Heavenly Sword

 PlayStation 3
  • Publisher: SCEA
  • Release Date: Sep 12, 2007
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 651 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 470 out of 651
  2. Mixed: 105 out of 651
  3. Negative: 76 out of 651
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  1. GameMan2005
    Aug 29, 2023
    10
    This game is incredible. Nariko is such a sexy and cool chick, one of the best protagonists ever.
  2. eva3si0n
    Jul 15, 2023
    4
    Heavenly Sword is impossible to play normally on PS3 in 2023. I don't know what it looks like on the emulator on the PC, but on PS3 the game is just technically terrible. First of all, it is outdated in gameplay, and looks much worse in this regard even than the sequel to God of War. Sixaxis elements have been added to the gameplay (a terrible solution in Sony first wave exclusives onHeavenly Sword is impossible to play normally on PS3 in 2023. I don't know what it looks like on the emulator on the PC, but on PS3 the game is just technically terrible. First of all, it is outdated in gameplay, and looks much worse in this regard even than the sequel to God of War. Sixaxis elements have been added to the gameplay (a terrible solution in Sony first wave exclusives on PS3). Graphically, the game does not look bad and clearly better than games of its time, but what's the point when your game does not even go to 30FPS, but in floating 20-25? How can you play a 25-frame slasher, and if there are more opponents on the screen, the FPS value can drop to 20-22 frames. It's just unplayable. Surprisingly, this is the debut project of Ninja Theory. Because not the setting, not the main character, not the plot (at least the first 4 hours) are not impressive. If you released a remaster on PS5, you can still give the game a second chance, and so this game is literally buried with PS3.… Expand
  3. BlakkSteel
    Jan 24, 2023
    9
    This is a very good game!! It's reminiscent of God Of War series in some gameplay mechanics, but not completely. It definitely has its own identity. Solid story, good character models & acting. Story was wrapped up fairly neat, that any sequel would've been a reach. It could be remastered, & add trophies to it.
  4. web10177
    Oct 2, 2022
    0
    This game was not enjoyable to play. Bad controls, bad performance, and forced six-axis functionality just makes it frustrating to play at every given moment. You get to die a lot in this game or lose because of the time expiring for all the wrong reasons and the game doesn't allow you to be rewarded properly. Graphics looks dated, but still okayish. Didn't find the story interestingThis game was not enjoyable to play. Bad controls, bad performance, and forced six-axis functionality just makes it frustrating to play at every given moment. You get to die a lot in this game or lose because of the time expiring for all the wrong reasons and the game doesn't allow you to be rewarded properly. Graphics looks dated, but still okayish. Didn't find the story interesting either. So I would not recommend this game, no matter how hyped up this game was. It simply doesn't hold up and bring about a smooth experience.… Expand
  5. Ez1459
    May 16, 2022
    10
    great game amazing visuals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  6. TeaFan556
    Apr 16, 2022
    7
    [RU}
    Хорошая игра. Очень разнообразная, с интересным сюжетом и колоритными персонажами. Но не могу рекомендовать ее всем подряд. Игра не идеальная, пс3 ее еле вытягивает. Я бы сказал, что она на любителя, но таких найдется много.    [RU}
    Хорошая игра. Очень разнообразная, с интересным сюжетом и колоритными персонажами. Но не могу рекомендовать ее всем подряд. Игра не идеальная, пс3 ее еле вытягивает. Я бы сказал, что она на любителя, но таких найдется много.
  7. JJ2FAS4U
    Dec 28, 2021
    8
    Atmosphere: 9
    Enjoyment: 9
    Gameplay: 5
    Graphics: 6
    Music: 7
    Story: 9
    Total: 7.50
  8. JoseManuel10_
    Dec 21, 2021
    8
    Heavenly Sword is a action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Ninja Theory and published by Sony Computer Entertainment
  9. Vellinaria
    Oct 19, 2021
    3
    Maybe the worst hack and slash I've ever played. Horrible performance, the shooting with the sixaxes is TERRIBLE. Maybe 1 dollar sale is ok.
  10. BatmanTheNr1
    Oct 3, 2021
    7
    interesting story, visually stunning, music was great but the gameplay lacks.
  11. Abnikum
    Jul 22, 2021
    0
    One of the worst games on ps3
    A terrible action movie, the character has no response, the feeling that I am playing with a log that even a roll cannot do normally, the combo simply does not exist, the hero without his sword cannot do anything to the enemy
  12. AJCk19
    Jul 12, 2021
    4
    The female Kratos, except not as good. Try playing a demo before you buy. So in this way you can see what I'm saying.
  13. ChunkDump
    Dec 22, 2020
    8
    the "god of war clone" is far from that actually. for those that actually played it understand this **** is dying the whole game. despite it being a short story (depending on the difficulty) the different styles from the same sword is dope and very distinctive move sets with finishers make it a fun AND short ride.
  14. Dr_Unk
    Oct 12, 2020
    8
    This game was good! Thought it was too short for the asking price, Plus the move sets where a little more complex than they needed to be. Other than that, this game is alright
  15. D45T4N
    Jul 18, 2020
    9
    Great game with awesome cutscenes, great models of main characters, original story and enternaining gameplay. Unfortunately the game is a little bit short, and since Ninja Theory and Sony separated their ways it looks like we will never get a sequel, a remake, or even a remaster, what is really sad.
    P.S. That guy from Sony who though that using gamepad as montion controller is a great    Great game with awesome cutscenes, great models of main characters, original story and enternaining gameplay. Unfortunately the game is a little bit short, and since Ninja Theory and Sony separated their ways it looks like we will never get a sequel, a remake, or even a remaster, what is really sad.
    P.S. That guy from Sony who though that using gamepad as montion controller is a great idea and forced this feature in Motorstorm, Heavenly Sword, Lair, and so on, is a very evil person and I wish he feels bad.    … Expand
  16. ty92
    Mar 8, 2020
    9
    I just bought this game now in 2020 and wow! This game holds up incredibly well for coming out in 2007. It's the best looking PS3 game I've played. The fight animations are awesome! My only problem so far is the audio. The characters are talking ahead of the character animation. It's weird and I haven't seen it in a game this bad before. I will update this review when I finish the game.
  17. cradlenrain
    Mar 3, 2020
    0
    I've been looking forward for AGES to play Heavenly Sword. As Enslaved was one of my favorite games of all time and Ninja Theory knows how to make thought-provoking story given games with incredible voice acting. Finally got PS now and first game I streamed up to play was Heavenly Sword...

