Heavenly Sword 2005 vs 2007 Screenshot Comparison

Here is a comparison of the 2005 Heavenly Sword Trailer and the footage that has been shown in 2007.

Context is important for this comparison. The 2005 trailer was made from gameplay footage, but of course including effects that they hoped to achieve.

The footage that has been shown in 2007 is actually from a 2006 September/November build. There is reason to believe that the game looks even better now as claimed by the developers themselves and from the recent screenshot they revealed.

[xfrgtr]

Absolutely gorgeous!!!!!

[Spartan15]

I completely agree.

[Bigmac573]

Can't wait for this one.

[nix]

it says: "kills remaining - 159" q:

boy.. i'm going to love playing this game....

just finished God of War 2... wow.. just wow!!! now i'm more keen to find what that "countdown" is all about... anyone got a clue what the countdown is all about?

[techie]

want to know where that kill counter starts? 2200 ;) The countdown of enemies shows how many you are to kill. 2200 sounds scary, but trust me they have made it fun. You can bazooka at certain points and kill loads. Also you can kill about 30 at a time in a well timed move :)))))

When Nariko is using the Heavenly Sword it drains away her health...it's basically killing her. So that's a countdown of your life.

Oh that countdown! lol...think psp, or movie. Don't think GOW3...hasn't started development yet.

Ok that counter may start at 400...but the amount of enemies on screen that they can get upto at the moment is 2200 and perhaps rising. Straight from the devs :)

[nix]

i love it even more... hmmm.. didn't know about the drain part.

thanks deepbrown..

ahem... now, any idea about the "countdown" of GOW? yeah.. i think i asked the question at the wrong place... q:

[Cysquatch]

I read somewhere that you have to kill 400 enemies at the beginning of the game.

[Torch]

"just finished God of War 2... wow.. just wow!!!"

Oh, yeah, I know EXACTLY where you're coming from: Last night, I finished the first God of War...and man am I pumped to throw part two in later tonight! It's gotta be the best, most exciting game I've ever played (compared to those in its genre, at least).

My only gripe: at one point, late into the game, I realized that I must have accidentally switched to "easy" after croaking one-time too many, thereby preventing me from unlocking some Treasures. That pissed me off, to say the least.

But I'm really anxious to see how the story's gonna turn...

...Oh yeah, this is actually a Heavenly Sword thread. Yeah, look forward to that too.

(sorry to have gotten carried away...told you I was pumped!) ;)

[MikeGdaGod]

this game wasn't even on my radar. but as more and more info come out, i'm looking forward to this game as much as any other that i've been fiending for.

[Spartan15]

that's the same thing with me, at first I was like, okay. But now I'm pumped.

[Takumi86]

wow that's f4cking crazy the graphics are just gorgeous

[PSN Starfleets]

Gorgeous. But don't games like this become repetitive as its just button bashing? No? I'm not sure..

But I'd defiantely buy it if it wasn't.

[techie]

and fps games aren't repetitive? Shooting, shooting, running, shooting, ducking, shooting.

Sorry, but I'm craving this game and they've been working on gameplay for 3 years...so I'm sure you'll be satisfied.

Fighting on Water, in treetops, in the clouds :) Bring it on!

[SmokeyMcBear]

wait I actually push buttons in games?, and move the joystick? I even push the same buttons more than once and sometimes in a series of motions?, even in fighting games, I push the same buttons over and over again?

[jwatt]

If you seen the videos, the fighting style will not be repetitive, it had to be a developer playing it because he was doing all kinds of different moves. It also has the same thing God of War has where at some moments you have to press the right button at the right time to do a special move. They did a pretty good job on the graphics too and the story was good too.

[Says you]

This game I'm getting.

[ALIEN]

MUST BUY!

[Contra26]

is her hair in dread locks or is that just bad graphics?

[SmokeyMcBear]

duh its dreadlocks dummy, don't you know all badass chicks have their hair in dreadlocks, anyone knows that

[techie]

Hehe. That was in the concept demos since it was thought up in 2004. Silly. The kind of artistic animations of the hair in this game has never been seen before. It's truly beautiful and magestic.

Here is another dreadlocked goddess...as posted by Vio.

[Marty8370]

Awesome.

[Violater]

http://www.hbo.com/rome/cas...

That chick def reminds me of Nariko, Vicious, brutal, beautiful, and both after mens genitals (in different ways though)

[quiddd]

2nd or 3rd party?

[PSN Starfleets]

Deepbrown, and Smokey, I dont appreciate the immature sarcasm so cut down on the foolishness.

I think there was a game called Samurai Warriors on the 360, and just from watching it it seemed like combos after combo's to try and get through a whole army of enemies.

