[PS3] Heavenly Sword ROM Download

Heavenly Sword ROM Description

Describing Heavenly Sword is like describing a summer movie: it’s action-packed, there’s some great performances from the actors, top-notch presentation, and it’s non-stop action from start to finish. Unfortunately, like a summer movie, it’s really short—you finish the game in just over six hours. Well, it’s a great ride, but it’s a short one.

Story and Characters

The game tells the story of the beautiful Noriko, who’s shunned by her clan because she failed to fulfill the prophecy when she was born. Like God of War, Heavenly Sword starts with the hero apparently dying and is told via flashback. The cutscenes look great and are really brought to life by excellent performances from the actors as well as some interesting characters.

Combat

At first glance, Heavenly Sword’s combat doesn’t look like anything special; you’ll be killing hundreds, if not thousands, of enemies by the time it’s all said and done. Noriko has three attack stances available to her: speed, range, and power. You’ll need to mix up speed, range, and power attacks not only to attack the enemies but also to counter them and block their attacks. The game gets its challenge by tossing wave after wave of enemies at you. As you progress through the game, you’ll earn more combos, and performing combos gives you access to new moves as well as bonus features like making footage and character artwork.

Other than the somewhat cheap bosses with their seemingly endless life meters, the game’s not super challenging, but you’re forced to use different stances and combos so you’re not just hitting the same buttons over and over again. Also keeping things fresh is the game’s second playable character, the bizarre yet lovable Kai.

Kai’s Gameplay

She can’t attack from up close, so her idea of fun is shooting enemies from across the screen. The twist here is the game’s use of motion controls: once you fire the arrow, things go into slow motion, and by tilting the controller left, right, forward, or back, you can control it and shoot the guys in the head, groin, and arm. Shooting dudes in the head with an arrow is always fun.

Presentation

Part of what keeps the game so engaging is its presentation; the animation looks great in cut scenes but also in combat as Noriko flows from one move to the next seamlessly. The game’s backgrounds are also fantastic and have a sort of hand-painted look to them. It would be nice if there’s a little more variety among the enemies, but when you’ve got a thousand guys on screen at once, it’s hard to be picky.

Conclusion

From the time you start playing to the moment the credits roll, Heavenly Sword is a blast. The combat is exciting, the presentation is great, and there are some nice performances from the game’s actors. The game’s biggest problem is its length or lack thereof; it can be beaten in about six and a half hours. But if you’ve got sixty dollars to spend on an afternoon’s worth of entertainment, you’ll have a great time with this game.