The Gamer's Quarter

[silentmatt]

So yeah. I've gone on record a few times now about how I've come to loathe motion sensing. It just seems, in most instances, to be completely tacky to me.

That is - until I picked up Heavenly Sword today.

Chapter 1, Level 2: features the possibly mentally retarded "little sister" cat-thing as the player character. Who, by the way, uses a multi-chamber crossbow as her main weapon. Each arrow of which, amazingly, can be controlled, in bullet time, using sixaxis.

AND IT IS AWESOME.

If only Lair controlled as well as these arrows do - it would have been playable.

I've heard people complain that the game is too short (7 hours or something) but seriously - I've spent almost 2 just replaying the 2nd level, going for a perfect score. And I've yet to tire of it. SO GOOD.


Regarding the overall game: it seems extremely polished so far. MUCH different than the haphazard demo (which I did end up downloading, to my complete and utter lack of enthusiasm). I'm really glad I put those feelings aside and picked the game up today.
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PSN: Twitch_City ||| Wii: 8083 5371 5767 6700
"Jadis, si je me souviens bien, ma vie était un festin où s'ouvraient tous les coeurs, où tous les vins coulaient."

[ryan]

Yeah, the demo didn't do much for me. And Lair doesn't get any better, unfortunately, so it seems that you're twice lucky.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[RadarScope1]

It's taking the PS3 nearly a year to get its legs with HS and Motorstorm being about the only good original titles.

These short-but-sweet games should have been launch or launch window titles.

[silentmatt]

I'm further in HS now... And, to all those people complaining that the game is too short, they really need to shut the hell up.

Sure, the game is probably short if you just rush through it to see the end. But, I think that goes against what the game wants you to do: which is to take your time and savour each level.

Each level (despite almost always beautifully seemless transitions between them) is selectable from the main menu. I love this. I had wished God of War would have done this. This makes the game play like a DVD would - you can play from start to finish, or just play your favourite scene(s) from a chapter menu. One scene really bother you? You don't need to play it ever again. It works extremely well.

On top of that, each level is "ranked" with glyphs - which basically is a skill tally that is based upon the number of combos achieved and your playing style. This is where, to me, the meat of the game is: you play through a level (or a few if you just can't help yourself) then before the next chapter begins, you go back and get perfect runs on all the levels you just cleared. The game rewards you with both new moves (the main attraction), art (which I don't really care about but it is nice to see) and video. To do this, you need to plan your actions in a level and, at times, execute that plan flawlessly. I love it.

This being said - I've had good sessions with the game everyday over the past three days and I still have 2 chapters to go. And, after that, there is still "Hell Mode" (which is basically GoW 2's "titan mode"). So, conclusion: I still have a LOT of game left.

Plus, I kind of like the fact that it is short (if you aren't going for glyphs) - this means that if friends come over, we can play through the game in an evening as we would watch film. It also means that, a few months from now, I'll probably be more likely to replay it than a longer, more daunting game (i.e. Oblivion).
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PSN: Twitch_City ||| Wii: 8083 5371 5767 6700
"Jadis, si je me souviens bien, ma vie était un festin où s'ouvraient tous les coeurs, où tous les vins coulaient."

[helicopterp]

okay.
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

[silentmatt]

it is.
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PSN: Twitch_City ||| Wii: 8083 5371 5767 6700
"Jadis, si je me souviens bien, ma vie était un festin où s'ouvraient tous les coeurs, où tous les vins coulaient."

[SuperWes]

Hey all, just popped in to say that Motorstorm is terrible.

Heavenly Sword is on my B-Day list, so I might end up with it, but if I don't I'll get it when it goes down in price. I think I'd be better off holding off until Stranglehold.

-Wes
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[FortNinety]

Yeah, is Motorstorm considered a good game? Because if so... it isn't. Sorry!

I also echo the sentiments of HS being a perfect fine launch game almost a year too late.

[Cycle]

I really enjoyed the Motorstorm demo that I played at a kiosk. What's wrong with it?
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[simplicio]

[Slonie]

I enjoy the thought that went into the production design for Motorstorm. I haven't played enough of the game to say it's good or not good though!

PS: Maybe you can just buy my loyalty for a game by sticking a Chinook helicopter in the background, I don't know. But at least it makes a slightly more plausible case for how all these people (and a racetrack) ended up on top of a mesa! Yep, I appreciate that.
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-Slonie

[ryan]

I'm enjoying the combo system, but I'm not really enjoying the setting. The weird combination of Asian and European elements is too haphazard - hero's father has a Chinese accent while the grunts seem to speak Cockney. The main villain is pretty rad, but the others are fairly weak. The face animations do a great job of freaking me out though.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.