With FPS, there is an objective, there is an immediate threat (you get hit once or twice, game over) so its evade, cover and kill - move on. But I know nothing about this game and from looking at screens, it looks like its a similar concept of bash the button as quick as you can and your certain to get through.??

What is the game about..what does it involve?

[techie]

I displayed no sarcasm and it wasn't immature. I myself am not a fan of the amount of fps games we get. I find them reptitive myself. DOn't mind stealth that much though.

What's Nariko's motive? Well this game is pretty cinematic with a steller script and cast. I usher you to the trailers, you might get a better sense of it there. It is shrouded in mystery, but I assure this game is more than "button mashing" and it will be a big relief when it comes out so I can drown out the hoards of shooting games that fall so angrily around us.

**edit** Dareaver1 - please don't get into this. You think I'm talking about brand loyalties? I'm saying that I find all fps repetitive. What I don't like is when some people say "ahhh this is just a God of War rip off" or "this is like Ninja Gaiden"...and so I say...so what!? Two great games...a genre which in my opinion is under staffed. What are Resistance and Gears and Halo and Killzone...!? They are all very similar.

If it's said to be repetitve then I ask the same of those that are fans of FPS (not 360 fans) why that sort of game is not. Very different games yes, but from the post it sounded like an attack at the genre of these games. You need to start reading peoples posts before jumping to conclusions or tainting them with a character which isnt justified.

The gameplay in this game is pretty on form...best fighting in a game I have seen and there are lots of breaks in between, as it is action with adventure.

Button mashing is definately an insult to it, the combo's can be techincal and it's not a game that you can pick up and start pulling off all the best moves, it takes time to learn the different ways of attacking and the more you play it the deeper the experience gets. The dev's are there pulling off massive combo's while your there learning for the first half an hour, obviously this is very rewarding the more you learn.

It's balanced really well and there will also be some "platform" kind of elements that are really good, the levels are spectacularly beautiful everyone's only seeing a glimpse of that at the moment.

Simply put it's pick up and play fun but deep enough to keep everything interesting which is what you want.

[SmokeyMcBear]

haha yeah that was me with the sarcasm and immaturity.. my bad. But still, a lot of different types of genres have the whole, push the button faster than the other guy. What I do know about HS is that she has a couple of different styles of fighting, each with its own unique types moves. I also like the concept of guide the missle/thrown object with the sixaxis

If you look at FPS, is has the same repetive nature as so called button mashers. Its hey look at that guy.. run.. jump, shoot, throw nade.. turn around, hey look at that other guy, shoot.. run around something, shoot some more nade, jump. Its the same type of fighting, anyway you look at it. Its all about preference. Don't get me wrong, I love a good FPS, but it does get repetetive, and you are doing the same thing over and over again, round after round.

[Dareaver1]

well first, why have the reference to fps in the first place. this is an action adventure game, why not compare it to dynasty warriors and say that they implement better, that it just isn't about button mashing. if you talk about fps, which have no baring on this game, then you are showing your biased. When people talk about fps, they are referring to 360, and don't be all gosh i didn't know about it, either. Man up to your statements. anyway the game looks impressive, but if you think that the gameplay is not going to be repetitive, then you are truly stupid. Repetition doesn't necessarily mean bad, every game is repeptitive. do you really think that this game is so advanced that it won't have any repetition in it's gameplay. that must mean it is either very short, or they have a new control theme and objective per stage, because that is the only way it won't be repetitive. Yall and your brand loyalties, you sound like kindergartners on the playground talkin about each others toys and saying well mines is better. You fanboys on both sides need to grow up. And stop actin so immature.

[SmokeyMcBear]

um, not sure exactly who you are talking to, but I guess I'll make a little response. I am thinking you are proving my point. Every single game is going to be repetitious. Fighing games.. punch punch, block, kick, punch+kick, twirl the joystick, rinse repeat. FPS run shoot, jump, run shoot jump, throw grenade. Racing.. hold down X, left right, left, dodge crashing cars, turbo. The gameplay is what is important, are the cinematics interesting, are the visuals amazing. The variety of the moves. In watching the first level played of ninja gaiden, I noticed the same 3-4 hit combo jump was implemented a lot, I know you can change weapons and therefore change fighting styles, but it did seem to be the same thing over and over again. I just don't get it when people say button mashers, in a sense almost all genres have a hit the button a bunch of time, time the button presses, see who can push the button first aspect to it.

