Heavenly Sword demo'd

126 Comments by James Ransom-Wiley Jul 26th 2007 3:59PM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action, Adventure

That was it...? As the most significant chunk of data to hit PSN since Gran Turismo HD (CAC didn't live up to the hype), and weighing in at 996 MB, the Heavenly Sword demo merely offers a beefy pinch of tease. Call us biased. We are. At E3 we were able to play well past where this demo ends, and we've had the itch ever since.

For most PlayStation 3 owners, today's download is the first opportunity to see and play Heavenly Sword. However brief, the experience does highlight some of the combat differences between Ninja Theory's forthcoming epic hackumup and the God of War series; namely an inability to jump (except at key moments with a touchy Sixaxis jerk) and a focus on defense and counter-attacks (some, but not too many, with accented camera angles). Still, the demo is cramped into three small game spaces (outdoor "rooms" separated by timed-press rope running), with one that lacks anyone to maul, and another that's cut maddeningly short.

After the five minutes are up, the naysayer won't be convinced that the "Goddess of War" plays up to the Kratos-sized billing, unless perhaps he watches the included trailer, which launches from the start screen (note to demo makers: less trailer, more chop-chop, swing, slash, hack). For the rest: here's to enjoying these same five minutes over and over -- and over and over -- again for the next 40 days!

Does the demo do its job? Well, our itch is still itching. (Joytip: try picking up something -- or someone -- with the X-button, and then press and hold X again to control the airborne object with Sixaxis motions.)

Gallery: Heavenly Sword (PS3)

Tags: demo, handson, HeavenlySword, NinjaTheory, ps3, psn, SCEE

(Page 1) Reader Comments

ummfada: Jul 26th 2007; 4:06PM

Short...Next gen starts when we say so

bob8807: Jul 26th 2007; 5:56PM

HORRIBLE demo. The game doesn't even support 1080i. I'm not so sure I want to buy it anymore.

Tofu: Jul 26th 2007; 6:06PM

"Short...Next gen starts when we say so"

Short... you are from the West, trends in the videogame industry are set in the East. Next generation starts when the East decide so. Other than that, shut the fuck up.

Kamalot: Jul 26th 2007; 4:12PM

If this demo can be conquered in 5 min, how long is the final game going to be? 4-5 hours?

Vidikron: Jul 26th 2007; 4:21PM

Why would you even assume the length of a demo has any relation at all to the length of the complete game?

Tesley: Jul 26th 2007; 4:37PM

This is the worst analogy ever

Digi Smalls: Jul 26th 2007; 5:09PM

gonna have to try a little harder than that.

Digi Smalls: Jul 26th 2007; 5:10PM

gonna have to try a little harder than that.

Jnas: Jul 26th 2007; 4:17PM

Although very short, its an awesome demo. People who say its Goddess of War have either never played God of War or have only seen videos of HS.

Jeff: Jul 26th 2007; 4:18PM

Is it just the fact that I'm playing on a 61" TV, or does the game look a bit rough around the edges?

I'm not saying the game's not beautiful... it is. The art design is quite breathtaking. But it lacks the smooth "crisp" feel I've gotten used to in HD games.

Also, I'm not a big fan of her hair... it just looks chunky. Leon Kennedy's hair in RE4 looked like it moved more realistically. Maybe that's not the point, I guess.

Also, for some odd reason, the first time I played through the demo, the music would stop every time I jumped from rope to rope... I hope something's not wrong with my PS3... I just bought the thing!

-Jeff
http://alinktothefuture.com

Jake: Jul 26th 2007; 4:19PM

Damnit. I am playing games at my buddy's tonight (he has two HDTV's, surround, two 360's, and a PS3 in his living room). We had talked about playing this demo. Looks like that will be a short lived experience.

DBX00: Jul 26th 2007; 4:20PM

The whole point of the demo is to give you an idea of how the game plays and this has done just that; it is never a bad thing when people say that the demo wasn't long enough and they still have an itch to play the full game. Regardless, the worst thing they have to say about the demo is that its short and nothing bad about the gameplay. Can't wait to go home and take it for a spin; however I really want Lair and Madden to hold me down until the Sept. - Nov. rush.

