Heavenly Sword Reviews

[PricklyPete]

PS3.IGN 7/10

"Throughout you can't shake the feeling that you're playing a tangled mess of brilliant ideas desperately failing to wrestle themselves free from some incredibly misguided implementation. For instance, it's a serious misstep when the strongest aspect of your game - sword play - is sidelined for almost 50 percent of its runtime. The very first level employs a massively hobbled version of the combat system which simply has none of the visceral thrill or satisfaction of the fully-fledged engine. Throw in the decision to completely remove sword fighting again in chapter three (of six, one of which is simply a boss fight), replaced by some over-egged archery, then cripple it later still with some pretty but soulless silliness, and it adds up to maybe three to four hours of decent combat in a game which takes a rather embarrassing, and distinctly un-epic, six or seven hours to beat.

In conclusion, Gameplay - 6/10 - As solid as its component parts are, poor design decisions and awful structure mean they never make for a cohesive, satisfying whole."

This sucks...I was hoping this game would give me a good reason to buy a PS3...but looks like I'll be waiting a bit longer unless other reviews convince me otherwise. The game had so much promise looked like an awesome, epic romp.

Update 8/28/2007: Looks like GamePro rated it quite a bit better with a 9/10. Here's the review. I'm still a little skeptical as the reviewer states a lot of the same negatives (frustrating combat, uneven story, etc), but just gives it a better score. I definitely want to try the game out though as it seems so promising.

 

[Thraxen]

Not a horrible score, but still disappointing. So that means that two of the most hyped fall PS3 games, LAIR and HS, have gotten some mediocre scores. Of course, one of the biggest knocks against LAIR was the accuracy of the flight controls... but then the game got delayed after the first reviews and I suspect they are fine tuning the motion controls and adding in an option to use the sticks for flight.

Either way, it's not a good start. Fortunately for me though, I was only mildly interested in those two games. As long as games like Ratchet & Clank and HSG5 turn out good I'll be satisfied.

 

[foghorn67]

This does suck. Hopefully MGS4 will deliver in spades.

 

[purbeast0]

I was never very impressed with Heavenly Sword, especially after playing the demo.

However after hearing how damn short the game is with any type of multiplayer I'm definitely not going to buy it. Even if it was the best game ever, if it was only 6 hours I would not buy it. And I typically finish games quicker than these reviewers do.

September is owned by MS - Halo 3 is coming out.

November is going to be the month for the PS3 - Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted, and UT3 (one I don't really care for at the moment but I know a lot of people do).

 

[R Nilla]

Hmm, that's the IGN UK review, although usually they seem to be more generous... :Q

 

[jpeyton]

Hahaha, first Lair reviews tank, now this.

What does Sony got on the menu for the holidays?

 

[BigJ]

Looks like it's going to be a bad winter for Sony.

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
Not a horrible score, but still disappointing.

It is not the worse score...but if you read the review...it only seems to get that high a score because of visuals/presentation. I do like my share of awesome visuals...but if the game is boring, I'm not going to buy a system and shell out $60 for it. I just had really high hopes for this game as it was drumming up my interest in buying a PS3...but now I'm not as interested anymore. I've lost interest in Lair as well...so at the moment, Uncharted is the only game that is really interesting me this fall on the PS3. UT3 isn't interesting enough on its own...plus I know it will be coming to the 360 in the spring and I have way too much to play at the moment anyway.

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
I was never very impressed with Heavenly Sword, especially after playing the demo.

However after hearing how damn short the game is with any type of multiplayer I'm definitely not going to buy it. Even if it was the best game ever, if it was only 6 hours I would not buy it. And I typically finish games quicker than these reviewers do.

September is owned by MS - Halo 3 is coming out.

November is going to be the month for the PS3 - Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted, and UT3 (one I don't really care for at the moment but I know a lot of people do).

True but November is also Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed for 360.

I can't wait for some good stuff to come out for the PS3. I'll buy one when the games warrant it.

 

[randay]

what a horrible review, a lot of big words conveying pretty much nothing. at least from what you posted here, i cant read the whole thing seems ign is down?

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: randay
what a horrible review, a lot of big words conveying pretty much nothing. at least from what you posted here, i cant read the whole thing seems ign is down?

I copied less than a 1/10 of the review. The say some positive (graphics/presentation/some gameplay elements), but then pan it for being boring and not cohesive.

