Given the nickname "Goddess of War" at the time, Heavenly Sword was, unquestionably, inspired by the exploits of everyone's favorite Spartan. Its story-focused design, use of quick time events, some of its combat elements, and general design are definitely an homage to God of War; however, Heavenly Sword still puts its own unique spin on the formula. Coming out just six months after God of War II meant that reviews of the day compared it directly to God of War, and most of them concluded that the game was God of War but with a female protagonist, which isn't an entirely fair assessment. In its own right, Heavenly Sword is still an excellent hack-and-slash romp that is far from a one-to-one copy of God of War.
The PS3 had a rough start after it launched. I've talked about it in a couple of my past videos, but that first year the system was on the market saw very slim pickings when it came to console-exclusive games. There were a number of multiplatform games released as well, but there weren't a lot of reasons to buy a PS3 if you already owned an Xbox 360. In my Resistance: Fall of Man review, I said that it isn't an exaggeration to say that Resistance almost single-handedly kept the PS3 afloat in the West for its first year on the market. Resistance was THE premier exclusive title for the system until Uncharted hit almost one year later to the day of the PS3's release. Resistance, its Blu-ray player capabilities, and the promise of Metal Gear Solid 4, on top of the PlayStation brand recognition, were really the best reasons to pay the extra $100–$200 for a PS3 over an Xbox 360. Because when it came to the library of exclusive games, there was no competition; the 360 had a much larger library and a more (and I would argue a better library of) console exclusives at that time. In the first year of the PS3's life, it was hard to justify buying one over an Xbox 360.
In saying that Resistance was the premier PS3 exclusive, that's not to say there weren't other noteworthy exclusives for the system in its first year on the market. MotorStorm was another popular release, and games like Warhawk, Lair (which was a high-profile flop), Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and finally, Heavenly Sword were also high-profile exclusives for the system as well.
2007 was an exceptionally good year for action gamers who owned a PS3. On March 13th, Sony Santa Monica Studios released the venerable God of War II on the PS2, which was playable on the PS3 thanks to backwards compatibility. God of War II was a huge release for the PS2 and is still one of the best games on the system, taking everything that was great about the original and expanding upon it while cutting out some of the parts gamers hated, like that stupid Hades level in the original.
Later that year, on July 3rd, 2007, Team Ninja released Ninja Gaiden Sigma on the PS3. This was a great port of a great game, but also not a system seller, as while it was certainly a good exclusive for the PS3, it was also just an enhanced edition of a game that had already been released twice over on the original Xbox. It was great to see Ninja Gaiden on a PlayStation console for the first time, but I don't imagine a lot of people bought a PS3 exclusively for Sigma either.
Finally, on September 12th, Heavenly Sword was released, and considering God of War III was still two and a half years away, Heavenly Sword was the closest thing to a next-generation God of War game PS3 owners would see for a long time. Heavenly Sword was developed by Ninja Theory, who would later release Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and Hellblade, and tells the story of Nariko, whose birth was in defiance of a prophecy in her clan that one day a son would be born who would wield the Heavenly Sword against a powerful enemy. The Heavenly Sword is a sword protected for generations by her clan and is said to have been forged by a bloodthirsty god. Her being born a woman instead of a man is seen as a curse upon the clan, which is now being hunted down by a bloodthirsty king intent on recovering the Heavenly Sword; the clan's true feelings about Nariko come back to the forefront throughout the game.
The combat system in Heavenly Sword is more focused on countering attacks than the visceral combat feel of God of War. Nariko's offense is divided between three stances: speed, power, and range. The range attack, which is performed by attacking while holding L1, can deflect incoming arrows, crows, and other projectiles, but it is unable to counter any enemy attacks. The speed attack is the default attack, represented by a blue aura; it can be used to counter regular enemy attacks—those attacks where the enemies have a blue aura around them while attacking. The heavy attack, which is performed by attacking while holding R1, is represented by an orange aura and is useful against more heavily armored opponents and for countering heavy orange attacks from enemies.
On top of the three attack stances and counter-focused combat, Nariko can also pick up various items like swords and shields to throw at enemies, including the bodies of vanquished enemies, which can lead to some pretty humorous outcomes. Holding down the throw button after you throw an object slows down time as the camera zooms in on the object, allowing it to be controlled by the player during flight. This Aftertouch, as it's dubbed in the manual, can also be used for Kai's Crossbow or in those scenes where Nariko is defending a fortress against encroaching catapults and an invading army.
Seeing as this was an early PS3 game, the Aftertouch effect has forced Sixaxis controls to guide the projectile through the air. I got about halfway through the game before I realized that all the Sixaxis controls (no doubt imposed upon this game by Sony) could be turned off in the options menu, which I promptly did. If you've ever played this game and hated the parts that use motion controls, you can simply shut them off.