    Good lord. The screen tearing every 2 seconds made it hard to focus and the fps drop made it feel    I've been looking forward for AGES to play Heavenly Sword. As Enslaved was one of my favorite games of all time and Ninja Theory knows how to make thought-provoking story given games with incredible voice acting. Finally got PS now and first game I streamed up to play was Heavenly Sword...

    Good lord. The screen tearing every 2 seconds made it hard to focus and the fps drop made it feel like I was playing Crisis 1 on my old ass potato PC.

    -Terrible performance issues/screen tearing. I felt like R Kelly's **** in prison watching this game on my TV.

    - I can forgive the graphics aging badly since it is a game made in 2007, but no mercy for choosing that colorless gray bland palette so many game developers go for to save memory. Everything in this game is **** gray. With the exception of Nariko and Kai and Bohan and sneaky sneaky snake chick every wall, enemy and weapon is as colorful and exciting as Joe Biden giving a speech.

    -The AWFUL AWFUL generic button mashing combat.

    -The GOD awful delayed QTE boss ending fights. Took me about 20 QTE fails during the flying Fox fight even though I was clearly pressing the buttons when they prompted.

    -The worst aiming system ever implemented in a video game. I've never raged so hard trying to complete basic 3 glyphs in any mission that involved Kai's aiming. If every aiming sequence in this game was removed this game would be a solid 6/10 carried by its story and voice acting.

    The positives

    +Bohan. This guy in my opinion is the best voice actor I've ever seen. Seeing him come to life with his voice and motion capture in Heavenly Sword is a sight to behold. The scenes he has with Flying Fox are hilarious.

    + The story metaphors about feudal China wanting to kill their daughters at birth. The perfect comparisons between strong Nariko and that fat ugly son Bohan has implement it even further.

    + When Nariko "breaks the 4th wall" at the end of a chapter and looks towards you(or the Gods of her sword) to not abandon her.

    + Kai's severe damaged state is adorable and reminds me of Ed from Cowboy Bebop. The inspiration is great.

    Overall I looked forward to this game forever and the surprise was that it was the most disappointing game I have ever played in years. It reminded me of No More Heroes 2. How great hype and marketing can overshadow how bad a video game can be.    … Expand
  18. Vzhik
    Dec 23, 2018
    5
    Крепкий середняк. Просто слешер. Последнего босса не стал убивать. Можно и пропустить :-)
  19. iddqd4
    Mar 16, 2018
    9
    Первая проба пера игровой студии Ninja Theory, которая в будущем подарит далеко не одно крутое произведение.
  20. Broyax
    Apr 12, 2017
    2
    Encore un "bats-les-tous" idiot (c'est inhérent au genre) mais surtout chiant comme la pluie un dimanche de novembre à Dunkerque. La caméra n'a que deux degrés de liberté (à gauche et à droite) ce qui est très insuffisant pour appréhender l'environnement.

