With Q4’s onslaught of top billing games that I’ve yet to play, I’m glad Boomerang decided to finally send me Heavenly Sword, a PS3 title from September 2007; at least it lived up to its sender’s name. At just eight hours total gameplay, it returned as quickly as it arrived. The game’s minimal length has seen it docked marks in quite a few reviews. Is that fair? I think a video game can be more of a sojourn than a journey, as long as the trip remains enjoyable. In this case, however, the reviews are right. Heavenly Sword suffers for its abridgement in quite a few ways.

(Spoiler Alert) Visually speaking, the game remains stunning sixteen months post-release. Clearly aided by Andy Serkis’ involvement, the cut scenes are wonderfully cinematic. The high production values give it the feel of a summer blockbuster movie. Leading lady Nariko is a particular highlight. She has a classic feminine visage and wears skimpy pastel clothing, but this both belies and emphasises how she is hated by her own clan for being a woman, as she was supposed to be the male heir to her clan’s prophecy. What I like about her is how her sex plays into how she is treated and who she becomes. She is strong and independent, but also vulnerable and pained by a life of exile and rebuke. It gives her something close to the darker sides of Batman’s history as an unappreciated, despised hero. As the game plays out, she gets broken down by the ever increasing fury the Heavenly Sword produces in her. It gives rise to powerful cut scenes where Nariko bellows out passionate soliloquies directly at the camera, even at times gripping and shaking it in helpless anger. Maybe it’s harsh to criticise the game’s length for this, but I felt there was a lot to discover with Nariko, and as such I wanted to know far more about her before the game concluded. In fact, I think Sony have really missed a beat here when you consider how players have become increasingly disinterested with the toils of sexpot Lara Croft. Here you have a beautiful and distinctive female character with a past and personality that’s actually interesting. So what do Sony do? Kill her off at the game’s end. Not only did they fail to properly explore her, but they ensured any future exploration is gonna be unlikely.

Nariko's appearance is highly sexualised, and yet she retains depth and intrigue borne out of an interesting backstory.

So what about the gameplay? Well, more seasoned hack-and-slashers than I will undoubtedly find fault in the dodgy countering mechanics and lack of a block button. They’ll likely appreciate the flexibility of the three moveset stances and how they have variable efficacy depending on which enemies they’re up against. At the end of the day, I’m not sure any of that matters, because ultimately Heavenly Sword’s long array of combinations are just too difficult to remember. This is because they don’t offer anything to associate with the two face buttons used in attacks. Heavenly Sword’s combos just stick these buttons together in a random order, and what’s produced has no relevance to the input. Even Soulcalibur IV’s encyclopaedic catalogue of combos feels simple in comparison, because each button press represents a general type of move. All this really does is promote button-mashing, which is hardly the base for a deep and involved action game. Admittedly, once it’s gotten to grips with, it does feel satisfying. Nariko’s an enjoyably potent force when she’s played right, and the enemy AI offer up a good challenge that’s engaging. Sadly it takes about half the length of a very short game to get to that point. Add in some awful Sixaxis (which is in fairness optional) implemented in some tacked on flight-guiding gameplay, and Heavenly Sword’s absence from the pantheon of truly great video games is pretty much ensured.

The feeling I had when Heavenly Sword concluded was that it was a decent game that should have been a classic. It’s ridiculously pretty, it has excellent and unique characters including the heroine herself, and despite my criticisms there’s actually a respectable combat engine lurking inside it. Unfortunately, its brevity only serves to highlight what could’ve been done and what mistakes were made. At the moment a sequel looks unlikely, given that developer Ninja Theory have announced they’re not in line to make it. So, should Sony get behind Heavenly Sword 2? A lot of changes would need to be made, but there are still the makings of really classic video game within that IP. Plus Heavenly Sword did manage to sell over a million copies, so it’s got an install base to attack. As long as they say “sod it” and bring back Nariko, I’m sold.

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