Come fall, red will be the new black. From the crimson blood of sliced enemies to the copper locks of the game’s protagonist, Heavenly Sword promises to redefine style with its colorful action gameplay. We went hands-on with Heavenly Sword this week during Sony Computer Entertainment America Gamers’ Day, experiencing firsthand the ironic satisfaction an action game without blood can bring.
Despite its rap as a hardcore action title, Producer Kyle Shubel claims that Heavenly Sword is more than just a mindless hack-and-slash action game. “We want to engage you, draw you into an emotionally engaging experience.” As the gorgeous opening cinematic faded out, the primary emotion was adrenaline in anticipation of the bloodshed about to occur on-screen. The playable portion of the demonstration started with an intense button-pressing sequence that had us running across giant ropes supporting a small platform in the middle of a deep canyon. Tapping the face buttons and direction buttons allowed us to successfully run across the ropes and avoid incoming enemy arrows. Once we landed safely on the platform, we entered into combat with a small group of opponents. Moving from the rope-supported platform, the demonstration reached a second and final stage in which we battled wave after wave of enemies in a small circular arena.
“Combat is at the heart of Heavenly Sword,” asserts Shubel, who illustrates the game’s fighting mechanics which consists of three stances. The speed stance is the default, which enables quick hits, evades, and counterattacks. Holding down L1 triggers the ranged stance that offers distanced strikes against enemies. Finally, pressing on R1 allows you to enter into power stance, affording you heavy attacks with a large sword. Switching between the three stances is vital in effectively taking out foes that swarm you in the game. For example, you might land a few hits on a couple distant enemies in ranged stance only to quickly switch to speed stance as they crowd closer. You can push a bunch of foes back and then change to power stance to finish them off. Since the stances are mapped to the top shoulder buttons, it’s extremely easy to switch on-the-fly and you’re more than encouraged in the game to do so.
Across all three fighting stances, you use the same combat controls. Square and triangle execute basic attacks, whereas circle lets you pull off a super style move. As you dispatch opponents, you earn style points that go toward filling a style gauge. Completely fill this gauge and tap circle for a devastating special move. Think God of War finishing moves without all of the button-pressing.
At any time you can interact with objects in the surrounding environment and use them in combat. Tap the X button when next to an object and you can use it to attack an enemy. In our short time with the game, we managed to pick up a broken chair and throw it at a dumbstruck foe, as well as desecrate a fresh corpse by swinging it at other enemies. The level of interactivity seems quite high for an action title of this type, which could help to make Heavenly Sword incredibly varied.
As tight as the combat system may seem, Heavenly Sword has a number of issues that need to be addressed before it can make its intended fall release. Enemy intelligence appears to be lacking, evidenced by the fact that most will circle you rather than attempt to attack you. Not only does it make the game unbelievable, but also rather easy at this stage of development.
Also needing tuning is use of Sixaxis motion controls, which currently are utilized for camera movement. Tilt the controller and the screen will pan in the corresponding direction. This is a novel idea at best, a tacked on use of the Sixaxis. Should Ninja Theory tackle both these issues aggressively in the next few months, Heavenly Sword could prove fierce competition for other third-person action titles such as Devil May Cry 4. We certainly hope this ends up being the case, as potential for a fantastic game is definitely there.