[Dareaver1]

First off i didn't call it a button masher, but i did say make a comparison to something that makes sense like dynasty warriors, which everyone knows is a button masher. And then i said to describe how it is different then that type of game. Second, you seem to be the only one on the planet besides the developers that sounds like they have played the game. That is showing biased because you haven't played the game, and what trailers have you seen that no one else has. That's what i mean by kindergarten behavior. Interpreting things about something you have almost no knowledge outside of the general synopsis of the game. I said the game looked impressive, it does, but if it has more than one interactive cutscene than guess what, that is repetition. If it has more than one stage where you have to do the same task, that is repetition. I'm sure you see where i'm going with this. Every game is repetitive, that's kinda how you learn the game to begin with, but by comparing and saying that it's not as a fps, than your sadly mistaken. Ninja gaiden has great combos if you can master them. I'm pretty sure this game is gonna follow the same path as weapon based styles. Have you ever played Jade empire, great game, great fighting idea, but can be repetitive, that's what i'm saying about this game. there is no way it is not going to have repetition in it, but that doesn't mean that it's not gonna be a great game. You getting so defensive about this game makes it sound like this is a game you are creating. It wouldn't be far fetched to assume (and i said assume) that you have a fansite to this game. If you read your comments, it just sounds like your in love with the game, which kinda creeps me out a lil', but that is also why i responded. You make this game sound like a god, the be all and end all of all great games, dramatic story, creative and in depth control scheme, flawless gameplay, groundbreaking in everything it does. You have never played the game, so i don't think it is for you to tell these people all these assumptions. Thank-you!

[Jamaicangmr]

This game looks amazing i wonder if they will do a Nako (or whatever her name is) and Kratos combo game. Maybe with co-op play (Online split screen) that would be just sick. But maybe am jumpin abit too far ahead on this one lol!

[theagony]

after god of war 3 and heavenly sword 2 probably they will do a combo game where kratos and Nako meets with each other and fall into love ... at the end they both die..and we all cry:P

[daomay]

I must say she look like my x-galfriend from behind :-)

that fine (__x__) of her hmmm

anyway we broke up 'cause me mum and dad couldnt get any sleep 'cause women was too loud in bed...so I had to let her go lol

[SmokeyMcBear]

you live with your mom and dad? that says a lot

[Jamaicangmr]

2nd party they are mmm!

[Violater]

I tell u we are everywhere!!

[DC RID3R]

SEEN!!!

*HS looks promising btw*

Jamaicangmr, Violater, sound di big ting like BUSY!

Even John travolta a try di 'online' http://youtube.com/watch?v=... to bumboclart

LION PAR

[daomay]

I must say she look like my x-galfriend from behind :-)

that fine (__x__) of her hmmm

anyway we broke up 'cause me mum and dad couldnt get any sleep 'cause the women was too loud in bed...so I had to let her go lol

[Jamaicangmr]

Must have been hard to cut her loose.Why didnt you just let her bit down on the pillow or her panties something. You gotta fight for good ass man, fight.

[Jamaicangmr]

Yeah not just Jamaica lol! Whats up Violater?

[Violater]

Just checking out my soon to be Fav Ps3 game

[TheMART]

Must say, when there is something that's worth, I'll say it. Like I said buy a PS2 with God of War 1&2.

SO far I haven't seen so much for the PS3 too have or buy it for even. This game in screenshots looks really good.

But now in moving footage please, realtime etc. Because I've seen more before that hasn't come true.

[techie]

hey up marty...all the 2007 is from footage that was shown about a month ago. All gameplay footage as well. :) So yeah it is that good...and as it says in the speil above, will actually be better. The Ninja Theory team has grown a lot since 2006 with SCE Cambridge going in and really polishing this game up. So yeah it'll look better than that. Good times aye?

1ups impressions of the graphics from the playable demo at E3 2006,

"The graphics are the obvious highlight, with nice bump-mapping accompanying her fluidly animated red tresses. Bloom lighting was in full effect, which made Heavenly Sword look like some parts were pulled straight out of the arena scenes in Gladiator the movie."

Ninja dev "Wait to see the final game on a real TV set and not from a movie, I can assure you Nariko and all the other characters have got HUGE textures and a HIGH poly count (dont ask me numbers, trust me)
Just be patient..I believe you will not disappointed at all!"

[Mr Murda]

I see that a few people have "disagreed" with MART's comment. How? What's to disagree with in that comment? Please let me know.

Anyway, this game looks good and I'll probably get it. When this releases it will be the third PS3 exclusive worth buying, the other two are R:FOM and Motorstorm.

[tethered]

Was that a compliment?

Just going from what themart said, this game will sell thousands of PS3's all by itself.

The game does look amazing.
I too will be waiting to see more.

EDIT:
By the way Mr Murda, I clicked agree. lol
Its the first time I have ever agreed with the guy on a PS3 post.

[SimmoUK]

:) the best bit about this is all the 2007 footage here is 6 month's prior to when it was released and it's very impressive, so as you can imagine this game is looking even better since then, people shot down the last screenshot for not being realtime but you will see...

