HeavenlySword
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New Heavenly Sword gallery shows Andy Serkis in a funny suit
We love Andy Serkis for everything he's done for Heavenly Sword. Helping turn a game into a cinematic masterpiece. We've loved him for years though, ever since his role in Lord of the Rings. In fact, we're no strangers to seeing Serkis in a mo-cap suit, seeing as we watched the extras on the LOTR DVDs several times.Our new gallery, found below, includes some fresh Serkis mo-cap pictures and some interesting King Bohan images. They are particularly fascinating to those interested in the specifics of 3D graphics generation. Low-polygon wireframes of King Bohan are found alongside high detailed mudbox renders. Fascinating!%Gallery-5899%
New Heavenly Sword art shows off weapons, environments
Okay, we admit we have a love affair with Heavenly Sword. So much so that we're willing to grab onto any piece of art that comes out of Ninja Theory. This latest batch of art focuses on the weapons and environments in this upcoming PS3 action game. The graphics engine is impressive ... but what drives the real visual beauty of the game comes from its impressive art. Check out our gallery below:%Gallery-5898%
Andy Serkis talks mo-cap in Heavenly Sword
Yeah, we're impressed by the emotion delivered by the motion captured performances in Heavenly Sword. Andy "the guy who played Gollum" Serkis talked about his role as Dramatic Director of the game to CVG. Playing the game's villain meant internalizing a different kind of mentality for the actor: "Well, Bohan was this dictator that created his own moral universe where he was right. Rather than just playing an evil guy, you have to sort of believe in what you're doing - most dictators do. So I've been reading about dictators."Unfortunately, it appears that Serkis' skill at acting far exceeds his ability to play games. "I'm pretty hopeless at games," he admits. "I love playing Shadow Of The Colossus, just riding round on my horse looking for colossi. I haven't actually found any yet, though." Andy, one clue to you: look for the moving giant in the distance.[Thanks, Random1448!]
Heavenly Sword animated series: Part II
In the second part of the Heavenly Sword animated series we discover that the sword wielded by the Heavenly Warrior in the first part became a burden on man. Eventually, to save the power obsessed people from themselves it ends up in the hands of a tribe that would protect it. Yup, we're definitely enjoying these little shorts. At least we can respect this type of marketing, and the art behind it, compared to Nintendo's mind-numbing Smash Bros. info drip. Maybe Heavenly Sword will reveal Sonic as a secret character in Part III of the animated series?See also: Part I
Heavenly Sword animation: Guardian of the Sword
The Heavenly Sword animation continues this week. Once again, GAP members were treated to an early look, and now the video is freely available for you to enjoy. This time, find out more about the Guardian of the Sword, and expect to find the video (in HD!) later this week when the PlayStation Store updates. See also: Heavenly Sword animation explains mythic origins
Piyotama, Heavenly Sword videos in today's US PSN update
Pastel-colored chickens are trapped in pastel-colored eggs and the only way to save them is to match four colored eggs and let the Magic of Physics handle the rest! Piyotama is available today on the US PlayStation Network for $2.99. European PS3 owners are not so lucky, having been denied egg-popping this week.Two Heavenly Sword videos -- the first part of a Behind-the-Scenes featurette and the first episode of the animated series -- are also out today for the low, low cost of nothing.
American PSN updates for August 9th
Piyotama! That's cool, right? Eggs! Yay! It's that time again, we know what's coming to the US PSN this afternoon. Check below for the full list. Piyotama game ($2.99) Heavenly Sword Anime episode 1 (free) Heavenly Sword making of video 1 (free) Turok E3 trailer (free) 10,000 BC movie trailer (free) Fred Claus movie trailer (free) Superbad movie trailer (free) Perfect Stranger movie trailer (free) How do we feel about that? We're not sure. We're still numb from the thrashing the European PSN gave us earlier today. We will say this though, as annoyed as we are that playable content is woefully limited (or egg-based), that Heavenly Sword anime is pretty nice. As animation connoisseurs we appreciate this sort of thing and look forward to future episodes. Though, not at the expense of demos. Please.
Heavenly Sword animation explains mythic origins
Ever wanted to know where the titular Heavenly Sword came from? Sony's releasing a brand new animated series highlighting the origins of Nariko's sword. Available first to GAP members, the video has made its way to the internet ... and to you. Watch the first part of an ongoing series, to be updated weekly.
Heavenly Sword producer defends against Itagaki's jabs
Oh no he didn't news now, with Team Ninja's tough-talking Tomonobu Itagaki expressing his thoughts on Heavenly Sword, September's highly anticipated PS3 kill-em-up from Ninja Theory. It seems the interactive cutscenes and corresponding button prompts didn't sit too well with the drinking designer. "I've never played a good game where the developers put a big icon of the button you're supposed to press onscreen," he told EGM (via CVG). "I look at Heavenly Sword and it seems really half-assed, because it's asking you to do all these button-timing sequences but you are not getting much payoff from it." Itagaki has every right to feel robbed -- if he's never played a good game like that, we can only conclude that he's never experienced Shenmue, Resident Evil 4, God of War or Tomb Raider: Anniversary. He's probably played Dragon's Lair though. Not content with leaving the battle of "Ninja" developers without a fight, Heavenly Sword producer Kyle Shubel courteously defended the game's interactive events, noting that the feats accomplished in them would be frustrating to pull off on your own. "My response to Mr. Itagaki would be that the intent of the Hero sequences is to empower the player to experience events that would be nearly impossible to play in a natural platforming state... for example, making the player run down ropes, leaping from rope to rope as they're being cut from underneath you, all while dodging other objects - that would be a frustrating experience to 99 percent of our users if we were to force them to do that manually." We'll find out next month if Heavenly Sword is a fully-assed answer to Itagaki's thrice-released Ninja Gaiden.
