Are You a Real Actor? Academy Awards Cometee Doesn't Seem to Think So
So, finally I got to finish the famous Heavenly Sword (2007). Back when I bought PlayStation 3 in March 2007, with Metal Gear Sold 4 being indefinitely postponed, this game topped my most anticipated PS3 titles list.
Ninja Theory, the developer of the game, showed the world a couple of trailers long before Sony released its latest console. What was shown in those trailers was literally the state of the art. In my believe Heavenly Sword was to become the most visually stunning video game in the history of video game entertainment.
In September 2007, I got the game hot from the new releases shelf. First 10 minutes of Heavenly Sword were the ultimate jaw dropping experience for me. When I passed the shock caused by the game looks, I started to notice that there is no much going on in this wonderful world. I played it for one hour and got so turned away by the boring gameplay, that I had put the game on a shelf and completely forgot about it up until now.
Heavenly Sword is truly a piece of art. Even now, a year and a half after its release, the game boasts with one of the most incredible graphics in a video game. Is it enough though? Maybe for someone, but definitely not for me.
I am not against the action genre in general, but Heavenly Sword has the most repetitive, mind-numbing dumb action to be found. After you get your hands on the legendary weapon, Heavenly Sword, and play around with it a bit, you have seen the whole game. While the story advances, the game continues to provide you with the same type of action over and over again. Even though there are several types of enemies (a few though), to fight them off, Nariko, the heroine of the game, has to use the same mechanics. It is possible to unlock dozens of new combos, but they all look and feel basically the same.
Heavenly Sword is very short, I taped my complete walkthrough and it took only about 5 hours to reach the finish line. 5 hours is a very bad number for any type of video game, but this particular game was so dull, that it felt like it took forever to beat it. I lived from one stunning in-game movie to another. The art of the game and its cut-scenes can be worth suffering through the boring action indeed.
Everything looks very beautiful in Heavenly Sword, but special attention deserves the characters' facial animation. Nariko is beautiful in general, but her facial animation is nothing to brag about. King Bohan on the other hand gives a very memorable performance. No wonder though, this character was played by Andy Serkis of The Lord of the Rings fame. Serkis is Gollum. He was impressive in The Lord of the Rings and he is no less impressive in Heavenly Sword. This guy was considered for the Best Supporting Actor nomination by the Academy Awards in 2003, but was ruled out as his character in the Lord of the Rings was computer generated. Really sad.
Ninja Theory, the developer of the game, showed the world a couple of trailers long before Sony released its latest console. What was shown in those trailers was literally the state of the art. In my believe Heavenly Sword was to become the most visually stunning video game in the history of video game entertainment.In September 2007, I got the game hot from the new releases shelf. First 10 minutes of Heavenly Sword were the ultimate jaw dropping experience for me. When I passed the shock caused by the game looks, I started to notice that there is no much going on in this wonderful world. I played it for one hour and got so turned away by the boring gameplay, that I had put the game on a shelf and completely forgot about it up until now.
Heavenly Sword is truly a piece of art. Even now, a year and a half after its release, the game boasts with one of the most incredible graphics in a video game. Is it enough though? Maybe for someone, but definitely not for me.
I am not against the action genre in general, but Heavenly Sword has the most repetitive, mind-numbing dumb action to be found. After you get your hands on the legendary weapon, Heavenly Sword, and play around with it a bit, you have seen the whole game. While the story advances, the game continues to provide you with the same type of action over and over again. Even though there are several types of enemies (a few though), to fight them off, Nariko, the heroine of the game, has to use the same mechanics. It is possible to unlock dozens of new combos, but they all look and feel basically the same.
Heavenly Sword is very short, I taped my complete walkthrough and it took only about 5 hours to reach the finish line. 5 hours is a very bad number for any type of video game, but this particular game was so dull, that it felt like it took forever to beat it. I lived from one stunning in-game movie to another. The art of the game and its cut-scenes can be worth suffering through the boring action indeed.Everything looks very beautiful in Heavenly Sword, but special attention deserves the characters' facial animation. Nariko is beautiful in general, but her facial animation is nothing to brag about. King Bohan on the other hand gives a very memorable performance. No wonder though, this character was played by Andy Serkis of The Lord of the Rings fame. Serkis is Gollum. He was impressive in The Lord of the Rings and he is no less impressive in Heavenly Sword. This guy was considered for the Best Supporting Actor nomination by the Academy Awards in 2003, but was ruled out as his character in the Lord of the Rings was computer generated. Really sad.
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