Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
My thirst for Hack 'n Slash games continued and I wanted to revisit more classics that I never got to experience. The creators of Hellblade and DMC actually made a game that received a lot of hype for the PlayStation 3. This game was Heavenly Sword. It was supposed to be a showcase of the PlayStation 3's graphical power with gorgeous graphics, fluid combat and epic vistas involving hundreds of characters.
The result was unfortunately a bit lackluster and even today it is still a mixed bag. There are some pretty impressive scenes where you fight as the young Nariko amidst hundreds of soldiers in epic battles. It really feels like one of those games that wanted to show how many units it could conjure on the television screen. We kind of lost those types of games nowadays.
But the combat itself is indeed pretty good with responsive combos, great finishers and different stances to add variety. But enemies are often way too spongy in terms of health and the battles themselves can sometimes get repetitive when you go from room to room fighting the exact same bad guys.
There are segments where you play as little Kai who has a long distance weapon that you can control with motion controls. This simply feels like a gimmick and these sections also outlast their welcome. Controlling an arrow is slow motion can indeed be fun, but it is no longer fun when you do it for the 26th time.
The best part is probably the acting as the cutscenes are of a really high quality. Andy Serkis does a great job portraying the main antagonist despite there being a bit of weird humor here and there. I am happy that I finally got to experience this game as it holds a special place in history, but I do not think I will revisit this again in the future.
#heavenlysword #playstation3 #ps3 #retrogames #retrogaming #andyserkis #ninjatheory
My thirst for Hack 'n Slash games continued and I wanted to revisit more classics that I never got to experience. The creators of Hellblade and DMC actually made a game that received a lot of hype for the PlayStation 3. This game was Heavenly Sword. It was supposed to be a showcase of the PlayStation 3's graphical power with gorgeous graphics, fluid combat and epic vistas involving hundreds of characters.
The result was unfortunately a bit lackluster and even today it is still a mixed bag. There are some pretty impressive scenes where you fight as the young Nariko amidst hundreds of soldiers in epic battles. It really feels like one of those games that wanted to show how many units it could conjure on the television screen. We kind of lost those types of games nowadays.
But the combat itself is indeed pretty good with responsive combos, great finishers and different stances to add variety. But enemies are often way too spongy in terms of health and the battles themselves can sometimes get repetitive when you go from room to room fighting the exact same bad guys.
There are segments where you play as little Kai who has a long distance weapon that you can control with motion controls. This simply feels like a gimmick and these sections also outlast their welcome. Controlling an arrow is slow motion can indeed be fun, but it is no longer fun when you do it for the 26th time.
The best part is probably the acting as the cutscenes are of a really high quality. Andy Serkis does a great job portraying the main antagonist despite there being a bit of weird humor here and there. I am happy that I finally got to experience this game as it holds a special place in history, but I do not think I will revisit this again in the future.
#heavenlysword #playstation3 #ps3 #retrogames #retrogaming #andyserkis #ninjatheory