Jeff: Jul 27th 2007; 12:35AM

Well, that's not the worse thing I can say about the demo.

And yeah, while I'm intrigued, the demo wasn't long enough to sell me on the game. The God of War 2 demo wasn't very long either, but looks like a damn epic compared to this one. It also was far better at selling me on the game. In this one all we get to do is kill a few henchmen. Great, is that what we basically do for the entire game? I also think that, at least from the demo, you could easily play this as a button masher. I agree it has some depth to it, but considering you never even have to use your left hand during combat (considering it'll unblock you), you can fairly easily sit there alternating between square and triangle to complete the demo.

So yeah, I'm intrigued, but if they expected this demo to sell me on the game, they're sadly mistaken.

-Jeff
http://alinktothefuture.com

Mr Khan: Jul 26th 2007; 4:21PM

Such are the limitations of downloading disc-quality titles

But a good demo always helps quell the curious and inform the ignorant

hoop: Jul 26th 2007; 4:23PM

Okay, I'm definitely not attacking, but there are some great jokes to be made in this post:

"That was it...?"
"Beefy pinch."
"After about five minutes."
"Here's to enjoying those same five minutes over and over -- and over -- again..."
"Pick up something with the X-button, and then pre-" -- okay, so that last one doesn't work.

For example:

"So, Joystiq. You could only get your 'beefy pinch' to last for 'about five minutes.'

Oh...well, I'm sure that happens to a lot of guys. Especially with a girl like Nariko; I mean, she's a wildcat. So lithe... Oh, whoops, sorry...I mean, I bet she definitely wasn't saying 'that was it' or anything. Buck up, buddy.

Here's a tip, 'try picking up [Nariko with your] X-button; then press and hold [her] X again.'"

Huh. I guess that last one does sorta work.

Anyway, I know this doesn't quite work, since the demo experience is cut short, and has no implication on the, uh, prowess of Joystiq. I just thought there were some obvious jokes that could be made. Puerile and poorly attempted, to be sure, but what the heck.

Just bustin' chops.

hoop: Jul 26th 2007; 4:26PM

Whoops, should have added, "I'll bet you're going to be 'enjoying those same five minutes over and over again'" after the "Buck up, buddy."

Not that it makes it any funnier.

SuMtOnE: Jul 26th 2007; 4:24PM

dlin ryte now... cant wait....

shawnpfiore: Jul 26th 2007; 4:28PM

Ok please can somebody tell me if the game looks like any of the screen shoots above running in real time or cut scenes especially the fat guy.

morganfell: Jul 26th 2007; 7:09PM

Nope...it looks better live than even the screens. The damn game is a marvel. Right now I hear Cha ching...the sound of a 360 being traded in...

sdf: Jul 27th 2007; 9:44AM

morgan, your a fool

Jnas: Jul 26th 2007; 4:40PM

Like em big, eh shawny? ;P

In all of the screens, there has never been any CGI. In fact i don't think CGI is ever used in the game, so yes the game looks just as good as the screens.

shawnpfiore: Jul 26th 2007; 4:59PM

Execellent, cant wait to get home to try it. It time for the PS3 to flex it power....

belcho: Jul 26th 2007; 4:41PM

No jump? What kind of action game doesn't have a dedicated jump? I'm really disappointed, I wanted this to be a great game. I hope that doesn't detract too much from it.

Travis: Jul 26th 2007; 4:55PM

"What kind of action game doesn't have a dedicated jump?"
Off the top of my head - RE4, Godfather, Twilight Princess, and Gears of War don't have dedicated jump buttons. I don't think they'll do so well...

cc123: Jul 26th 2007; 5:01PM

I had the same concerns as you but I didn't miss a jump button after playing it.

Rare Hare: Jul 26th 2007; 5:58PM

Travis:

None of those games are really action games in the sense a lot of us think of action games. That is to say, games such as Devil May Cry, God of War, Prince of Persia, Metal Gear Solid, etc.

