Heavenly Sword dev working on new IP for 360, PS3

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Mar 19th 2008 at 3:00PM }

With the story's second part already scribed, fans of big-haired action epic Heavenly Sword have eagerly been awaiting confirmation of a sequel. Though it hasn't arrived just yet (possibly waylaid by disappointing sales of the original), developer Ninja Theory has revealed to Gamesindustry.biz that it's no longer entangled in Nariko's mess of red hair. A new intellectual property for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is now being assembled, with some thought spared to a CGI movie tie-in.

"We're certainly targeting a triple-A blockbuster, with two and a half years in production – a big game that builds on our core strengths of story-telling, cinematics and combat," said Ninja Theory co-founder and chief developer, Nina Kristensen. "But we're actually looking at something in addition to that – we're considering opportunities in creating a CGI movie using the game engine alongside the game itself."

Kristensen went on to say that the company hopes to maintain its relationship with the world of film, which seems to imply that Ninja Theory's next game will boast the same high production values and cinematic flair seen in Heavenly Sword. Right, is this where we make a joke about running time?

Tags: Heavenly-Sword, HeavenlySword, Ninja-Theory, NinjaTheory

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Fernando Rocker @ Mar 19th 2008 3:09PM

Two and a half years?

Maybe they will make a Xii version too =p

Worst Review Ever @ Mar 19th 2008 3:09PM

Hellish Blade confirmed!

Mike @ Mar 19th 2008 4:23PM

Damn, you stole my joke.

Agathos @ Mar 19th 2008 3:12PM

HS was a hell of a good time, with all the 60+ hr JRPGs I'm always slogging through a really kick ass 8 hour game here in there is always welcome and will absolutely be played through more than once.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Mar 19th 2008 3:47PM

I borrowed it from a friend and I've done three playthroughs. This game will merge with my collection eventually...

PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Mar 19th 2008 11:56PM

Heavenly Sword was a great game except for the length. i may be in the minority, but i cant justify paying $60 for 8 hours of play. i rented it and ended up playing it through twice. the voice acting was top notch and the combat system wasnt bad either (i eventually got used to the block thing).

hopefully this new IP is as good.

OTAM @ Mar 19th 2008 3:56PM

Heavenly Sword was fantastic. That game was so much fun and I loved the characters. The cinematics and animation were top notch. That part in the battle arena looked like it was straight out of a huge movie.

deaftly (Brawl - 1075-0467-4222) @ Mar 19th 2008 4:01PM

HS was a pretty good game, would have been alot better without the sixaxis bullshit.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Mar 19th 2008 4:06PM

Actually, most people agree the SixAxis sections were phenominal. I know I enjoyed the hell out of them and it still stands as one of the best implementation of the tech so far.

Bloo @ Mar 19th 2008 4:10PM

I'm with you deaftly. The sixaxis stuff is embarassing. Guiding arrows and canon balls by tilting the controller? It just doesn't make sense on any level.

Maybe if I had played this game before Ratchet and Uncharted I might be less harsh... Unfortunately I'm trying to slog through it now. The super cheese storyline and acting isn't helping me much either...

Player1 @ Mar 19th 2008 4:31PM

Guiding them with the controller may not make sense, but this isn't exactly a story rooted in reality. Regardless of what sense they make, they are fun as hell and something that really differentiates it comparable games. I had a blast guiding arrows through torches to blow up the fireworks bins. And the whole scene where Kai is protecting Nariko's father as he crosses the bridge is kick ass. I mean seriously, you are complaining about being able to guide an arrow into a guy's head. And keep in mind you don't have to use the sixaxis for most of those parts if you don't want to.

Bloo @ Mar 19th 2008 4:50PM

"And the whole scene where Kai is protecting Nariko's father as he crosses the bridge is kick ass"

LOL. That's one of the exact parts I thought was SO LAME. Myself, the owner of the game, and the 2 other co-workers who borrowed it all felt the same.

Also, as far as the acting - when the blob says "daddy" and all of the ensuing garbage afterwards - c'mon now.

Perhaps it is a maturity thing...

Player1 @ Mar 19th 2008 4:55PM

Perhaps you and your co-workers have bad taste. We are talking games here, not movies. I know taking personal swipes at people on the internet is really mature and all, but perhaps instead of making some assumptions about my age/maturity level you could cite some examples of better acting in games?