[Violater]

We will see but when??
thats the part thats killing me :)

[God of Gaming]

Looks pretty good...hopefully the gameplay holds up,usually the downfall or greatness of games like this.

[THWIP]

...or she's had a ton of plastic surgery, and got amber-colored contacts over the past couple years. Regardless, I'm glad to see she's not wearing as much eye makeup now......a true warrior goddess doesn't need such things. ;)

[Bebedora]

Just look at fran in FFXII. Even bumping a** running around in high heels. Hilarious and sexy at the same time.

[RAM MAGNUMS]

Its called God Of War. Just another hint that God Of war will come to the 360.

[THWIP]

What the hell are you talking about? 0_o

[shotputking]

maybe i'm missing the joke here... but how is this a hint that god of war will come to the the 360?? especially since god of war is either first or second party property of sony?

[Black Republican]

ughhh I don't get it.
can you please explain.

[ronin_oni]

God of War 1 & 2 were done by Sony's Santa Monica studios. That's like saying Halo 3 is comming to the playstation along with his friend Gears of War 2. Be sure you know what you talk about before you throw out false tid-bits of info like that.

[theagony]

man now we are dealing with dope ass* xbox dudes.
right mate righ it is comming to xbox too..and you all will be playing it with white uniform wearing people...jeez

[Black Republican]

I am buying a PS3 because of this game.

[candystop]

So what's been holding you back from picking one up? I'm personally going to wait until late 2008 or early 2009 to get one myself because that's when the games I believe for PS3 will be truly stellar!

[Black Republican]

I haven't bought one because I am BAD at saving money
lol...

BUT I can understand what you mean, at the time PS3 might not have alot of GREAT titles to choose from, but either way you look at it, buy one now, buy one later.
You and I will still buy one.

[chrisin3]

Dareaver1
Your comment seemed rather irrelevant. I know what you were getting at--in a convoluted way--but it seemed unneeded. Hack and slash games do get boring for some people. It's a valid point, though you don't have to agree...

[candystop]

This game looks really good and I just hope it really lives up to the hype!

[kewlkat007]

GOW rip-off with a chick..I wonder what's her story?

Thats all this game is, you'll see when it's out. There will me many side by side similarities. Watch..

If the topic is repetitive games, then every game we play is repetitive. Since this game is comparable to GOW, then the gameplay will be similar, again being repetitive.

Only the Nintendo Wii breaks that mold of the:
button smashing, combo vengeance, attack, attack, block then fatality, only to do it all over again and again on a hundred bad guys.

Oh yeah This game does looks good, hopefully its not short and repetitive. ^-^

[Bebedora]

Aborted post.

[fenderputty]

Like violater, the only bad part is waiting for it. This game has me twitching.

Why is it that since this game is in the same genre as GOW, I have to hear people call it a RIPOFF? It's going to be awsome in both gameplay, graphics and storyline. Aren't there different fighting styles that one can switch through?

[lilwingman]

This is one of my most anticipated games for the PS3. Repetitive button mashers... some of the best games on the market IMO.

[kewlkat007]

Only the Nintendo Wii breaks that mold of the,button smashing, combo vengeance, attack, wait, attack, block then fatality, only to do it all over again and again on a hundred bad guys.

so everything is repetitive in a sense..but yes, "It is what it is", some of the great games are button smashers..

Quite frankly, why do you think Sony did not bring GOW 2 to the Next-Gen Consoles? I'm sure 3 will be though, but won't be going against this game.

And No God of war will never be on the 360, until Sony resigns like SEGA and only makes software, like you see Sonic at a picnic table with Mario.(I heard they are best of buddies) No Hard Feeling..

To the guy below me YES , PS3 has no games right now. It has some franchises that are still living it up on the Old-school consoles which will eventually get to the PS3, unless they pull a CAPCOM, we'll see.

[Oncnawan]

How is the Wii breaking the mold? By not putting out any hack 'n slash games? Or by putting out games that don't involve repetition?

I havn't played Red Steel, but from the reviews, the swordplay sequences sound an aweful lot like your statement, "attack, wait, attack, block then fatality, only to do it all over again and again on a hundred bad guys."

Or, maybe you are referring to the fact that the Wii has a stronger library of mini-games?

Perhaps you are merely referring to the Wii's reliance on wiggling instead of button-mashing? Ultimately, the input doesn't matter. Games that require precise timing, thoughtful movement, situational awareness, adaptability and, in general, experience-wrought skill will be more interesting than games where the pinacle of skill is repeating the same combo ad nauseum to take out anywhere between 5 and 50 enemies each time.