    Certes le jeu n'est pas trop vilain graphiquement et la version française intégrale est de bonne facture mais on peine à être motivé    Encore un "bats-les-tous" idiot (c'est inhérent au genre) mais surtout chiant comme la pluie un dimanche de novembre à Dunkerque. La caméra n'a que deux degrés de liberté (à gauche et à droite) ce qui est très insuffisant pour appréhender l'environnement.

    Certes le jeu n'est pas trop vilain graphiquement et la version française intégrale est de bonne facture mais on peine à être motivé par cette histoire grotesque tout droit sortie d'un mauvais Soul Calibur et cette ambiance sino-japonaise neuneu et déjà rabâchée mille fois : on s'en fout totalement. Un navet de plus sur la PlaieStassion3.    … Expand
  21. dabyd1304
    Mar 31, 2017
    3
    ¿Como puso ser uno de los títulos de lanzamiento de PS3?
    Ya conocía la escasa calidad de la tercera consola de Sony. La potencia de la consola es bastante lamentable, su construcción y periféricos son mediocres y su interfaz parece construida por alguien que no ha sabido adaptarse a los nuevos tiempos.
    Sin embargo, lo que importan son sus juegos. Uno de los primeros en llegar a la    ¿Como puso ser uno de los títulos de lanzamiento de PS3?
    Ya conocía la escasa calidad de la tercera consola de Sony. La potencia de la consola es bastante lamentable, su construcción y periféricos son mediocres y su interfaz parece construida por alguien que no ha sabido adaptarse a los nuevos tiempos.

    Sin embargo, lo que importan son sus juegos. Uno de los primeros en llegar a la consola fue este título de Ninja Theory. Sabíamos por donde iban a ir los tiros, por una suerte de Ninja Gaiden alternativo. Y básicamente tiene todas las carencias que poseían los juegos de esa saga.

    No era de esperar un gran guión, ni nada nunca visto antes. Heavenly Sword está diseñado como demo de las capacidades técnicas de la consola. Y como tal, es donde fracasa estrepitosamente. El juego está completamente roto por intentar buscar un buen apartado visual. Por culpa de esto, se han descuidado el resto de apartados, incluido el mas importante a nivel técnico, la fluidez.

    Podría haber sido un juego de aprobado justito pero es completamente injugable. No se como en su momento se pudo pasar y dejar que el resto de compañías hicieran lo mismo al comienzo de vida de PS3.    … Expand
  22. XxJoseManuelxX
    Aug 27, 2016
    8
    Heavenly Sword is a action-adventure, hack and slash developed by Ninja Theory and published by Sony Computer Entertainment.

    + Fun Combat
    + Good Story and Characters
    - Repetitive
  23. fludziom
    Jul 23, 2016
    0
    This game can’t go without a bad review. For me it’s the worst game in recent memory. Surly the worst ps3 exclusive. I’m deeply disappointed with Ninja Theory that they released turd like this. I played ‘Enslaved’ by them and it wasn’t nearly as bad. I was expecting the same kind of experience. I was very wrong. The only good thing in this failed God of War clone are the visuals and maybeThis game can’t go without a bad review. For me it’s the worst game in recent memory. Surly the worst ps3 exclusive. I’m deeply disappointed with Ninja Theory that they released turd like this. I played ‘Enslaved’ by them and it wasn’t nearly as bad. I was expecting the same kind of experience. I was very wrong. The only good thing in this failed God of War clone are the visuals and maybe the main antagonist. He was well-acted was sometimes funny. Everything else has been created to frustrate you. Starting with inhumanly unintuitive controls, through the most ridiculous shooting mechanics I have ever seen in a game, to insanely frustrating boss fights. You thought Dark Souls was difficult, think again, play this mess and you will see. Dark Souls is a cakewalk comparing to this. I finished Darks Souls three times I know what I’m talking about. Last chapter of this crap is one gigantic boss fight. There is no difficulty setting. Most of the game is rather easy and frustrating because of the shooting mechanic, but nothing comparing to the final boss fight. The final boss is absurdly difficult. One of the worst difficulty spikes in the gaming history. It gets better. When you thought you beat the bastard there comes a QTE sequence, if you fail it, guess what, the boss gains a health boost and you need to keep fighting. After countless attempts I finally beat it. Up until the boss fight I had spent 6 hours playing the game. Beating the boss took me ridiculous 5 hours on top of that and I’m not terrible at games. I was so hyped for the upcoming Hellblade from Ninja Theory, but now I’m seriously worried it would become something like this. Very disappointing game. Absolute waste of time and money… Expand
  24. Px4_Storm
    May 3, 2016
    10
    I rented this game back when it was released, did not get enough exposure and everything about it was burned into my memory forever. Finally bought it and I absolutely love this game. Nariko is one bad B****!
  25. RECON-UK
    Nov 1, 2015
    9
    This took me by surprise, especially now it is 2015. Firstly... graphics... wow, have you really seen as good character animation anywhere else? Overall the visual representation is quite a sight to behold!
    The characters themselves have actual character! they seem like living breathing people, unlike the majority of the games out there... you truly feel sucked into it, the developers of    This took me by surprise, especially now it is 2015. Firstly... graphics... wow, have you really seen as good character animation anywhere else? Overall the visual representation is quite a sight to behold!
    The characters themselves have actual character! they seem like living breathing people, unlike the majority of the games out there... you truly feel sucked into it, the developers of this game did themselves really proud, and should be commended for a 2007 release as high quality as this is! I am only giving this a 9 due to the final boss battle which is just pure tedium.    … Expand
  26. AlienSpaceBats
    Apr 29, 2015
    7
    A (mostly) enjoyable linear third-person hack & slash adventure in the God of War vein. Visually excellent; a unique style with a lot of effort put into character models, environments, motion capture performances and voice acting. Very much an early 7th gen console game, uses Sixaxis features (but this is horrible, and can be turned off) with lots of bonus materials to unlock. Gameplay isA (mostly) enjoyable linear third-person hack & slash adventure in the God of War vein. Visually excellent; a unique style with a lot of effort put into character models, environments, motion capture performances and voice acting. Very much an early 7th gen console game, uses Sixaxis features (but this is horrible, and can be turned off) with lots of bonus materials to unlock. Gameplay is enjoyable enough; button mashy with an emphasis on combos. Some irritating design decisions do appear (for example dodge/roll is bound to the right analog stick, relies too much on QTEs), mostly good in terms of performance with some screen tearing when viewing larger vistas, load times can seem excessive but do not ruin the experience. Pretty good!… Expand
  27. beatlemnkyhuman
    Jan 31, 2015
    9
    Stunning visuals, amazing combat, amazing story, amazing characters and a great counter system.

