Tuesday 9 May 2006
Martial arts actioner Heavenly Sword was one of the most impressive PS3 games presented at yesterday's pre-E3 Sony conference and we've got an avalanche of new shots to prove it.
Set in a mythical time and place in the ancient far east, Heavenly Sword follows the story of heroine Nariko who is on the trail of revenge against an evil king and his invading army. Central to the action is the heavenly sword, a magical weapon that can only be wielded by mortals at the cost of their lives.
Nariko is the daughter of a clan leader whose role is to protect the heavenly sword. Unfortunately the king's minions slay the clan, forcing Nariko to pay the ultimate sacrifice and use the sword to take a bloody revenge.
Once in the command of the sword, three different methods of combat can be used with three different stances. These can be swapped between at any point during the fighting, allowing gamers to create their own style of fighting.
The combat system allows Nariko to deal with different types of threat, from one-on-one confrontations to huge scraps featuring numerous opponents using squad-based attack tactics. The environment is fully interactive and can be used to defeat opponents by smashing them into it or using tables, chairs and other clutter as weapons.
Andy Serkis, the actor who provided the voice and movements for Gollum in The Lord of the Rings movies, is providing the voice for the evil king and most probably his movements. He's like that.