Those kind of games (the deep ones that require more than 3 minutes to learn the intricacies of combat) can appear on any system. They have not yet appeared on the Wii (to my knowledge). Please explain how the Wii is "breaking the mold."

As for the rest of you, the question that has been repeated in the comments and has not yet been answered is, will Heavenly Sword's combat play more like Ninja Gaiden, or Ninety Nine Nights?

[Jamaicangmr]

God of War is a Sony 1st (That one with st next to it) party game. So in what parlel universe are you livin in where God Of War goes to the Xbox360? It's just as funny as a petition i saw with some Xbox360 owners beggin Insomniac to put Rachat and Clank on the Xbox360. lol! Yet i hear all this talk that the PS3 has no games lol! Next week i'll be quite happy with my "No game having" PS3. lol!

[quiddd]

No doubt it will be good with it's visuals. But if it's a plain button masher, it can't be as good as it can be.

Does anyone know more about the game? Is there a story behind it. If someone knows more about a storyline, please share it. Thank you.

[kewlkat007]

Everybody can THANK Microsoft for passing on this title. Not that I think this game will break any Mold of it's Genre.

"Originally in development to be released on the Xbox 360, Microsoft passed on the title, which was later picked up by SCEE. After its showing at E3 in 2006, the game was nicknamed "Goddess of War" by various game critics due to its similarities to the game "God of War".[1]"

You see I have the same view as Microsoft when I see this game, We'll see if it holds up.^-^

I wonder why SONY did not bring God of War 2 to Next-Gen right away. Make good sense with the PS2 install-base, Duhh.

I think they will have Heavenly Sword VS God of War going on, What do you gamers think?

Reminds me of:
FINAL FIGHT vs STREETS OF RAGE
TETRIS vs COLUMNS

This could of been Microsoft's answer to God of War..maybe. Now Sony is left to compete with it's own.

[wildcat]

I think MS made a mistake by not taking this title into their hands.

[lilwingman]

The GoW developers said that they didn't bring it to the PS3 because they had spent so much time developing a new engine for GoW, it made more financial sense to push out a 2nd one within a year or two using the same engine - which is an amazing engine to begin with - as opposed to starting from the ground up, again, and not having a game for a couple years anyways.

[zonetrooper5]

It may have great graphics but what about the gameplay, if its all style and not substance then there is not point in buying this game.

[wildcat]

We did see a glimpse of the gameplay at E3 and even at its early stages it still looked good and played fluidly. In my opinion, the story looks promising, having her life ticking away slowly and having to kill hundreds of enemies before the sword drains her life. Eh, it's all about what kind of game you want to play.

[lilwingman]

From what we've seen the gameplay looks reminiscent of GoW... and at least in my eyes, that's a very good thing.

[wildcat]

It was reminiscent of God of War, but I think that was only one aspect of the game. Maybe it's just next-gen, but what's going to set this game apart is the amount of people on screen at a time and the fact that the sword is actually draining your life, on top of all of the enemies attacking. It's also a completely different character, where Kratos was an angry guy who killed whoever came in his way and even ripped people apart, it looks like this game is going to be a little bit more graceful in some parts of it and the environments in which you fight are going to be more fantasy like.

[specialguest]

She's lost her Asian facial features in favor of a more Caucasian looking face.

[kewlkat007]

Thanks for pointing that out special guest, its about time we have a Western Woman Warrior..Ha

We will only know how this game will play, but ask most gamers and they will say the same about the GOW comparisons, and the types of weapons and such. Just Look at it..

Anyhow..well see

[candystop]

I remember the company behind Lair jumped ship from 360 to support PS3 right after or during E3'05! It was kind of odd to me that almost immediately after that they starting showing pictures of Lair! Now i'm just curious what game they were creating for 360 when they jumped ship and if Lair was also an original 360 title that they lost to Sony!

[SlaughterMeister]

AAAAAHH!!

I hate it!

Come up with different abbreviations for these games!

'GOW is way better than GOW, because in GOW you don't have all the repetition, and the story is way better. The graphics are so amazing in GOW that i just can't stand it. There is no way any game could ever measure up to GOW'

I'm just confused after reading these comments now.

[nicodemus]

I'm not trying to start a "flame war" or whatever. I just want someone to tell me: What, exactly, is so impressive about the graphics in Heavenly Sword?

I don't see it. In fact, I think it looks quite bad.

Is it the art direction that everybody likes? Or is there a bunch of technical stuff going on that isn't apparent in the screenshots? I'm not trying to get under anybody's skin, but I genuinely want to know why everybody likes it.

Because to me, screenshots like this look closer to last-gen:

http://media.ps3.ign.com/me...

THESE looks like next-gen:

http://media.ps3.ign.com/me...
http://media.ps3.ign.com/me...