    I suggest turning off the sixaxis and using french language.

    Amazing, Excellent even.

    The camera did get in the way a few times and I felt the last boss was unnecessarily difficult.

    Still, an amazing action/beat em up that set the standard for ps3 games to follow.
  28. aspentitan
    Jan 23, 2015
    7
    I've played too many games to enjoy hack and slash games but this is an older title which is kinda known to be a hidden gem for a reasonable price nowadays so i decided to check it out. I did find the gameplay pretty boring and repetitive (that may just be me) but i really did enjoy a lot of the aspects of this game. I found the artwork and graphics nice and the levels fast and easy toI've played too many games to enjoy hack and slash games but this is an older title which is kinda known to be a hidden gem for a reasonable price nowadays so i decided to check it out. I did find the gameplay pretty boring and repetitive (that may just be me) but i really did enjoy a lot of the aspects of this game. I found the artwork and graphics nice and the levels fast and easy to complete. I give especially high marks to the characters in this game they were beyond awesome and i don't think you could do a better job in a game. I really felt each character as their own identity and this is the sole reason i kept playing this game. Overall a decent game even in 2015 this is worth playing just for experiencing how well the characters are. The gameplay was for me disappointing and it felt as most of the game was a demo for the new at the time sixasis controllers abilitities. If the story and characters were not as they were id say this game is a dime a dozen but the characters were that good. Solid game with no glitches and overall I would recommend this at todays used game prices. Not a must play but a good game for a 10hr or less investment.… Expand
  29. SpawnCap
    Jan 12, 2015
    8
    Excellent hack & slash game. Strange how this game has better graphics with better frame rate than games out nowadays. This game is a button masher but still enjoy it, especially enjoy the bullet view arrow shots that can be controlled by character.
  30. Freddo222
    Dec 19, 2014
    9
    A good game with incredible graphics, nice gameplay and superb voiceacting. You can pick it now up for real cheap so if you like hack and slash games you should give this one a try.
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Awards & Rankings

32
#32 Best PS3 Game of 2007
7
#7 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2007
6
#6 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2007

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 64 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 47 out of 64
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 64
  3. Negative: 0 out of 64
  1. Play Magazine
    100
    What MotorStorm has become to racing and Odin Sphere to action role-playing, Heavenly Sword is now to 3D action: Perfection. [Sept 2007, p.17]
  2. GamePro
    90
    So, while it doesn't eclipse the greatness of the original title that inspired it, Heavenly Sword is still a fun, engaging, and most importantly, exclusive PS3 title that Sony fanboys can brag to 360 fanboys about.
    Read full review
  3. IGN
    70
    Heavenly Sword's presentation is stellar and nicely ties the action sequences together, but we just wish that the same amount of care that went into these cutscenes were applied to the game's pacing.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »