Offical Heavenly Sword Thread (Current GStat av score = 8.0)

[quote name='Apossum']the day they start doing online multiplayer deathmatches for action games is the day I quit gaming. keep that shit in the FPS genre.[/QUOTE]

Agreed.


[quote name='The Mana Knight']QFT.

From what I heard, the single player is around 8-12 hours, I think. That's not too bad, because most action games are on the shorter side. I don't really care, as long as it was very enjoyable (like I beat Zone of the Enders in just over 4 hours, but it was one of the most memorable experiences ever).[/QUOTE]

Personally I am hoping at least 12hrs if not more. I really like long action games, because there are way to many short ones. Genji anyone? For me Ninja Gaiden was just the right length and for me it wasn't repetitive. Now if Heavenly sword is too repetitive then 8hrs might be a good thing.
 
To CheapyD and Wombat

beat/shoot/slice-em-up games do not need jump buttons. If you focus on the fighting, and don't bother with quirky platforming then there's no need for a jump button.

I'd rather lose the jump than have those stupid deathtrap puzzles from God of War.

Now, jumping was used well for Devil May Cry, also in the same genre, but it was a kind of rock and roll demon hero kind of game.

The removal of the jump does highlight the combat in that you can't simply jump over a crowd of guys in your way. If you want to get to the door on the other side of the room it's you and 15+ soldiers in your way.

Also, just take the time to read the multiple control pages, and try some of the combos.

I just don't like how this game was glossed over, but then the 360 segment gets even more time over nothing.
 
[quote name='psunami']Just got another one of the GAP emails with the video links.

The anime video is quite good again.[/QUOTE]

I hope they keep releasing them on Psn.
 
[quote name='Silent Assassin120']I hope they keep releasing them on Psn.[/QUOTE]

From what I've read, they will keep releasing them on there the week that they come out.
 
[quote name='psunami']From what I've read, they will keep releasing them on there the week that they come out.[/quote]

Yep.

1st via G.A.P.
2nd PSN on Thursdays.
 
[quote name='psunami']From what I've read, they will keep releasing them on there the week that they come out.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='NamPaehc']Yep.

1st via G.A.P.
2nd PSN on Thursdays.[/QUOTE]

Awesome, you can't beat that. :D
 
[quote name='NamPaehc']1st via G.A.P. MONDAY's, should mention that too. :)

Here is a new image from a mag... Just because. :razz:

[/QUOTE]

:drool: Very nice just because. ;) I already d/l the HS making of and the other HS anime from the Psn store and was impressed. I think it's pretty cool they are putting them up there, I'll be able to have the whole series then. ;)
 
The man who is Gollum and King Kong gets his first game role.

Andy Serkis is best known for playing Gollum and Smeagol in Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings trilogy, but he's also motion-captured the giant ape in King Kong, played Moors murderer Ian Brady and sung on stage with Tenacious D. Now he's playing despot King Bohan in Heavenly Sword. PSM3 caught up with him in London.

You've played Gollum who was quite evil, King Kong - who was sort of nice - and now the king, who seems totally evil again. Which is the most fun?

Andy Serkis: They're all interesting, it just depends how they're written. You can have badly written bad guys. What was appealing about this project was acting in a new medium and bringing truthfully-captured characters into a videogame environment. Also, I came on board mainly as the dramatic director, so I got involved in the early stages of the character development, casting and rehearsal.

The other actresses were saying this was their first motion-capture experience. What kind of advice did you give them?

AS: The main thing is that there's really no difference between acting and motion-capturing. The research, the trying to embody a character is the same. But the main thing about motion-capture is that you're sort of puppeteering a version of yourself. You can calibrate that by manipulating certain things about your personality.

We've read that you spent a while studying monkeys in preparation for Kong. Did you do anything at all like that for Heavenly Sword?

AS: Well, Bohan was this dictator that created his own moral universe where he was right. Rather than just playing an evil guy, you have to sort of believe in what you're doing - most dictators do. So I've been reading about dictators. Also, I'm pretty hopeless at games, but I've been getting familiar with them. I love playing Shadow Of The Colossus, just riding round on my horse looking for colossi. I haven't actually found any yet, though.

Part of the beauty of motion-capturing is that you can play any character. Bearing that in mind, if you were designing a character for yourself, what would it be like? We'd definitely be a ninja robot...

AS: Well, I don't think there's much point motion-capturing a human character. So even these characters, what they are, they're slightly heightened and exaggerated. I always like to play that sort of character, but I can't think of anything specific right now.

Are we right in thinking this is the first time when more than one character's been motion-captured at once? Does that make it easier?

AS: Well yes, because it's like shooting a film. It's much easier when you've got other people to work with...

Can you see a time when people get academy awards for their performance in a videogame?

AS: Well, I'm slightly ambivalent about the difference between playing a character and being motion-captured. It's no different from being in costume, except that instead of having synthetic materials on your face you've been captured in a game. Simple as that.
Click to expand...
 
10GB of sound in Heavenly Sword.

Ninja Theory's Heavenly Sword has some beautiful music -- anyone with the demo can testify to that. An interview with lead audio Tom Colvin has quantified the developer's focus on aural satisfaction: 10 GB of sound data is included in the game, according to Develop.

That sizable number includes approximately three and a half hours of music, sound effects and 4,500 lines of dialog. "There's an hour and a half's worth of cut scenes in eleven languages," said SCEE's Garry Taylor.

A dual layer DVD disc has an 8.5 GB capacity; will Sony be touting that its competition couldn't even fit the audio onto their discs? We'd be surprised if they showed restraint.
Click to expand...
 