Again, not trying to start anything, just curious.

[jwatt]

Just go to youtube, the video quality sucks but the game looks good.

Heavonly Sword

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

The gameplay is awesome.

[nicodemus]

I checked around, and it looks much better in motion. As is often the case with a lot of games. I'm not blown away, but I definitely retract my former statement about looking bad. It looks good. Fun as well.

[kornbeaner]

with MGS4 we have acutally seen in-game footage so when we look at screen shots we are that much more impressed. With Heavenly sword we have only been treated to small amounts of gameplay footage since E3. So we all keep looking at the screen shots and they start to lose their value cause we want to see what these graphics look like in motion. As is the case with MGS4 the screen shots released are always after in game footage so we know that the game looks as good as the screen shots make it look.

[Figboy]

i got to play this title at E3 2006, and it was a lot of fun.

i'll try and remember as much as i can from my experience with it (the arena demo we're all familiar with was is what was shown)

in all honesty, it has more in common with God of War and Ninja Gaiden, than Dynasty Warriors and Ninety-Nine Knights.

to generalize, think of the button layout of God of War/God of War 2. that was the control scheme for Heavenly Sword (at least last year).

you have a strong and medium attack (Triangle and Square, respectively), and a grab (Circle). "X" is to jump.

the shoulder buttons switch between Nariko's stances, and between her weapons (those Kratos like chain blades, and a wicked gigantic sword), and also handle blocking.

depending on the weapon and stance she's in, she has access to a bunch of different moves and attacks specific to said weapon and stance. these moves flow very well into each other, and the result looks very fluid and natural, like, say, the battles in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

switching between the various stances and weapons are vital to defeating enemies.

some enemies con on to certain attacks, and develop a resistance to them, forcing you to switch up your tactics often.

the baddies also don't just attack one at a time, and will often bum-rush you at once. i found using the chain's Triangle attack to be very effective in knocking them all back.

what i thought was also cool is that i could throw people into the set-dressing littered about the arena, or kick objects at the bad guys.

the demo was short (i think i beat it in two or three minutes), but it was a lot of fun, and i had to force myself to not hog up the controller, and let the other people play (of course, the guy manning the demo probably would have kicked me off anyway).

if the game still plays anything like that demo (or, hopefully, better), than we've definitely got a AAA title here. i don't expect them to trash their excellent fighting engine and starting over from scratch so close to release anyway, so i'm sure we'll be fine.

i don't know if this cleared up any questions, but if i remember more, i'll report it here.

[fenderputty]

I knew you could change styles in mid battle mixing things up. I didn't know meanies get used to a repetitive fighting style. That's really, really cool. The gameplay sounds awesome. The fluidity of things going on sounds awesome. The environments sound awesome. Andy Serkis is acting in this thing. It's going to be an awesome story line too.

This game is just AWESOME.

[Monchichi025]

Why oh why do Sony fanboys always hype any 1st Party game by Sony as "AAA" titles. Sure, you have some good ones, but c'mon now!!

They say:

Lair AAA
WarhawK AAA
Heavenly Sword AAA
Killzone AAA
Little Planet AAAA

Reality check, these games have not even come out and have proven NOTHING yet. (Well Killzone did, that first SUCKED!!!!) but history has shown that only one or two will be even somewhat good. So get your head out of Sony's ass and live in reality.

[Violater]

When you are on this site please try and speak facts

HS is not a first party title, and this is not meant to say it will not be great, b/c it will be.
I would be hyped about HS whether it was on any console. Many people have been watching this game for 2 or 3 years and I have been impressed since then. Nearly every producer has been impressed by this title. If you aren't then you don't know a good game when you see one.
Many Many Publishers wanted the rights to this title, fact is Sony was bloody lucky to get their hands on it. (don't believe go read the lead developers diary), Sony was Lucky to get their hands on It.

[jwatt]

I understand what your're saying but we have seen gameplay footage from three out of those five games. By looking at the video I think it's safe to say Heavenly sword and Little Big Planet are AAA titles. Warhawk looks fun and the budget and anticipation behind Killzone probably means it's going to be a AAA title too, I think Sony is working hard on this one. I think we have to see more footage from Lair to see how big the games is going to be. It's obvious by looking at Heavonly Sword that it's going to be a big game like God of war with ps3 graphics, better fighting styles and it seems to have a good story too.

[fenderputty]

Is not going to be AAA. At least I don't see how it could be. It won't even have an offline mode. It's all multiplayer. It may be fun but, I don't think AAA. I'm waiting for Lair too. I'll get it. It also has potential to be AAA but, no garauntee. Killzone is total coin toss. Little Big Planet should be AAA, it looks like a lot of fun. This game should be AAA too.