Travis: Jul 26th 2007; 6:17PM

Rare Hare, according to the genre listed on Metracritic:
RE4 - Third-Person Action, Adventure, Survival Horror
Godfather - Action, Adventure
Twilight Princess - Third-Person Action, Adventure
Gears of War - Third-Person Shooter, Action, Survival Horror

"None of those games are really action games in the sense a lot of us think of action games"
Funny, they all say action; maybe I read it wrong. Oh, you must be referring to games only on Playsation systems, which I don't care for. Silly me.

Jeff: Jul 27th 2007; 12:37AM

I agree, actually. I missed the jump, and without it, I'm worried that the game will get very tiresome. The lack of a jump means that it will lack any kind of platforming, which helped vary the gameplay in God of War nicely.

I'm also not sure how I feel about the lack of a block button. You can pretty much take your left hand off the controller while you're fighting and just hit the buttons. Your character will pretty much take care of everything.

-Jeff
http://alinktothefuture.com

cc123: Jul 26th 2007; 4:42PM

The graphics in the demo are superb, very beautiful game. Controls feel good and it's definitely more than just a button masher. You have to learn the counters and the combos to get a lot out of this. It was a lot more fun the second time around than it was the first time. The AI was good, killed me the first time but that could just be me sucking. Like James said above you have to try the after touch when you throw things it's cool.

Downsides were that there were slight framerate drops and some tearing. Nothing to bad though and supposedly this has been fixed in the newer builds that were shown at E3 (don't know if it's true or not).

And yes this has got to be the shortest demo I have ever played! I would barely call it a demo more like someone handed you the controller and then snatched it way 5 mins later when things were getting good...

KawF: Jul 26th 2007; 4:58PM

From what I understand, this demo is based off a very old build of the game.

It's a shame that this is sort of like MotorStorm all over again, with the demo being quite a bit less polished than the final game.

I fully understand that they have to streamline the process and can't just wait for final code before they start working on the demo, but still...

Leobebes: Jul 26th 2007; 4:54PM

Wow this demo is beautiful. I honestly don't see how the 360 could ever have a game that capture this game's graphical prowess. I think it's official, the PS3 has leapfrogged the 360 in the graphics department from here on out. I feel sorry for the 360 early adopters.

Jake: Jul 26th 2007; 5:14PM

It still isn't as graphically impressive as Gears, so you should be able to see how the 360 could pull something like this off. And don't feel sorry for us 360 owners. We have plenty of great games to play this Fall (more than PS3 based on both numbers and expected length of each) and we got to play our little toys for a full year before you got yours. So na na na na boo boo to you too!

Too Short: Jul 26th 2007; 6:21PM

Leobebes Ur a Moron! GOW Blows this game Away!!
1st off the demo Blew, 3-Min's WOW!!!
The graphics were OK, Definitely Not Top Notch! & Definitely Not GOW! Hopefully it's better when it's shipped.
I'm sorry but what a let down...

Thanks Again Sony!

marcandrer: Jul 26th 2007; 7:46PM

dont you xbots have any other games to compare this to.. every game the ps3 get you guys are always like.. hmm GOW is so much better.. comparing HS to GOW is like comparing apples with oranges imo there's no comparaison to make.. probably because GOW is the only game worth playing on the 360 right now

baby sea tuna: Jul 27th 2007; 11:21AM

Yeah, uh...we early 360 adopters have been playing a stack of awesome (not to mention beautiful looking) games for over a year and a half now. Feel real sorry for us.

BTW, Resistance still treating you okay 9 months later? What about that other good one?

Blu3: Jul 26th 2007; 5:12PM

If the job of a demo is to make you want to buy the game, the demo was absolutely successful. I am now getting this game on launch for sure.

@Leobebes:

Dude, do you own a 360? Gears of War still far outclasses this game. And recent titles like The Darkness look incredible. Don't be hating on the 360-- it's still totally awesome.

shawnpfiore: Jul 26th 2007; 7:17PM

Yea Gears looks great, and that about it. I been playing the game sense it came out, and Gears is so broken in so many diffrent ways just like you Xbox 360. Sorry just textures cant make a game great. So keep hoping something this good could come your way on Xbox 360.

shawnpfiore: Jul 26th 2007; 9:20PM

Hey look again the Darkness looks better on PS3 sorry to bring you down... Time for PS3 to destroy XBOX 360...

