• The Heavenly Sword itself can transform into three distinct weapons, each with its own accompanying fighting stance used by Nariko to vary combat styles.
• The combat engine can scale up from sophisticated one-on-one encounters to one-on-many, where enemies employ intelligent squad-based dynamics, right up to combat against battalions pushing real-time gameplay and (AI) to unprecedented new levels.
• The physics-based combat allows players to sweep debris against opponents, kick tables to halt an oncoming surge of fighters, smash the enemy into the scenery, or throw bodies into other enemies using “aftertouch” controls.
• Heavenly Sword provides a wide range of objects & weaponry including rapid fire crossbows and massively damaging bazookas.
• Coupled with real-time story evolvement and amazing set-pieces, Heavenly Sword feels like a blockbuster action movie that takes combat gameplay to new heights.

Emotionally charged, stunningly beautiful, and delivering unprecedented dramatic character performance, Heavenly Sword showcases the power of the PS3 system,. A dramatic tale of revenge sees Nariko, a fiery red-haired heroine, embark on a quest for vengeance against an invading King and his army. Thestory builds around the ancient Heavenly Sword, which once belonged to a powerful deity. It can never be wielded by a mortal without it slowly, but inevitably draining their life-force. When the invading King (played by Andy Serkis) destroys the warrior clan that guards the Heavenly Sword, Nariko takes up the sword in a desperate fight for survival. Nariko must now pay the ultimate price as she embarks on one last mission of vengeance against the King and his army before her life is finally and irreparably overtaken by the omnipotent Heavenly Sword... Voice and creative work by Andy Serkis, the world's leading CG actor. ESRB Rated T For Teen.

Yes, this game is vastly under-rated and unknown to many. I just bought a PS3, and i wanted something GOW-like for it. While it may appear similar, it's really quite different from kratos' world.

First off, to everyone who says it's too short, I say you're nuts. It took me many hours to get through it, and while I may not be a gaming expert, I am competent enough to tell you this game is very challenging, especially when you unlock hell mode. Methinks many on here like to give inflated opinions of themselves.

other than that, pretty much all the other reviews have told you how gorgeous the graphics are. I personally like the storyline, and the idea of a great weapon that exacts a great price. (moorcock, how are you?)

anyway, it's a great game!

This game is actually a pretty good rental game. I've been wanting to get it for months (since it came out-so I guess a year) but was waiting for the price to come down a little; well, that hasn't happened so I bit the bullet and rented it.

I'm happy that I did because the game was short. It was an intense action game (think God of War) with beautiful scenery and intense battle sequences. I enjoyed the different styles of play (once I turned off the Sixaxis controls the sniper portions became drastically less difficult).

Pros:
-You play as 2 different characters with different fighting techniques
-There are no boring moments
-Nariko is kind of a babe (just saying)

Cons:
-The game is short and not really worth $60 (in my opinion)
-The final boss fight is a bitch. Expect to die often
-You can unlock another difficulty level, but I had no desire to attempt Hell mode.

Anyway, the game is fun, no question about that. But I think it's a better rental than a buy.

WOW! This game is the most fun I've had on the PS3.

Heavenly Sword is a work of art. There is real "acting" in this game. There is good story telling as well. Hats off to the herione and the villain both (the actors and the designers) for making cut scenes enjoyable (how rare is that?).

If there's anything against it, it's the length of the game, which is short, but that's all I've got by way of down-side. (Sorry game designers, but I had to take away a star for that.)

The action flows in a spectacular way. You get to play as a second character with missile-weapons in some acts too, which is done extremely well and breaks what might have otherwise been monotony. Graphics are not repetetive. When you play this game you feel you are in the masterwork of a great team of game designers.

It has good replayability too. Not because the story varies at all, but because of the clever scoring-type-system which makes you want to perfect the long list of moves. The game is a good blend of difficult and instincive.

Heavenly Sword should be a course that all game designers have to take before they're allowed to make an action game.

I keep it on my shelf next to Shadow of the Collosus and my Final Fantasy collection. This is top shelf gaming. Enjoy!

HS is very entertaining, a lot of action to be had. Story is good, and the developers provide a lot of mindless destruction. You get to feel superhuman with spinning attacks that wreak havoc on groups of enemies. Cannon sequences that have you rack up 500 kills. I get a kick out of that. Its not too gory though, and not overly masochistic like some games are.

It's been about 3-4hours since I played..and I can't let the controller go..
Simple amazement and I was kept telling myself, "After this chpater, let's turn off the ps3..." but I couldn't.
Story, Graphics, Easy controls, Innovative fighting scenes, and more.

It's really cheap to get HS now, so get it, and enjoy it!

:) so glad i got this game!!