PS3.IGN is generally very generous in their reviews...so I certainly don't expect other reviews to be much better. Hopefully other reviews will renew faith in the title.

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Hahaha, first Lair reviews tank, now this.

What does Sony got on the menu for the holidays?

Well they do have some other titles that will interest some like:

1) Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
2) Folklore
3) Ratchet & Clank

They also have Haze and UT3 coming out...but they are only timed exclusives...so to me they aren't a reason to buy a PS3 as I know I'll be able to play them this spring on my 360.

 

[randay]

Originally posted by: PricklyPete

Originally posted by: randay
what a horrible review, a lot of big words conveying pretty much nothing. at least from what you posted here, i cant read the whole thing seems ign is down?

I copied less than a 1/10 of the review. The say some positive (graphics/presentation/some gameplay elements), but then pan it for being boring and not cohesive.

PS3.IGN is generally very generous in their reviews...so I certainly don't expect other reviews to be much better. Hopefully other reviews will renew faith in the title.

I usually go to ign to scan reviews for games but the snippet you copied is just journalistic filler to me. all i got from that whole paragraph is that half the game is using the sword and the other half isnt, and that 1 out of 6 chapters is a boss fight. that doesnt equal a bad game to me... I need to read more, is IGN down for you guys too?

 

[tatteredpotato]

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g

Originally posted by: purbeast0
I was never very impressed with Heavenly Sword, especially after playing the demo.

However after hearing how damn short the game is with any type of multiplayer I'm definitely not going to buy it. Even if it was the best game ever, if it was only 6 hours I would not buy it. And I typically finish games quicker than these reviewers do.

September is owned by MS - Halo 3 is coming out.

November is going to be the month for the PS3 - Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted, and UT3 (one I don't really care for at the moment but I know a lot of people do).

True but November is also Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed for 360.

I can't wait for some good stuff to come out for the PS3. I'll buy one when the games warrant it.

To be fair Assassins Creed is on the PS3 as well, but COD4 (also on the PS3 too) should be quite a bit better on the 360 w/ Xbox Live. UT3 on the PS3 has potential to be superior to the 360 version because of the open network for mods and such.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasian

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g

Originally posted by: purbeast0
I was never very impressed with Heavenly Sword, especially after playing the demo.

However after hearing how damn short the game is with any type of multiplayer I'm definitely not going to buy it. Even if it was the best game ever, if it was only 6 hours I would not buy it. And I typically finish games quicker than these reviewers do.

September is owned by MS - Halo 3 is coming out.

November is going to be the month for the PS3 - Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted, and UT3 (one I don't really care for at the moment but I know a lot of people do).

True but November is also Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed for 360.

I can't wait for some good stuff to come out for the PS3. I'll buy one when the games warrant it.

To be fair Assassins Creed is on the PS3 as well, but COD4 (also on the PS3 too) should be quite a bit better on the 360 w/ Xbox Live. UT3 on the PS3 has potential to be superior to the 360 version because of the open network for mods and such.

Which is why I have both consoles and don't have to worry about missing any good games on either system

EDIT: although I will also admit, pretty much 99% of the time I will get a multiplatform game on the Xbox360 for 2 reasons ...

1. Xbox Live
2. Controller

I won't say graphics yet because its really too early to pick a clear cut winner in that aspect, but as of now everything is graphically superior on Xbox360 as well which is just more icing on the cake.

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

Ah word I thought it was exclusive for some reason.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasian

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g

Originally posted by: purbeast0
I was never very impressed with Heavenly Sword, especially after playing the demo.

However after hearing how damn short the game is with any type of multiplayer I'm definitely not going to buy it. Even if it was the best game ever, if it was only 6 hours I would not buy it. And I typically finish games quicker than these reviewers do.

September is owned by MS - Halo 3 is coming out.

November is going to be the month for the PS3 - Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted, and UT3 (one I don't really care for at the moment but I know a lot of people do).

True but November is also Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed for 360.

I can't wait for some good stuff to come out for the PS3. I'll buy one when the games warrant it.

To be fair Assassins Creed is on the PS3 as well, but COD4 (also on the PS3 too) should be quite a bit better on the 360 w/ Xbox Live. UT3 on the PS3 has potential to be superior to the 360 version because of the open network for mods and such.

Which is why I have both consoles and don't have to worry about missing any good games on either system

EDIT: although I will also admit, pretty much 99% of the time I will get a multiplatform game on the Xbox360 for 2 reasons ...