Heavenly Sword called "half-assed" by Ninja Gaiden Guru
In the latest issue of EGM, Ninja Gaiden creator Itagaki Tomonobu spoke out against the upcoming Heavenly Sword, deeming the sequences where you press certain buttons to perform certain actions (known as "hero sequences") a poor design choice and "half-assed".Itagaki-san was quoted as saying: "I've never played a good game where the developers put a big icon of the button you're supposed to press onscreen ... I look at Heavenly Sword and it seems really half-assed, because it's asking you to do all these button-timing sequences but you are not getting much payoff from it." We have to disagree with Itagaki-san. For some of the actions you perform, there wouldn't be a really good substitute outside of timed button sequences. It's mostly for style and we enjoy watching them. With that in mind, we think there's a lot of potential for payoff.Kyle Shubel, producer at Ninja Theory, responded to Itagaki's statement. It's a battle of words! "My response to Mr. Itagaki would be that the intent of the Hero sequences is to empower the player to experience events that would be nearly impossible to play in a natural platforming state ... for example, making the player run down ropes, leaping from rope to rope as they're being cut from underneath you, all while dodging other objects - that would be a frustrating experience to 99 percent of our users if we were to force them to do that manually." We agree, and we'll leave it at that.[via N4G]
New videos show why it's Heavenly Sword
There's a reason why the game is called Heavenly Sword. Not Mediocre Sword. Not Slightly-Above-Par Sword. Heavenly. There's no doubt that the collaborative work of Weta Digital and Ninja Theory has created some truly stunning and emotive visuals. But that's not all! After the cut, you'll see some intense gameplay against a boss. Those that were afraid that the game might be repetitive need not: it looks like Heavenly Sword is hiding a lot -- and we can't wait to see more as we get closer to its September release.
Heavenly Sword dated for September 12th
Remember when we said that Lair and Heavenly Sword would be out on the same day, since the delay? Well it looks like that won't be the case. Heavenly Sword has now been "pushed back" (or "officially dated" if you want to be picky) for September 12th, a full week after Lair. Currently our minds are reeling. Just the thought of two highly anticipated titles actually being released is almost enough for us to forgive the recent delays and "official datings". Almost. With August being the game wasteland that it is, with nary a Blu-Ray disc release to be seen, we're counting on Sony to step up to the plate and deliver us some decent PSN downloadable content for the next three weeks or so. To be fair, however, the last few weeks since E3 have been good for the PSN Store. Let's keep those demos coming. Ratchet and Clank and Lair, we're looking at you ...Having said that, once August is over we can look forward to decent games coming at least every couple of weeks. Won't that be a treat. Hang on, I have a funny sense of deja vu.
Heavenly Sword dated Sept 12
Sony's laying its exclusive bait early this year-end season, announcing a September 12th release date for Heavenly Sword. The crumb of a demo might be enough to whet the appetites of software-starved PlayStation 3 owners leading up to the full game release (really, what PS3 owner isn't gonna bite?), but the 5-minute tease hasn't generated the level of buzz that already surrounds two Xbox 360 console-exclusives, which sandwich Heavenly Sword's mid-September debut; that's BioShock (Aug 21st) and Halo 3 (Sept 25th). Of course, for those of us who devour games regardless of platform, it's time to loosen our belts -- let gluttony commence!%Gallery-3174%
Heavenly Sword's origin is on first Xbox
Heavenly Sword could have been an interactive version of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon exclusively for Xbox One. Gametrailers chronicles the history of the now-PS3 exclusive by Ninja Theory using trailers that have been shown since May 2003.Originally, protagonist Nariko had black hair, a more traditional Chinese attire, and a voice eerily similar to Michelle Yeoh. Even more reminiscent of films like Crouching Tiger and Hero were scenes of combat on top of water and gravity-bereft air fights. By May 2004, Nariko's hair had turned red and her clothes had all but disappeared. It wasn't until May 2005 that Heavenly Sword began to look like the final version we know today. A trailer from E3 2006 is not in the video montage, but trust us, it was there.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
PlayStation 3 to rock Lollapallooza
Since nothing emphasizes the street cred and indie-vibe of an alternative music show like having a massive corporate sponsor, Sony has announced that they are sponsoring Lollapallooza this year and will be having a major presence at the event. Attendees at the show will be able to play a wide variety of PlayStation titles, including both Lair and Heavenly Sword on the PlayStation 3. Also shown will be Buzz and Singstar on the PS2 and Parappa on the PSP. Sony will even be having contests and competitive games to entertain you, in case you're not real into the musical lineup this year (and with Pearl Jam headlining, nobody would blame you).Anybody hear planning on hitting up Lair-apallooza? (Sorry had to do it.) If so, let us know what you think of the games!