This is my opionion though. Take it for what it's worth. Admittedly, not much since I am no game reviewer.

[TylerDurden]

I think it just that people get excited about upcoming games and throw the AAA term around loosely. Some will end up being AAA but not all.

[jib]

this game is beautiful

[Says you]

A Dumbass that this game that hes seeing before his eyes is not God of War considering that God of War will never be for the crapy XBox 360 and only for the PS3 and further more this is Heavenly Sword.

[ZeroAlarm]

This game really does look next-gen. It's nice to see some developers getting used to the PS3's hardware this early on. Now all we have to do is wait for a price drop and some more first party games looking like this and the Ps3 will be golden.

[Dragonopolis]

Remember the days of RPGs They were less about physical interaction and more on the Puzzle solving but they often relied on Cinematic representation rather than full control 3D. Cinematic gaming was used non RPGs like what Mortal Kombat using digitize sprites of real people to give it an edge graphic wise. Heavenly Sword takes it to the extreme. Gone are the complicated menu structures of old but the puzzle elements are still there from RPG but the the leveling up is not emphasized. I believe that the Next Final Fantasy will probably have a Similar type system done Square Enix style. RPGs at one time represented greatness of the machine because of the beauty of Cinematics/CGI which made the console look ahead of its time. Heavenly Sword, God of War, and probably the next Final Fantasy is just taking it to the next level. Sure there are other game elements from of other Genres other than RPG but its my belief that the concept is more in-line with why RPG came about than with anything else. This rebirth of a Genre (Cinematic gaming not RPGs) is probably going to be the next popular Genre on the PS3. It may even spill over to the xbox 360 but again different strokes for different folks. The Xbox gamers are more FPS/TPS/ rather than Cinematic/RPG/Platformer because that was the xbox's strength when it was trying to find a niche in the console market. Where Playstation was built with RPGS,simulation(driving games), even some platformers

Heavenly Sword is more than a button masher it has puzzle solving and deepness to its fighting system. It looks to add the best of several Genres and will probably be hailed as the first true Next Gen game for the PS3 if it ships in May or gets overshadowed by Lair (which I doubt)

Can't wait to see if this game lives up to the hype. I don't own a PS3 yet, but the more I see, read, and hear about this game the more I fear I will half to shell out the bucks for a PS3 earlier than I want too. Actually in a way I hope it does because then all games will have a new standard to be judged by no matter what console it is on. This will only raise the bar for other developers to get their programming skills together or get left behind.

Good times for gamers................

[n4g sucks]

almost all the screen shots are a year old. Heavenly sword developers are tight lipped and had to beg sony for a screen shot last month. i think with all the motion capturing and focus on facial expressions, the main character will look more like the actress. the story line sounds intriguing and if you have the seen the scans of some of the bosses (whiptail) you know why most ps3ers are soooo excited. i,ve followed this game since ever since e3 and i think this will be the first must have title for ps3. i know lair and warhawk will be released before HS but i think warhawk will do good but the online only( which is usually a bonus) will hurt it and it isnt exactly the best looking game in the world. If sony charged 59.99 for warhawk this will also hurt it, some people feel this is only half a game and feel the price should reflect that. ( i agree )Lair looks great but i need to see more.

[deathtok]

Nice comparison. 2007 pics definitely looked improved in all areas. Looking forward to trying this game.

[schnodder]

hard times for microsoft. now the real next gen has arrived ... all the upcoming titles for the ps3 look way better than bioshock or mass effect or the gazillion other shooters coming to the 360. there is nothing new or innovative on the xbox. had one for about one year and sold it now to buy a ps3.

motorstorm is a blast - i think you'll never see a racing game with so much realistic style on the 360. the colors and lightning on the ps3 are way better than on the 360. all my friends are blown away by motorstorm and rfom - which never happens at playing 360 games - always shoot shoot shoot duck run duck shoot die .... so lame.

i was so 360 all the time but now ... i have to say Sony did it again. have fun with your shooting on the 360 but for me ... no way. MGS4 i'm coming.

[kewlkat007]

a feeling you never did own an Xbox360..

Great contradiction here:

"all my friends are blown away by motorstorm and "RFOM" - which never happens at playing 360 games - always shoot shoot shoot duck run duck shoot die .... so lame."

So a shooter on the PS3 is the best game they have right now(IMO), but your complaining about Xbox360, which pleny of different titles coming out this year. Jeeze people alway have something to complain about..

[jwatt]

I have a 360 and they have good games coming out too, but I am getting ready to sell my ps2 and get a ps3. I will play Resistance for the time being.

