Gameover: Not Kidding About The Heavenly
“Good things come to those who wait. Sooner still to those who take!” — King Bohan
This weekend I had a chance to play some of Heavenly Sword and two things happened. One, the combat system clicked for me once the game very clearly explained it to me — something the demo definitely didn’t do for me — and two, I was shocked at not only the beauty and detail of the final game, but of the amazing motion-captured acting and emotional performances from Nariko, evil King Bohan, the twing-twang crossbow-wielding Kai. The setup of the story is also impressively strong — the game opens with Nariko fighting what looks like the entirety of Bohan’s army before time runs out and the Sword finally and dramatically extracts its payment, killing her bloodlessly but not quickly.
The boss fight I saw was also impressive not just in terms of the detailed animations of the boss, but the guy’s personality was very distinct and menacing — just enough to make you think he’s going to be really tough to take down. The way it does a picture-in-picture close-up of your foe as he poses and taunts you, throwing more soldiers at you from the sidelines before he needs to step in personally is dramatic and lets him show off.
The reviewers weren’t kidding when they said the production values in the game are pretty much off the charts. I didn’t want to stop playing, but it wasn’t my copy of the game and it was time for me to head home. I definitely plan to at least rent it — just a little bit of time with all of its graceful power isn’t enough.
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