Still no solid release date for Heavenly Sword
Aside from the same "September" date we've heard mumbled over and over for the past several months, there's no real solid release set for Heavenly Sword. Rumors have quaked about the title getting a release on September 14th, but Sony says nothing in return. Ninja Theory fully expects the game to get the go-ahead for September, but whether or not it'll be the 14th is up in the air.Since we love random discussions, what if it gets delayed back to November for no apparent reason? There are a ton of titles hitting in November and this "launch title" would not do well to suffer from any more delays. It needs to get in the hands of the people as soon as possible, and if that's September, then fine. We don't know if we'll be able to handle another delay!
Joystiq talks about Heavenly Sword's Chatterbox and more
Rhianna Pratchett is the esteemed writer of Sony's upcoming PS3 action game, Heavenly Sword. In a revealing interview with Joystiq, she reveals her inspirations and the responsibilities of a game writer (you know you want to be one).One of the more interesting aspects of Heavenly Sword's dialog system comes from its "Chatterbox" system. As she explains: "the Chatterbox system that the Ninja Theory guys have talked about way back when they did the cover of Heavenly Sword in Edge. You've got the soldiers talking away to each other during fights, mocking Nariko, mocking each other, reacting to the player's moves etc. The enemy will have a noticeable change depending on how many of them there are in the fight. If there are lots then they'll be more upbeat and bolshy. If there's just a few they'll be much more panicked or cowardly."Read Joystiq's full interview to find out more about Heavenly Sword and game writing.
Joystiq interviews Heavenly Sword's Rhianna Pratchett
While at the Develop Conference we had the opportunity to sit down with Rhianna Pratchett, script writer and story designer for Heavenly Sword. We discuss the story of the game, her inspiration, the role of storytelling in video games and, among other things, her dad's (author Terry Pratchett) influence on her work.Why are you writing for games, in particular?I've always been a gamer, since I was about six and I started playing Mazogs on the ZX81. My dad was very techy and into computers, electronics, robots and that kind of thing. He'd bring something that clicked and whirred home and I was an only child so, of course, I was fascinated with whatever my dad was doing. Games were only really becoming commercial then and maybe he thought it was quite cute to get his six year old daughter playing a game where she would run around with a sword killing giant bugs. I asked him about Mazogs the other day and he said that he remembers me being rather frightened of the bug creatures, at first. Although once I found I could kill them, I was much happier! I got hooked from that and I would get all his hand-me-down machines. We would play lots of games together, mainly isometric adventure games. Or rather, he would play them and I would sit beside him drawing all the maps for him. When I was around eleven years old, a girl called Katie moved next door to me and we would play adventure games together (there was precious little else to do in our tiny, one-road village!) but this time it was our adventure. We played games like Monkey Island, King's Quest, even things like the old Leisure Suit Larry games (we'd have to guess all the 'are you 18?' questions – which were mainly, and rather bizarrely, about the American political process!) I studied journalism at university. I didn't really think about games writing back then, so I started off being a games journalist, in about '98 on a magazine called PC Zone, which was (and still is) quite a hardcore PC magazine. I also did some work for The Guardian for a couple of years. Then about four years ago, I started going freelance and then I got my first gig as a story editor for a game and it took off from there as I started to get more and more projects.%Gallery-3174%
Heavenly Sword demo too short? Watch these vids
We're sorry that the playable Heavenly Sword demo that was recently released on the PlayStation Store is so short. Instead or providing you with the meaty experience we received at E3, Sony decided to give you about five minutes of gameplay -- a mere tease that might mask how truly brilliant Heavenly Sword truly is. Don't be fooled: as we said before, this is not meant to be God of War -- it's far more methodically paced than Sony's Greek epic.In lieu of an extended gameplay experience, the best we can offer are these videos from GameVideos.com. Watch as Nariko devastates a small army of minions with her stylish moves. We've become enamored by Nariko and hope that the final game is as good as we hope it'll be.
Heavenly Sword demo'd
That was it...? As the most significant chunk of data to hit PSN since Gran Turismo HD (CAC didn't live up to the hype), and weighing in at 996 MB, the Heavenly Sword demo merely offers a beefy pinch of tease. Call us biased. We are. At E3 we were able to play well past where this demo ends, and we've had the itch ever since.For most PlayStation 3 owners, today's download is the first opportunity to see and play Heavenly Sword. However brief, the experience does highlight some of the combat differences between Ninja Theory's forthcoming epic hackumup and the God of War series; namely an inability to jump (except at key moments with a touchy Sixaxis jerk) and a focus on defense and counter-attacks (some, but not too many, with accented camera angles). Still, the demo is cramped into three small game spaces (outdoor "rooms" separated by timed-press rope running), with one that lacks anyone to maul, and another that's cut maddeningly short.
