of Objects & Weaponry – Heavenly Sword provides a wide range of objects & weaponry including rapid fire crossbows and massively damaging bazookas. Creative in-game Cinematography – Coupled with real-time story evolvement and amazing set-pieces, Heavenly Sword feels like a blockbuster action movie that takes combat gameplay to new heights. PLAYSTATION®3 – Greater processing power on the PS3 enables more immersive visuals and sound effects in Heavenly Sword, heightening the character performance and combat within the stunningly beautiful environments.
Well, I do LOVE chocolate. This would be a definite buy for me if I had a PS3. I look forward to the reviews (good or bad) this game gets after release.
@Rockvillian: It all depends on when they start to suck, they havn't yet. So, why kill a good thing when ya got it ;) When the sequels bring down the quality of the whole, thats when they can stop :)
true. I can't really call it reusing ideas when the closest similarity is the 3rd person brawler format, but it's the Sony connection and their tendency to really run with what's already been done well before that mehs me.
In other words, it's the lack of innovation and the habit of making past innovation seem new with crazah facial animation and shaders. See Spiderman 3's success: made $$$$$$$$, but widely panned by reviewers. I for one want to stop before it gets to that point, for the sake of keeping a good genre fresh. Also, cocks.
Man... the PS3 can't buy a break. And I for one am not too sorry for them. But damn.. this game looks pretty good and there is so much hate. How DARE they!!! They made it like a game that is highly lauded as the best game of the past year or more!!! Unthinkable!!!
using andy serkis of lotr and king kong fame for animations just doesn't count as innovation in my book. everything else appears to have been done before LAST generation. they need to prove this game is truly upping the ante if they want people to support it. and decent sales don't count. every ps3 owner will buy one just because there are no games for the damn system, so that's not an actual gauge of a good game. they need games to push system sales.
It's hilarious to think that people are accusing Heavenly Sword of being a copy of God of War. Since when was God of War even close to being an original game? God of War is just an action game like any other, the only difference being God of War did the same routine everso much better than its peers.
Comparing any action game to God of War in any area but quality is laughable. GoW raised the bar in terms of fun and action, not innovation. HoS isn't ripping GoW off, it's just being yet another action game.
Looks nice. But it's Sony, so, "HATE GRRR MURDER BABY-EATING GRUMBLE BLU-RAY DEATH DESTRUCTION KUTARAGI SIXAXIS GEORGE FOREMAN GRILL PS-TRIPLE ANGRY SMASH RARRRRGHHHH!"
You know, I'm not worried about the crashes on the demo, those happen on things that aren't finished. I'm not worried about it being just like God of War; it's a good game and hopefully they took the good and improved the bad. What does bother me is the art style. Every character in that little trailer looked absolutely generic and no thought put into them at all. It's like they just used a checklist of action video game cliche's and followed it as closely as possible.
I must agree with summa, if you don't think this game looks good, your site is being obscured by something. Be it haterade, or bukkake, I'm not going to judge. I'm going to disagree entirely with twesterm though, I thought the art direction was superb. Sure, there seems to be nothing even close to remotely resembling a far off idea of originality in the game, but it still all looks rather good.
By the way, just for the record, hersheys "chocolate" is fucking horrible. I don't know how many of you realise this, but european chocolate is soooooo much better than that crap, it's almost incomparable. Now excuse me while I eat a delicious cadbury's moro peanut. Mmm, mmm mmm.
Why do people scream "copycats" on this? Look at the n64 for Christ sakes, 2/3 of the games on there were just Mario 64 with a fresh coat of paint slapped on them, and people ate that shit up like candy.
Looks pretty sweet I have to say. Isn't this the the game that Mika was playing in that one episode of Heroes a few months back?
But what's this about timed button presses? Is it like Resident Evil 4's or more like Dark Cloud/Dead to Rights? If it's the latter, then DO NOT WANT! I remember thinking DoR was going to be so bad ass, only to get stuck on the first level because I wasn't able to keep up with the strippers dance moves. I was so disapointed, I returned it the next day.
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Contest:
5:12 AM on 05.17.2007
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true. I can't really call it reusing ideas when the closest similarity is the 3rd person brawler format, but it's the Sony connection and their tendency to really run with what's already been done well before that mehs me.
In other words, it's the lack of innovation and the habit of making past innovation seem new with crazah facial animation and shaders. See Spiderman 3's success: made $$$$$$$$, but widely panned by reviewers. I for one want to stop before it gets to that point, for the sake of keeping a good genre fresh. Also, cocks.
wow thoes are next gen nipples if if ever seen them, forget DOABV
Comparing any action game to God of War in any area but quality is laughable. GoW raised the bar in terms of fun and action, not innovation. HoS isn't ripping GoW off, it's just being yet another action game.
but people will buy this cause there's nothing else.
if there was nothing else out there,
i'd probably get it...
but still i'll wait for reviews.
Dude, Andy Serkis? Come on, son!
The fixed camera angles
The use of bright yellows and whites
The tethered weapons
The barrage of identical enemies
The button press mini games
are the reasons why it looks like a GOW copy to me.
Haha. Good joke.
Okay. Done.
Hell, all 4 PS2 Ratchets were virtually identical, but I bought, enjoyed, and played the hell out of every single one.
Why do people scream "copycats" on this? Look at the n64 for Christ sakes, 2/3 of the games on there were just Mario 64 with a fresh coat of paint slapped on them, and people ate that shit up like candy.
Looks pretty sweet I have to say. Isn't this the the game that Mika was playing in that one episode of Heroes a few months back?
But what's this about timed button presses? Is it like Resident Evil 4's or more like Dark Cloud/Dead to Rights? If it's the latter, then DO NOT WANT! I remember thinking DoR was going to be so bad ass, only to get stuck on the first level because I wasn't able to keep up with the strippers dance moves. I was so disapointed, I returned it the next day.