[ben hates you]

mass effect is not a normal shooter it will be 07's best rpg third person shooter new type sorta, and bioshock looks awesome, and i will post them if you want but there are a lot of other games than shooters coming out this year, and motorstorm is not realistic yes it is fun but if you wanta realistic game forza is what you play and i do think that is on the 360 exclusively i think you need to EDIT your paragraph, for many people have been blown away, and lastly i don't think microsoft is having it hard when they sell more then the ps3 and sit on a thrown of money

[ben hates you]

mass effect is not a normal shooter it will be 07's best rpg third person shooter new type sorta, and bioshock looks awesome, and i will post them if you want but there are a lot of other games than shooters coming out this year, and motorstorm is not realistic yes it is fun but if you wanta realistic game forza is what you play and i do think that is on the 360 exclusively i think you need to EDIT your paragraph, for many people have been blown away um... GEARS OF WAR, and lastly i don't think microsoft is having it hard when they sell more then the ps3 and sit on a thrown of money

[DJ]

how they pulled off the waterfall effects. Out of all the things in the environments, those wowed me the most.

[Sevir04]

and i'm hearing that what was shown in 2007 was actually a november 06 build... MY word what a massive graphic overhaul. see this is why i dont want this game to be released in may, because i'm certain that may will be the month for Lair, and this game at this point will really kill the sales of lair, Lair looks great and needs it's attention a full 4 months to hog it. a which is why i would rather wait for this game because right now this eats GEARS and when it releases, unless killzone looks like THAT trailer, then this will prolly steal it's show as well. MGS4 man... 2007 fall is gonna be huge. games already matching gears and games by fall will trump it. yes yes yes... cant wait. the reason i purchased my ps3. is because of these games. Sony's first and second party are awesome.

[DaTrooF]

can people just plz stop calling this a god of war rip-off..sure they have many things in common....but is that even a bad thing?god of war is one of the best games out there IMO.you guys should also take notice that they've only showed us only a part of the game.i dont think this game is going to be repetetiv(plz dont turn out to be another DW)it looks really fun and knowing that they haven't showed orther parts of the game i cant help but think of the suprises ahead...

note:they started working on this game befor God Of War.

also can we refer to God of war as GOW and gears of war as Gears,it gets confusing sometimes.

@ SIMMOUK i have a question:do you know something about this game that we dont know about?and it seems as if you know something about that picture they released a while ago that you also aint telling us.

[Robotz Rule]

I can't wait to play Heavenly Sword,it looks amazing!!!

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

when.

is all i have left to say about this.

[Bhai]

I bet the biggest thing to blast most of the people away is going to be the gameplay. The game is already perfect in most of the ways, in visuals, music, physics, cinematic presentation and emotional storyline, but the true star of this heavenly event is the gameplay, when you have arount a 1000 enemies to kill,
you humiliate them,
rip them apart,
shove them on other enemies,
use three stance formations from your sword,
use spears,
objects,
bazooka,
they cheer,
taunt your being feminine,
you kick their ar$e and tell'em who's da 'man',
unbelievable AI,
unbeievably realistic battle sounds of swords clanking,
on treetops,
on water,
on rooftops,
above clouds...

...Its all heavenly for sure, and PS3 brings that taste of heaven to you...Live B3yond !!!

[jwatt]

I remember when they said you fight above clouds but I forgot where I read it at, can you tell where to find all this information?

[wildcat]

I believe it was in this description towards the end of the paragraph.

http://uk.playstation.com/g...

[Shaka2K6]

So Heavenly beautifull.......

[theagony]

this one is gonna come true, we have seen the 2006 realtime gaming fotoage too.
But the sad part is one more time it will prove that how easy in this console market to make customers switching their beloved xbox consoles to sony,it is time to change your avatar as well right mate?

[lokimendivil]

why do you guy so much crap on the 360? i have both ps3 and 360 but the truth is i play my 360 more! and Im not about to say how good a game is till i play it! ps3 is a good system but theres not to much on it right now

[theagony]

I have nothing to do with x360 just MS, and unfortunately x360 is their product therefore there will never be a place for it on my side.
We shall never let them destroy console gaming for the sake of pc market.

[Shaka2K6]

I cant wait for this game.

[Imknow1]

Looks f'ing awsome! :D

[JohnCarpenter]

What about the 2004 screens from the XBOX?
http://screenshots.teamxbox...

Never forget : It's all about the games! The platform can be changed.

[SIX]

....It obviously is a beautiful game. Lets wait till it comes out before we make a judgement. If this plays like dirt, the 360 guys are going to have a ball sticking it to the Sony guys............Then again, this thread is about graphics and not gameplay....... In which case, yeah, this game is going to own. Big time!

[ACE]

it looks down graded from 2005 , what r u guys going on about ? .

look at the in game pics not the cgi ones .

looks like it could b a good game we will see .