Heavenly Sword was released back in September 2007, six months after the release of the PS3 console. It was a highly anticipated game for PS3 owners due to the promise of cinematic storytelling and action, as well as its format-exclusive status. The crop of PS3 exclusives was, at that time, somewhat limited – and with developers pulling out of exclusivity deals left, right, and centre, Heavenly Sword was considered a rare opportunity to own something that the Xbox360 crowd would miss out on.

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From joystiq.com

Any chance of a Heavenly Sword sequel? Will you be working with Ninja Theory again?

That’s really up to Sony, as they’re the ones who own the IP. I know it was rumored that Heavenly Sword 2 (which the Ninjas had already revealed they weren’t working on) had been canned, but I’m not sure if Sony ever confirmed that one way or another. So I’m as much in the dark as you are.

I had several fans of the game writing to me in utter dismay about the rumors. They were really attached to the characters and wanted to know what would happen next. It was heart-warming to know that people cared about the characters that much. I know Ninja Theory have moved onto new things and so have I. The Ninjas are a really strong creative team and I can’t wait to see what they’ll come up with next.

I’ve found a couple more photos taken at the Art of Games conference in Italy. Ofcourse this includes some Heavenly Sword ones.

Click HERE and HERE for the photoalbums.

#6 – Nariko:

Nariko is the main character in the Playstation 3 title “Heavenly Sword”, she might seem harmless and weak at first, but once the enemies aproach she will tear them apart by every attack possible, one memorable attack is when she is throwing the enemy in the air and then when he lands, slashing their balls with your sword, no denying Nariko is one hell of a fighter, and one hell of a badass.

Source

We know Rhianna Pratchett isn’t back with Ninja Theory for their new game, but I wanted to post this anyway since she mentioned some things about working with Andy Serkis back in the Heavenly Sword days.

GM: How is it working with the likes of Andy Serkis? Is Hollywood the next step for Rhianna Pratchett?

RP: Andy was great to work with on Heavenly Sword. He was a wonderful asset and an awesome King Bohan. I think he had much more of a genuine impact than most Hollywood types who get involved in games and just phone-in their lines. As for me, I have an agent now, so who knows where that could lead. I don’t want to ever completely leave games, though. They’re my first love.

Read the full interview here.

This weeks edition of Faceoff pits two of Sony’s premiere action/adventure titles against one another. In one corner we have God of War, a franchise three titles deep, with a fourth (and supposedly final) title hitting store shelves in March 2010. And in the other corner, we have the underdog title, Heavenly Sword, which didn’t recieve the amount of praise and support it should have from the media and gamers considering it’s quality. Many people accused the title of simply being Goddess of War, because on the surface, the titles looked very similar, but anyone who has played both will testify to how very differenct they both play and feel.

Once again, we’ll be comparing the games in the key categories of Story, Controls, Gameplay, and Graphics. Who will emerge victorious? Let Faceoff begin!

Read the full article and see which game won.

I don’t know how new/old these pieces of work are, but I just found them a minute ago. I really like them, especially the second one. Made by Simon Buckroyd. Click on the picture to go to the artists page.

It’s hard to recall but this was one of the big PS3 releases, drumming up massive E3 excitement over the rolling demo several years ago. On first glance it’s just Goddess of War, twin blades twirling, quicktime eventful and featuring an epic, mature, Conan-style fantasy storyline. To be absolutely honest, the first impressions aren’t too far off. This is every bit as action-packed as Kratos’ journeys, if considerably less gruesome. What sets HS apart is the level of elegance, both in the games heroine, and the design and flow of the game itself. Rather than just mashing the buttons and flailing the blades of Chaos, there’s a little more Ninja Gaiden-style switching of stances and timing of blows. Hammering square will get you blocked and killed fast. You have to time and counter. Nariko arcs about the screen, a lady-shaped death-machine, but each button-press has to be managed. There’s no hand-holding here. You have to earn your awesomeness.

Read the full article