Regardless of whether it's compressed or not (light compression can be a good thing when loading off the drive), the bluray was utilized here.

Despite what the naysayers said about not using all the space, I think it's a case of, give them the ability, and they will use it.

Epic just announced that they'll have to cut some levels from the 360 release of UT3 because they can't fit it on the DVD.
 
Hmm well I'm not sure if its about compression. I just know that it'll have all the regions' data on one disc which I think is the reason it takes up a good chunk of disc.
 
[quote name='NamPaehc']Hmm well I'm not sure if its about compression. I just know that it'll have all the regions' data on one disc which I think is the reason it takes up a good chunk of disc.[/quote]Which is neat, if I play through more than once, I'll be doing so in another language.
 
[quote name='dallow']Which is neat, WHEN I play through it more than once, I'll be doing so in another language.[/quote]

Fixed. :lol:
 
Haha, his other videos are great too.

Fable and The Darkness.
Seems like he's going to be doing them once a week now, every Wednesday.
 
hahaha when she cuts the rope and falls on a bunch of men doing manly things like arm wrestling and grunting.. hahahahahah

too good :lol:
 
I just received the September issue of Play Magazine yesterday featuring the Heavenly Sword cover. I know the writers, especially Halverson, can be over-the-top in their reviews and scores are often inflated. With that being said, HS scored a 10 with the only negative being the 6-8 hour length. That doesn't bother me a bit since it sounds as though it's so good you'll want to replay it often. I still remember paying $80 (!) for Streets of Rage 2 which can be beaten in under an hour on co-op, but it's still one of my favorites just because it's so fun to go back to. For what it's worth, it sounds like what's there on disc is awesome, but those expecting a 12-15 hour length game may be just a little disappointed.
 
You mentioned Play with their over the top scores.

But I read somewhere that there are two Play magazines, and the good one is the one that has given HS a 10 whereas the questionable one is the version that gave Sonic PS3 a 9.
 
[quote name='dallow']You mentioned Play with their over the top scores.

But I read somewhere that there are two Play magazines, and the good one is the one that has given HS a 10 whereas the questionable one is the version that gave Sonic PS3 a 9.[/QUOTE]

There is a Play UK magazine, but this is the Play published in the U.S. which is responsible both for the Sonic 9 and now the Heavenly Sword 10.
 
More details on the 10GB audio that mentions dual layer BD:


A developer from Ninja theory responds to the recent news about the developers using over 10GB of space for only Heavenly Sword audio.

The developers came very close to using a dual layer blu-ray disc because even with the size of the single layer blu-ray disc, they were having problems fitting all all of the game’s audio data onto a single layer blu- ray disc. According to the developer :

“We use a mixture of compressed and uncompressed, but lots were compressed for the reasons people have stated.
Make no doubt, fitting all the audio in and not stuttering and being the the highest quality we could get wasn’t easy, it was quite a problem even with the size of blu-ray. At one point we seriously considered dual layer Blu-ray cos of disk space issues.”

He further states that, as a result, the possibility of us seeing double layer blu-ray games should be really soon as , their first game for the PS3 almost occupied the whole space offered by a single layer blu-ray disc.

Ninja theory dev:

“Dual Layer BD is very real, as I said we very nearly became the first PS3 title to use it and this wasn’t just a random thought, it was seriously considered (including our publisher doing costing and manufacturing calculations).”
Click to expand...
 
[quote name='Inf^Shini']What is this GAP and how can I get in? :whistle2:s[/quote]I'm not allowed to tell.

gamers advisory panel or something, it's a little group Sony made, they pick random people who are PS Underground members, they usually get first dibs on cool stuff, and put into betas, i just got a random email from PSU yesterday asking me to sign up
 
[quote name='NamPaehc']IGN UK review - 7.0[/QUOTE]



wow, so that's Lair, Warhawk, and now Heavenly Sword all getting tepid reviews.

looks like Ratchet and Clank and Drake's Fortune will have to pick up the slack.
 
sucks about the review, but UK has always killed games when reviewing, I can see US IGN giving it a 8.5 or even higher
 
[quote name='ighosty']sucks about the review, but UK has always killed games when reviewing, I can see US IGN giving it a 8.5 or even higher[/quote]That same reviewer gave Just Cause an 8.8 and Red Steel an 8.0.
Go figure.
 
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/815/815031p1.html

So, all that in mind, is Heavenly Sword a bad game? No, it’s not – although it certainly seems that someone, somewhere, forgot to ensure they were piling those glorious peripheral trimmings on a game worthy of all that Sony gold. Combat is undoubtedly the title’s strength and offers some immensely satisfying thrills when you actually get your hands on your sword. Projectile combat, too, is entertaining in its own right – although nowhere near enough to carry such lengthy sequences as is demanded here. What you’re paying for then with Heavenly Sword is the grandiose spectacle, the overblown production values and the chance to show just what your PS3’s capable of when given the chance. It’s a benchmark in presentation for console gaming and the lavishness of the show might well be enough for you to overcome the game’s significant failings. There’s definitely some kind of fun to be had here – albeit of the one-engaged brain cell variety – but make no mistake: Heavenly Sword takes the age-old mantra of style over substance and drags it kicking and screaming into the next generation.
Click to expand...

7/10

Looks like the concern I had reflects in the full version of the game. A real pity too since this game had so much potential.
 
[quote name='cdeener']Dude, it is just one review. It's call play the game for yourself then give an impression on it and not just a demo.[/QUOTE]

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.
Click to expand...

Seems pretty clearcut to me. And play gives everything a 10.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top