Scoring a videogame isn’t always as simple as you would think. While a lot of games evoke the sorts of feelings that justify a high or low score instantaneously, others vary in such odd, wild ways, that attaching a percentage becomes harder than writing the review itself. Heavenly Sword, a game that the majority of PS3 owners are anticipating with bated breath, is one of the most divisive games we’ve ever encountered. Even now, as we write this, we’re questioning the truth behind our final score, and there’s a strong chance that you’ll disagree with it, regardless of whether you’ve played the game or not. Bear with us, kind reader, as we flicker between opinions on the PS3’s most intriguing proposition yet.

Around a month before we received the Heavenly Sword review code, Sony sent us a preview code of the game. It was, in short, a massive disappointment: the frame rate was disgusting, the gameplay was messy and the positives were, in actuality, not there. We were expecting massive things from this game, but we were sat there with a sullen look of apathy – we didn’t care. With no GTA IV on the cards, and Lair disappointing in a similar way, the PS3’s Christmas began to look white. Not a happy, festive white, mind you – we’re talking about the sort of white that suggests death, or at least an aggressive coma.

Luckily, a month later, we found that Ninja Theory had repaired the experience in a massive way, before release. Phew… Trust us, this third-person hack-’em-up doesn’t touch the golden boots of Devil May Cry 3, or God Of War, but it is a competitively fun PS3 game that does a lot of things well. With that in mind, however, it also has a lot of relentless flaws that damage the near-blockbuster feel of this arena-based game.

We’ll get the most obvious, publicised positive out of the way in haste. The story of Heavenly Sword, along with the presentation of the cut-scenes is the best ever seen in a videogame. This is no exaggeration. We would complain, but we can’t. The dialogue is rocksolid, while the lip-syncing and appearance of the characters is scarily humanistic. Andy Serkis was worth the money, without a doubt, giving Heavenly Sword a sort of middleground identity between games and films. In this regard, it’s a pioneering and massively important game, but another take on this is cynicism: great cut-scenes, yes, but this isn’t so important when it overshadows the gameplay in such a way. For the more cinematic-hungry gamers out there, though, this is an essential release; and even the most hardcore gamers will stick around for the tale, even if the game disappoints. Heavenly Sword is fascinating in the way it plots your participation.

Nariko, a 20-something-year-old woman, is part of a clan ordered to protect the Heavenly Sword. Along with her father, Shen, and her adopted sister, Kai, they’re leading the clan away from King Bohan, who seeks the weapon.

Oddly, he looks like a waxwork, elderly version of Andy Serkis, who characterises Bohan brilliantly, through his voice acting and motion capture. Actually, sister Kai also resembles Serkis a little bit, which is possibly the most terrifying thing that you could ever find in a videogame – hopefully, you’ll get over it quickly.

Anyway, when Bohan captures Shen, Nariko equips the Heavenly Sword and unleashes its power. This was not meant to happen: Shen’s goal was to protect the Heavenly Sword from use, but Nariko’s wielding of it has now triggered a countdown to her death. On the other hand, though, she’s now a super-styling she-bitch with the power of nine burly men – easy come, easy go, as they say. The characters are always iconic. From the savage-but-pitiful Roach, to the likeable figure of Nariko, everyone will become involved with the narrative through this eclectic group (see Casting Call boxout). This isn’t a Metal Gear Solid method of cult storytelling either, but instead, the rather relatable and exciting plight of a woman’s brutal road towards her own undoing. It’s structured like a movie as well: set piece at the beginning, a smaller journey through the middle and a destructive ending coupled to it – y’know, just for good measure.

Naturally, this has a significant impact on the gameplay. While we’ve already described the awkward placing of Heavenly Sword among its peers, we haven’t really justified our feelings on the playable sections. Heavenly Sword doesn’t have a jump button, which immediately makes the level design and combat feel cumbersome and clumsy. Instead of a savage array of jumping-combat techniques, you’ve been ditched with an awkward style of aerial battle. This involves holding the l button to select your speed attack, pressing T to whip an enemy in the air (if they’re not holding a shield at the time – annoying!), before awkwardly forcing you to shake the pad to begin a mid- air combo. Putting it in the simplest context possible, you’re never going to do this. The other forms of combat are actually okay, since you’re in command of three different fighting styles: the aforementioned speed attack, the ordinary attack and the heavy attack. Hacking away at flesh is fun with whichever stance you choose, but button bashing tends to see you through most battles. Here, we reach one of Heavenly Sword’s massive stumbling blocks; the combat is always the lifeblood of games like this, but there’s almost no finesse here. Counterattacking is the combat’s saving grace, though, since leaving your character to block allows you to react with the Triangle button.