ComicShaman @ Mar 19th 2008 5:11PM

But you can turn the Sixaxis controls off for the Aftertouch. So what's the problem? Why even complain about that?

Bloo @ Mar 19th 2008 5:25PM

"but perhaps instead of making some assumptions about my age/maturity level you could cite some examples of better acting in games?"

I wasn't making a swipe - although you taking it as one says a lot.

Better examples = Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted, Mass Effect, etc

Player1 @ Mar 19th 2008 5:41PM

Haven't played those yet other than the Uncharted Demo, so I can't compare, but Heavenly Sword certainly beats stuff like Halo 3, God of War, and other "blockbuster" titles as far as acting is concerned.

And you can't tell me, "Perhaps it is a maturity thing..." isn't a personal swipe. You are reading too much into me taking it as one. I am simply saying you shouldn't go making assumptions, and if you mean it as a joke, that's what emoticons are for.

While I disagree with your opinion, I do like your profile pic. And also, twing twang rules!

Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Mar 19th 2008 6:37PM

Bloo, you're really losing cred if you're bashing the acting in the game or the cinematics. I mean, I can dig hating on the SixAxis. It just doesn't make sense and this game was definately all about making sense with a sword that takes your life or a high fantasy epic with rocket launchers...

The mere notion of steering projectiles in midair makes no sense and completely breaks the game for me because that was pure science fiction and it had no right to be in my civil war simulator...

But to hate on the acting, that's just... dumb. And swiping at someone's maturity level based upon their enjoyment of the acting in the game? One would think, that if you were truly as mature as you claim yourself and your coworkers to be, you would have at some point been introduced to stage acting. Let me explain it, when seeing a play, you never get the closeups on the actors. So instead, each movement becomes exaggerated to emphasize the emotion to the entire crowd. Andy Sarkis (aka, Gollum), as the theatrical producer for the game, managed to put that emphasis on the larger than life villians while bringing the victims a much more muted tone. The villians speak with their bodies, the other characters all use their face or posture to display their emotions.

This is the thing you must understand when watching Heavenly Sword cutscenes. Andy Sarkis has the theatrical roots and it shows in Heavenly Sword. The expressions are, simply put, larger than life. If you were as mature as you thought you were, this would be instantly recognizable, no? Especially when the other scene, the bridge with Kia, is widely regarded as one of the most emotionally powerful moments in gaming last year among the gaming press and most who have played it declare that sequence as pure brilliance.

Player1 @ Mar 19th 2008 4:35PM

And good god, super cheese acting? Are you serious? This was the best voice/motion capture acting I think I've ever seen in any game period. And I tell you another thing, Nariko is way more fun to look at than Kratos.

Nate @ Mar 19th 2008 4:43PM

Most of the villains were intentionally over-acted in order to see more crazy. That doesn't make the acting bad. Check out the acting of the good guys and I think you'll not get distracted by the over-the-top-ness of the bad guys.

And actually, the fact that we're discussing the acting AT ALL is a very good sign, in my opinion. You're seeing straight through to the actor, not the computer graphics on top of him, and it's much more than just voice acting in the game.

I, too, thought it was very good. could have used a bigger diversity of puzzles (hey. throwing hats again, whee), but I thought the arrow guiding sections were actually a lot of fun.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Mar 19th 2008 6:41PM

I think the strangest thing to me is that, except for Flying Fox (intentially kept a pure evil villian), all of the villians were humanized and you even felt a ping of pity for the king. That was the shocker to me.

That I could feel sorry for majority of the cast... wow.

Bloo @ Mar 19th 2008 6:43PM

As always sheppy, your lack of reading comprehension gets us going at each other. I would respond specifically but you would just ignore what was relevant and misinterpret what you did decide to repsond to. For example: last time was my Star Wars comment...

xvertigenx @ Mar 19th 2008 6:45PM

I was under the impression that Ninja Theory was a Sony 3rd party developer. I don't know why...

dantebk @ Mar 19th 2008 6:45PM

Sweet! I loved Heavenly Sword, and would really like to see more from these guys soon.

I, for one, really enjoyed the Sixaxis segments in the game once I got used to them. Plus, I thought the story and the acting were top notch, and the character models were some of the best I'd ever seen. If you're going to use any game to make a CGI movie, this is probably the one (though not sure I'd watch that movie if I didn't also get to fight dudes or throw them at each other).

-Dante
http://www.gamestache.com/