Heavenly Sword Preview

I’ve got a confession to make that’s sure make the airwaves explode. (No, I’m not gay.) I didn’t like God of War. (Sorry Jaffe and Barlog) While the story was top-notch and deserves a place in video game history, I just wasn’t too fond of the combat, with my preference being toward the superb Devil May Cry 3.When Heavenly Sword (which is the topic of this preview, in case you’ve forgotten) was first shown at E305, I neglected it since it looked similar to God of War. After getting some hands on time with the demo, I can say that nothing could be further from the truth.

The gameplay is somewhat similar to God of War but different enough to make it feel like it’s a different game. You have three different stances (speed, range and power) each with their own benefits, weaknesses and combos. The fights are like an intricate dance with blocking playing a major role. (Going on an all out attack will only get your butt handed to you) while this sounds boring on paper, it works beautifully in the game, with Nariko doing spectacular counters and combos while the enemy is off guard. Also, one interesting tid bit I enjoyed was being able to pick things up and throwing them in first person. by picking up an item (be that a barrel, person or a dropped sword) you can hold down the X button to control it like a missile using the sixaxis. Again, this sounds like a bad idea but it’s executed perfectly. My hat’s off to Ninja Theory for making this game so bad@$$!