This triggers an always satisfying animation as you react to the attack. Cue testi-stamping, neck snapping and all of the people-lobs you could ever ask for in the push of a button. These reactive commands make the game about twice as fun, since even the most horrible enemy can succumb to a good sacking if you’re in the right stance. With this and some swish super-attacks in tow, the combat becomes that little bit more exciting; suddenly, you’re fighting a lot of enemies and you’re finding it to be quite a lot of fun. It isn’t deep and the counterattacks are problematic, but the combination of narrative and gameplay is working fairly well. It’s a crying shame about the shoddy boss battles, though; every single one is the same slog through three identical tirades, without ever being anything more than a disgusting waste of everyone’s time. This is at the start of the game: Nariko’s story is told retrospectively, you see.

Ignoring the issues of Heavenly Sword is tough. Thanks to a slightly disturbing frame rate, some scenarios aren’t quite as smooth as they could be. The graphical styling of the game is often quite ugly, too. Take Nariko, for instance: she’s a pretty face, isn’t she? Shame about the hair – it looks like a bunch of red sausages have been strapped to her head, while early artwork suggested a more individual approach to each strand. Even the PS2 characters of Kingdom Hearts 2 have better-looking hair than this, so we’re a little confused by this decision on the game’s detail. Oddly enough, Nariko’s face is detailed with reckles and markings, leaving us baffled by the contrasting detail on her character model.

Another flaw lies in the ridiculous recurrences of the enemy-character designs. When a mere nine generic villains populate a game, you know that Ninja Theory didn’t see variation as a priority. Every battle loses a bit of spirit when you’re forced to fight 20 of the same enemy for the tenth time. Surely, asking for at least 30 different enemy types isn’t too high a demand for such an important PS3 game? Modern games shouldn’t get away with discrepancies like this, and you’re certain to lose interest in a game that is content to rest on its laurels in the detail department.

There are some tempting respites in the game’s focus. Kai, Nariko’s sister, specialises in an ancient art, known as ‘twing-twang’ – which, essentially, is archery with a twist (see Twing Twang Terror boxout). All of the long-ranged attacks are controlled by the Sixaxis. The use of this ability varies, depending on the situation; our favourite use of the Sixaxis projectile control was at the end of the game, as you were charged with the goal of attacking 500 men with a rocket launcher. We’ve got screenshots of that very situation in this review, but nothing beats the thrill of actually doing it yourself.

Heavenly Sword is film-like, and we appreciate that identity, to a certain degree. When the game is nearly film-length, however, you’re suddenly questioning the validity of your initial praise. Heavenly Sword is six-hours long. We’re not joking, and we don’t find it funny. This ridiculously short period of time is perhaps the biggest letdown of all, as you spend the first five hours of Heavenly Sword waiting for it to kick off in full. Suddenly, the screen is branded by a disturbing introduction as you enter the fifth chapter: “The Final Battle”. We thought this was some kind of ironic prank, or the precursor to a gigantic plot twist. Nope; as soon as you see this questionable prophecy, you’re hardly aware that the game is just a mere hour away from its conclusion.

Which, ultimately, leads us to our final indecision with Heavenly Sword. Waiting for it was a long, three-year ride, but it was over in six hours. How? What the hell happened? It’s impossible not to enjoy those hours, but you could complete Heavenly Sword four times in a weekend, and while there is some replay value, it’s hardly instantaneous. Where is the rest of it? We’re dying – actually dying – to give Heavenly Sword a better score. The combination of gameplay and story is just so ground-breaking and important, but the lifespan is insulting for £40.

So... it’s hard to score Heavenly Sword. We probably like it a bit more than our score dictates, but the length, along with the slightly messy gameplay creates a lot of divided opinions within our minds. We’ll just give in, and put it this way: if you’re desperate for a solid, PS3-exclusive title that tells a story in a wholly revolutionary-but-short way, Heavenly Sword will be just enough to satisfy your needs this year. It didn’t meet our expectations, but the story alone is a triumph.

Samuel Roberts