1. Xbox Live
2. Controller

I won't say graphics yet because its really too early to pick a clear cut winner in that aspect, but as of now everything is graphically superior on Xbox360 as well which is just more icing on the cake.

way not true. Well, partially true, but there has to be time for a developer to learn the machine. Took awhile for games on 360 to actually take advantage of the hardware fully. Finally developers are getting a hang of the PS3, slowly but surely, and to prove that, DiRT is running better on the PS3 than it is on the 360.

 

[dwell]

Not really surprising. The game looks gorgeous but the combat felt wonky in the demo. PS3 owners can get God of War 1 + 2 for the price of HS and should do so if they never played.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasian

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g

Originally posted by: purbeast0
I was never very impressed with Heavenly Sword, especially after playing the demo.

However after hearing how damn short the game is with any type of multiplayer I'm definitely not going to buy it. Even if it was the best game ever, if it was only 6 hours I would not buy it. And I typically finish games quicker than these reviewers do.

September is owned by MS - Halo 3 is coming out.

November is going to be the month for the PS3 - Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted, and UT3 (one I don't really care for at the moment but I know a lot of people do).

True but November is also Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed for 360.

I can't wait for some good stuff to come out for the PS3. I'll buy one when the games warrant it.

To be fair Assassins Creed is on the PS3 as well, but COD4 (also on the PS3 too) should be quite a bit better on the 360 w/ Xbox Live. UT3 on the PS3 has potential to be superior to the 360 version because of the open network for mods and such.

Which is why I have both consoles and don't have to worry about missing any good games on either system

EDIT: although I will also admit, pretty much 99% of the time I will get a multiplatform game on the Xbox360 for 2 reasons ...

1. Xbox Live
2. Controller

I won't say graphics yet because its really too early to pick a clear cut winner in that aspect, but as of now everything is graphically superior on Xbox360 as well which is just more icing on the cake.

way not true. Well, partially true, but there has to be time for a developer to learn the machine. Took awhile for games on 360 to actually take advantage of the hardware fully. Finally developers are getting a hang of the PS3, slowly but surely, and to prove that, DiRT is running better on the PS3 than it is on the 360.

I said "as of now" ... Dirt is not out for the PS3 yet.

And by the demo, there wasn't really any difference between the 2. I don't care what these other people are claiming. I put them side by side on the 360 and the PS3 and you would not be able to tell one apart from the other when seeing them side by side. They both looked fantastic.

The only things I could tell is that the PS3 may have ran a little "smoother" but the actual graphics/lighting on the 360 seemed to look better to me. And the PS3 controller compared to the 360 controller, for racers, is no questions asked much worse than the 360 one.

 

[Dumac]

Play Magazine gave it a 10/10, but that's Play Magazine for you, lol.

 

[tatteredpotato]

I totally agree with what purbeast0 says about getting multi platform games on the 360, mainly for Xbox Live (even though I'm locked into only one choice right now). Even if it's single player I like having access to my Friends List and Messages/Private Chat. Plus if any of my buds feel like getting a game of Gears going they can let me know pretty easy.

 

[CasioTech]

Who cares about the Heavenly sword gameplay. I want to make sure the graphics/framerates are great because the gameplay is subjective.

 

[CKDragon]

Originally posted by: CasioTech
Who cares about the Heavenly sword gameplay. I want to make sure the graphics/framerates are great because the gameplay is subjective.

Graphics and framerate are also subjective. Framerate less so, but some people will believe 60fps is a "great framerate" while there are those in the PC forum that will swear by turning down other graphics options just to keep it above 100fps, ophthalmological studies be damned.

 

[EvilComputer92]

How does the friends list work on the PS3? Is it possible to send people invites even if they are play a single player game?

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: EvilComputer92
How does the friends list work on the PS3? Is it possible to send people invites even if they are play a single player game?

From what I can tell from having it a week or so, you can basically just tell if your friends are online or not, and if they are you can send them a request if you have a game setup for them to join.

However ... nothing pops up on screen like on Xbox Live. So the person who's being invited has no idea.

I played MK2 w/my friend and I didn't even know he had sent me a game invite, but when I went to MK2 online play menu, there was an extra option that said "Accept Invite".

Also when I look at my friends list, all it basically tells you is if someone is online or not and that's it.

I'm sure there may be a little more to it, but that's what I've seen the past week.