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/21123.html

samfish: Jul 26th 2007; 5:15PM

"namely an inability to jump (except at key moments with a touchy Sixaxis jerk)"

OOOOHH *NOOOOOoOoOoOoOoO*! WAGGLE in a PS3 game?! CLEARLY this game sucks balls!

tlozwarlock: Jul 26th 2007; 5:24PM

Did anyone else wanna knife the annoying girl looking at the invisible ball?

Action/control/combat is superb, graphics are good, voice acting is excellent (sexy too). I did notice slowdown when the pillar falls and the debris goes everywhere. A bit concerning with the slowdown. Hopefully that'll be ironed out.

Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo: Jul 26th 2007; 5:33PM

Once again, a PS3 developer completely ignores those of us with '1080i only' televisions. Since the game runs only at 720p, I can only play the game at a 'last gen' 480p on my 1080i HDTV. I expect better from a game being produced by Sony...the supposed 'leader' in next gen.

I really wish the gaming press would make more noise about this problem. There is a 60 page thread on the Playstation forums about the issue.
IGN talked about this problem in this weeks mailbag, but otherwise I haven't heard one peep about the issue lately outside of consumers themselves.

Oh well, back to playing Ninja Gaiden Sigma at 1080i.

--Scott

KawF: Jul 26th 2007; 5:43PM

The DEMO runs without scaling built in since it is, as I understand based on a code-base that is not so new at all.

A demo does not in any way necessarily represent the final product. Please understand that at least before jumping to conclusions.

Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo: Jul 26th 2007; 5:45PM

Here's to hoping you're right and Ninja Theory has the final build running at 1080. :)

In light of some other big games running only at 720 (eg Motorstorm, Resistance etc), I won't be holding m breath.

--Scott

KawF: Jul 26th 2007; 5:52PM

MotorStorm and Resistance were both finished long before the scaling support was added to the PS3 programming toolkit as I understand it. If I remember correctly at least quite a few new games support upscaling to 1080i from 720p. (There should be some info on this floating around freely on the net currently in public view)

Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo: Jul 26th 2007; 6:01PM

I've heard the same, but again am not holding my breath. Many other demos out there DO run in 1080...I guess we'll have to wait and see

Games that currently do NOT Support 1080 (and thus revert to 480 on '1080i only' TVs):

Resistance: Fall of Man
Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
GripShift
MotorStorm -
NHL 2k7
MLB 2k7
Hot Shots Golf (Demo)
Armored Core 4
F.E.A.R.
Warhawk (beta - but devs have said they will add scaling)
Dynasty Warrior Gundam (demo)
Formula 1 Racing
Lemmings (Demo)
Genji: Days of the Blade
FolkSoul (aka folkore) Demo
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
Nucleus (aka bacterius)
Heavenly Sword (Demo) (SCEA and Ninja Theory)
Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Enchanted Arms (unconfirmed)
Spiderman 3
Call of Duty 3

JonnyBoy2U: Jul 26th 2007; 6:01PM

So you're saying the demo is not even close to the final product?

Doesn't this game come out pretty soon? I would imagine that sony has started shipping Goddess of War to all locations in preparation for release day...

Or at least they're producing the game discs, packaging them, etc.

But then again I don't know what the release date is for the game or how long it takes for all that shit to come together so I might be wrong.

Surprised to hear its so short though.

DOCTOR DEEP N U: Jul 26th 2007; 6:29PM

Please NINJA Theory!!!! If that build is near final delay the game; this game has to be good for Sony I have waited so long. Did anyone else notice that the cutscenes were smooth but were FMV with the in game engine. the articfacting gave it away.

Sidepocket: Jul 26th 2007; 6:34PM

I do not care for this game at all but I did see videos of it and I must ask this...

WTF IS WRONG WITH HER HAIR! It looks like a PS1 Ball of Yarn.

Next-Gen My ASS! -,-;

required: Jul 26th 2007; 6:26PM

Her hair, like the game, is stylized. If your eyes really read it as a ball of yarn I suggest you visit your optometrist or sell the fancy yarn you have on ebay.

Sidepocket: Jul 26th 2007; 6:39PM

If stylized means that it moves like a octopus being electrocuted than I suggest you "required" should get the eye surgery. That or stop being a fucking fan boy.

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