Heavenly Sword is too old to have trophy support, meaning there's nothing here for those trophy hunters out there. If you remember, Sony didn't roll out trophies as their response to Xbox's Gamer Score until the latter half of 2008 and didn't make them mandatory until 2009. Even Uncharted would have to be patched almost a year after release with trophy support. That being said, Nariko is graded on her performance in each section, and there are a number of making-of featurettes and new combos that can be unlocked.
The new combos come in handy because there are quite a few of them that are block-breaking combos, which I started using in the game long after I faced the most annoying block-everything opponents in the game. In fact, there is an entire list of combos for each stance that's available in the pause menu. I suggest you study and familiarize yourself with the block-breaking combos in particular.
On top of multiple unlockable combos, three different sword stances, and a big emphasis on countering opponents' attacks, Nariko can also pull off Superstyle Attacks, where, upon earning enough style points, up to three globes in the Superstyle disk within Nariko's health meter light up, allowing Nariko to unload a superstyle attack on an enemy, which will kill that enemy and sometimes damage the surrounding foes as well. The Superstyle attacks were another feature I forgot to use until near the end of the game on my first run. They're very effective; I just forgot they were a thing for a while.
Overall, the combat feel of the game is excellent. Yes, for the time of its release, being released in the same year as God of War II and having a lot fewer similar games on the market to compare it to than we do today, mainstream reviews would inevitably compare Heavenly Sword directly to God of War without much nuance. However, years removed from unfair comparison reviews, Heavenly Sword still stands on its own as an excellent action game whose combat system is incredibly fluid and unique. While yes, the combat feels a little more reactive in nature due to the emphasis on countering attacks, it does give the combat a more balanced feel of when to attack versus when to dodge and when to counter.
In fact, the counters are fun and become quite addictive to try and pull off in time to watch as an enemy attacks you, only to see Nariko stylishly launch them across the screen or put them on the ground and snap their neck. It adds a lot of depth and fluidity to the combat, whereas in most games, you'd just block enemy attacks until the window to attack again is open, but players who master this combat system will basically be able to attack without interruption if you time the counters right.
The fact that the counter button is also an attack button helps the player counter various attacks without disrupting their own attacks. Having an attack button as the counter button does, however, mean that I often felt like I countered more attacks by accident as opposed to using precise timing and skill to counter. The combat is fluid and sleek, with a more graceful flow to it than many similar games.
Overall, the combat in Heavenly Sword is fun and distinct in feel: it's stylistic in nature, and the stance swapping and counter system bring a lot of extra depth and strategy to its battles. This isn't the visceral, rage-filled combat of God of War, but it was never trying to be God of War in the first place. Inspired by it in many ways? Yes. A replacement for it? No, outside of it being a stand-in game for not having a God of War game available on the PS3 early in its life cycle.
In fact, outside of some quick time events and some similar elements in the dodge roll mechanic and air combos, Heavenly Sword really isn't a God of War clone, especially in its set pieces. The game chooses set pieces like manning a cannon to defend a fortress or Kai's crossbow scenes over the exploration and puzzle elements of the God of War games. Every God of War game has some set pieces, but also scenes of intense action followed by exploration and puzzle elements. Heavenly Sword has very minimal exploration or puzzle elements. There are a couple of light puzzle scenes, but overall, Heavenly Sword, in many regards, is more of a straight-up action-focused game than even God of War.
Most of the set pieces do just come down to using the Aftertouch ability to hurl either crossbow bolts or cannonballs at moving targets. These scenes were, no doubt, added to promote the Sixaxis capabilities of the DualShock 3, but these scenes are well done and play a lot better if you shut off the motion controls in the options menu. To break up the action even more, there is even an entire level in the game where you play as Kai instead of Nariko. Kai's only means of attack is her trusty crossbow, making these scenes feel a lot more like a third-person shooter than a hack-and-slash style game. The scene is well done and plays well once you adjust to evading enemies to create distance so you can take them out with the crossbow.
When it comes to difficulty, on the default setting, I'd say the difficulty on normal is just right. Fans of these kinds of games will probably breeze through the game on their first run. I say this as someone who's more of a casual fan of this sub-genre because I don't go out of my way to play overly frustrating games. For example, I only recently bought Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and I casually pop it in to play here and there, but I've avoided the game for years because I know of its legendary difficulty. I have to get into a hardcore focus mood in order to tackle a game like Ninja Gaiden Sigma. In Heavenly Sword, while I did die a couple of times in the boss battles throughout the game, the only boss that gave me THAT kind of trouble (I'm sure you know what I mean by that kind of trouble) was the end boss. Granted, he's the end boss; he's supposed to be the one you die at a dozen or so times before you beat him. The boss battles themselves are well thought out and well designed, generally with each boss having three forms to fight. As I said, they aren't overly difficult once you learn their patterns, which might take a life or two to figure out. The only parts in the boss battles I found myself repeatedly failing at were the Quick-Time Event portions. I don't think I ever hit one on the first, and sometimes not even the second or third try. The good thing is the QTEs can be memorized because they're the same every time. If the normal difficulty is too easy, beating the game on the normal difficulty will unlock the “Hell” difficulty setting.
