GameOver40.com

10 years ago, I would have agreed with others around the internet that Heavenly Sword, also known by some as the PS3 Goddess of War, was good but too short. Others have said that compared to the Ninja Gaiden series, Heavenly Sword doesn’t reward you for mastering the controls and can be beat by button mashing. I think these observations are basically correct, but as an older gamer than can’t find more than a couple hours a night to game, I just don’t have the commitment to finish a longer game or master complex controls ala Ninja Gaiden which constantly belittle me by asking, “Do you want to give up the way of the Ninja?” Having said that and having lost gamer-cred, I must say that Heavenly Sword rocks.

Heavenly Sword is a showpiece for the PS3 with some of the most amazing graphics I’ve seen. Albeit predictable, it has a good narrative driven by pretty amazing cut-scenes and voice acting. The game play has some learning curve to it and you do improve as you master the controls, but it’s not anywhere as difficult to master or as penalizing as Ninja Gaiden, and if you wanted, you could probably survive most of the game mashing the buttons over and over again. I also found the six-axis controls to be really fun once I got the hang of it.

It took me about 6 hours to fully complete the game, and for me, it was about the right length for the experience that it delivered. In some ways, I wish it would have been longer but not at the expense of the pacing or by having to backtrack through levels. At the end of many games, the last 25% for me are a slog for me to finish feeling compelled to do it only to say that I’ve completed the game. I loved every minute of Heavenly Sword from the opening sequence all the way to the end credits, and at the end of the day, that’s what makes a good video game for me.

While Resistance has been out for a while, it still is worth buying for new PS3 owners.  I had a great time with this title and while it took a bit of time for me to warm up to it, it turned out to be one of my favorite first person shooters.  Part of the problem is that it takes some time before you get infected and get to take advantage of the game’s unique health system, and until that point, the game seemed less forgiving, but it is worth slogging through the beginning and becoming accustomed to the controls.