I have finally beat this game and I just have to say that this is one of the best PS3 games that I have ever played. I could not have been more surprised considering some of the reviews that I have heard and read. You play as Nariko, daughter of the leader of your clan. The game starts out with you and your clan taking refuge in an abandoned fort, it seems as though you are running from an entire army that is after the Heavenly Sword. The first few levels are training but are still an excellent base for the story as everything you need to know about your plight is set up in the first five levels. The difficulty is just right and provides the right amount of challenge to all levels of gamers.
The reason why I love this game so much is its use in the six-axis controller. No game has used so extensively and effectively as Heavenly Sword (I don’t even want to mention Lair, as I am sure everyone would like to forget it even exists). When you play as Kai, Nariko’s young friend, you use the controller to guide the arrows that she fires to their targets. It takes some practice, but once you get it down it is very fun to shoot the same guy several times in the head before he even hit’s the ground. Another way to use the six-axis controller is when you pick up and throw objects (and people) you can guide them to where you want them to go. This is also used to solve many puzzles and is most effectively used to fight one of the final bosses.
The controls themselves are very simple and intuitive. Mostly it is just button mashing, but if you choose to have more finesse in you slaughter, there are plenty of combo’s you can use to dispatch your foes. Speaking of foes, this is the only spot where the game falls short (IMHO) is that there is a very small variety in enemies. You pretty much see the same guys over and over again. But that doesn’t really matter as you wont see them for long because of how quickly you will blow past them. Which leads to the shear number of enemies that appear on screen. One level has you taking on an entire army all by yourself, over 400 people all on screen at once.
The graphics are amazing. Even in game cut scenes are nearly flawless. Rendered cut scenes are almost perfect. And to top it off, there are over 20 of them, each one is at least a minute long. This is my favourite part of the game, Andy Serkis (King Kong, Smeagle) plays the leader of the enemy army, Lord Bohan. You should see the `making of` videos showing how they translated Serkis`facial movements onto his character (spoiler: motion sensors lol). The voice work of all the characters is spot on, everyone sounds full of real emotion as they speak (or yell) to each other. The dialog is also creative.
Overall I have really enjoyed this game. It provided more than just the time waster that I assumed it would be. If you need any other reason to buy this listen to this. I rented this game, when it came time to return it I did so only after much resistance and threats of late fees. On my way home from the video store I stopped by the mall and bought my very own copy. If that doesn’t say something about this game, I don’t know what will.
The PlayStation 3 may not have been the strongest generation for Sony, but there were still some diamonds in the rough that deserve a revisit as PS5 remasters.
Even if they could just remaster and put on PSVR2, some would still look great as VR titles and could do a whole lot to bolster the headset w these exclusives! I'd imagine the investment of reworking these titles into VR would be way less than building new games from the ground up, and they could be amazing experiences, and VR often makes flat games feel fresh again. The Resistance and Killzone games are particularly what I want to see!!
I played killzone 3 in 3d and it really changed the game per being immersive.
In vr, that would be even more awesome.
Funny you mention that... my son wanted to play some PS3 games in 3d on my PS tv and he was blown away by how good KZ3 was. It really was a great addition to the game. Im surprised there have not been more 3d games from that era being ported to the PSVR/VR2.
resistance 1-3, killzone 1-3, uncharted 1-3, uncharted golden abyss, folklore, socom 4 , motorstorm, twisted metal, MAG, heavenly sword
Killzone 2+3
Sly Thieves in Time
Crack in Time
God of War Ascension
Motorstorm
Modnation racer
Infamous 1+2
Killzone trilogy in VR would be amazing bonus points if they offer shadow fall.
There was a psvr1 Killzone project that supermassive was working on at one stage which wasn't up to scratch and Sony brand it back in house I was hoping we would see that on psvr2 eventually.
Personally I'd love to see some more love or acknowledgement of psvr2 from Sony in general it was a expensive headset and Sony barely acknowledge it's existence
The amount of work needed to remaster these games wouldn't be beneficial on a financial and business sense.. MGS4 would probably be the best bet as it would need the least amount of work!
The time is perfect for a resistance fall of man game campaign coop multiplayer
The resistance series is str8 trash to me. Socom 3 I would welcome. Or killzone MP.
Resistance was ok but Warhawk and Starhawk was better and kept me coming back for almost a decade of fun and petty revenge on the loud mouth unskilled players 🤣
Edit I loved capture the flag dropping the pot on the flag carrier was extremely satisfying as well as transforming your plane in bot form and stumping them to death 😱
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Grab your katana, and slice your way through this list featuring the best hack and slash games the PlayStation 3 had to offer.
Dante's inferno... an excellent GoW inspired game. So sad the sequels will never be.
I recall enjoying it well enough at the time, but it wasn't a patch on God of War 3 which came out around the same time I think.
I own it and fired it up on my PS3 about 6 months ago and time hadn't been particularly kind to it although it still very much nailed the atmosphere and it is a cool as he'll setting and universe.
Dante's Inferno needs the GOW treatment. No cut camera, with a real hellish depiction of the 9 circles and a story as dark and as serious would be amazing.
Still pretty amazing there was a PSP version that was actually pretty good. I remember playing it 10 years ago. I had the PS3 version when it first came out and loved it.
Yup, I remember being blown away with Heavenly Sword. I remember holding out hope that they would go back and add trophy support as a incentive to go back and replay the game, but I don't think they ever did?
I couldn't beat the final boss though! Spent several days trying but eventually gave up, lol. Still enjoyed it though.
heavenly sword was such a short, but amazing game. that game should be prime material to be made into a download only remaster.
I really enjoyed Castlevania, but struggled to get into it again reattempting it a few years back. I still think it does another of things well; story, presentation, level varietily and art style at least. Gameplay maybe has not stood test of time unfortunately which makes it a chore to get through.
I personally would have given it an 8.5, mostly due to the fact that there just isn't that much in the game, but it's an amazing single-player experience, with fantastic production values.
I would say you were a wee bit generous with your score, but a review is just an opinion, and you expressed your views pretty well. I agree that the Sixaxis controls were used to great effect in this game. Take a note, Factor 5.
i did the same thing. i borrowed it from my friend then after i completed it i went out and bought it.
its a great experience but id have to disagree with you guys id give it a 10 too in gameplay as im playing it for the 5th time now and i cant get enough
I thought this game was a 9, i played the demo and instantly bought it.... i just need uncharted to add to my ps3 exclusive game collection.