Hands-On: Hands-On With Heavenly Sword -- Best PS3 Launch Game?
Heavenly Sword will probably be Sony's best piece of software for the PS3 launch
I hope Kratos likes sharing, because there's a new badass in town. And, stop the presses -- she's a lady!
At Sony's media briefing on Monday, the company gave us the first real gameplay demo of Heavenly Sword, though it was actually announced a last year's E3. But this demo, shown toward the end of conference, wowed just about everyone in the crowd and there was a mad rush to get a first-hand taste at playable PS3 kiosks afterward. Needless to say, there was a darn bit of cluster.
But we got a much better chance to play Heavenly Sword at the show, and it was even more impressive amongst the background mayhem of E3.
The demo is short, only a brief arena-like battle where waves of enemies plunge into what should be dubbed as the "Ring of Female Fury." Nariko, our redheaded main character and one killer chick, stands in the center of the ring armed with a large sword and two smaller melee weapons. Her motivation: seek vengeance against an invading King (played by Andy Serkis, voice of Gollum from LoTR) and his army. The story involves an ancient Heavenly Sword that once belonged to a powerful deity but can never be wielded by a mortal being, as it would bring upon eventual death. When the King destroys a warrior clan that guards the Heavenly Sword, Nariko, takes up the sword knowing that she will die within hours of touching it, but not before giving the King one final beat down.
The gameplay demo was almost flooring -- each wave of enemies that jump into the arena gets increasing difficult, providing better fodder for Nariko's insane combat moves. She can switch weapons on the fly to create crazy combos, and swap between her blades and sword. Plus, she has the ability to careen her shield off of several unsuspecting enemies at a time. Simply awesome.
The game's physics are amazing, too. Enemy bodies flail and interact with just about every piece of the environment. Nariko can smash chairs, tables, and just about any other piece of debris she can get her hands or feet on. There is a cool counter feature that unveils powerful counter attacks, and performing combos builds up an on-screen meter that unleashes an even more devastating special combo.
Visually speaking, Heavenly Sword is probably the best-looking playable PS3 title at the show, and Nariko's movements are so fluid that there is rarely an awkward break in the action. Plus, it just looks all bright 'n shiny.
No official release date has been set, but expect Heavenly Sword on or shortly after the launch of the PS3.
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