The overall controls in the game are responsive and tight during combat, with the biggest learning curve being switching stances to counter speed and heavy attacks. The crossbow aiming does feel a little imprecise, but you'll probably be using Aftertouch in most of your shots. Even with the Sixaxis controls, the Aftertouch controls okay. It's definitely a lot more precise shutting off all motion controls and using the analog stick, but if you're a fan of motion controls, they work decently enough.
Graphically, the art direction makes for a game that is still appealing to look at. The manual isn't clear if the game takes place in an entirely fantasy world or in our world, but the backgrounds and setting look like scenery from the Hallelujah Mountains in China, with parts of the castles and fortresses reminding me even of Ico, which I recently reviewed. The background settings of the game are gorgeous to look at and add to the atmosphere of the game.
While the game is still pretty to look at to this day thanks to its art direction, it also has that early PS3 look that I can't really describe. I'm not good at describing visual effects; I'm not Digital Foundry, but that lighting bloom gives everything a dreamy, glowy look, like a shiny halo around objects in the game, mixed with the fact that objects themselves look extra shiny at times for no reason. This definitely has early pre-Unreal 3 engine looks to it. Unreal 3 would become the go-to game engine on the PS360 and would make the vast majority of games on those systems look samey. You know how everyone is complaining about UE5 today and how it makes every game look the same nowadays? Same thing with Unreal 3 in the seventh generation.
It sounds crazy in a way, but because of the way early PS3 games looked, Heavenly Sword looks like it could take place in the same world as Lair. Its art direction and visuals are unique, but it's just the way early PS3 games looked. Even parts of Uncharted look like Heavenly Sword, and the big, open mountainous terrain looks similar to a lot of other PS3 games released around that time as well. My best way to describe it is that early PS3 look. If you know, you know.
The music in the game is excellent. Composed by Nitin Sawhney, and I'm not good at describing music, but some of it sounds like a mixture of Indian and Asian folk music, while other portions of the soundtrack feature big orchestral numbers thrown in for scenes like the last boss fight. It's all well composed, and its unique blending of styles gives the game a distinct feel, adding to the strange fantasy atmosphere of the game.
The voice-over work also adds to the strange fantasy atmosphere of the game. Featuring Andy Serkis of Gollum fame as King Bohan and a cast of other talented actors, the voice-over work in the game is, overall, well performed, with some of the characters, like Fox, being a bit too campy and over the top (isn't... that... right... Na-Ri-Ko?). Overall, the characters come off as a little weird, but that also kind of adds to the game. Some are over-the-top cartoon characters; others are incredibly serious, but somehow I actually found that it works for this game. The characters are definitely weird, but it almost feels like they are supposed to be a bit weird and over the top at times.
The Bottom Line: Heavenly Sword is beloved among early PS3 adopters for a reason. Its biggest flaw is its lack of trophy support and its short length. However, it does give players reasons to play through it a couple of times. This was a God of War stand-in game released in the first year of the PS3's life that was, I would say, unfairly compared directly to God of War when it hit. While the game draws inspiration from God of War, in the close to two decades after its release, far removed from those direct comparisons, it still stands as an exceptional action game whose fluid combat system, unique art direction, and storytelling focus help it stand the test of time. There's a good chance that most PS3 gamers missed this game thanks to its early release in the system's lifespan. It did sell over a million copies but was still considered a failure and was quickly forgotten due to the slow sales start of the system. If you're a fan of action games in the style of God of War, Devil May Cry, or even Ninja Gaiden, Heavenly Sword is worth picking up. Eighteen years after its release, it's still a fondly remembered cult classic for a reason.
And if you're a fan of Ninja Theory's art stylings and unique game design concepts, you should also look into Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, which plays like a mixture of God of War and Prince of Persia, with even some Ico mixed with squad-based tactical strategy thrown in for good measure. It's another unique game from Ninja Theory that I think a lot of people are aware of nowadays. It was released on the Xbox 360, PS3, and is still available on Steam if you want to support the developers that way. I don't know if the Steam version runs well on modern hardware, but I've had good luck running UE3 games on my PC. There's always the discussion tab on Steam if you have any issues.
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