Her second battle stance is the Ranged stance where the twin blades are extended on chains to cover a considerable amount of ground, but at the price of weaker attacks than the Speed stance. To activate the Ranged stance, hold down the L1 button and she begins to twirl the blades. This stance only has two simple combos that consist of hammering the triangle or square button. The animation of her swinging the blades around her body is spectacular, for she flips and spins like a kung fu ballerina on point.

One of the only poorly executed battle abilities comes in the Ranged stance. If you daze and enemy with an attack, hold down the L1 button and push triangle, Nariko launches the enemy in the air. If you flick the controller up as the enemy flies upward, she can meet the enemy in the air for aerial combos. This system is nearly completely broken because the timing is so precise that you cannot plan for this to happen. I found myself trying time and time again and rarely would she perform the aerial move. Once in the air, she has many different combos at her disposal, but this happens so infrequently that it becomes very difficult to perform any of the proper combos. The timing should have been adjusted for any movement of the controller before the body reaches the apex of the launching arc would have activated the aerial combo.

Because of the aerial combo system, Nariko is grounded most of the time. There is no jump button in the game. This may feel limiting to some gamers, but as with the blocking system, it focuses the game on one fighting plane where you have to muscle your way out of being surrounded by well timed attacks, or dodging out of the way with the right analog stick.

The third battle stance is the Power stance where the two blades are combined into one huge powerful blade that limits speed of movement and attack by half. The power stance has ten combos, where four of them will break an enemy’s block if fully executed. This stance can be lethal for enemies who attack in the Speed and Power Stance.

One of the strongest aspects of the battle system is Nariko’s ability to switch seamlessly between the stances mid-combo for some devastatingly beautiful attacks.

When an enemy attacks, they glow a corresponding color to their attack stance. Blue is Speed stance, and red is for Power stance. To block their attacks, Nariko must be in the same stance as her enemy. To counter, she must be in the same stance and hit the triangle button as the enemy lands their attack. When she executes a counter, many times the camera will zoom into the attack for some bone-crushing, nut-cracking great animation.

Heavenly Sword has one of the best utilized SIXAXIS controls I’ve seen in a game, besides the crap-tacular aerial combo. When any object is thrown, shot, or launched from your character, the player can guide the object using the SIXAXIS as the camera closely tracks the object in third person. The player can switch this aspect of control to the analog sticks, but the feeling of gliding arrows, cannonballs or downed enemies into their target is exhilarating and gives a feeling of weightlessness during flight.

One of the highlights of the game is the Kai missions. She is Nariko’s wild-eyed companion who is useless in melee combat, but wields a killer crossbow that she uses to dispatch her enemies from afar with the aid of some breathtaking SIXAXIS arrow flights. The Kai missions break up the monotony of close combat, and adds drama and perspective to the narrative as Nariko and Kai are frequently taking diverging paths. Nariko’s relationship with Kai, grounds the central character and dramatically plays on her nurturing instincts that would otherwise be absent from the warrior figure she portrays.

Graphically, the game was built to impress. The landscapes stretch far into the horizon showcasing some of the most impressive draw distance seen in an action adventure. All of the central figures to the game are beautifully modeled, with exquisite attention to detail in texturing and expressive animation. The motion capturing is top notch, all directed by Andy Serkis who performed Golum and King Kong in a similar mo-cap suit. He gathered stage actors to voice and motion capture which gives the characters a broad style that can only come from the theatrical arts. When Nariko finishes a chapter, she performs a soliloquy to the camera that showcases some of the most flawless animation in the game and is also a theatrical device of storytelling that is rarely seen in video games.

The biggest downfall of Heavenly Sword is the brevity of the overall adventure. The game is roughly six and a half hours to complete on the normal setting. In an afternoon, one can experience the entire game. Three more hours of gameplay would have rounded out the experience nicely, leaving the player more satisfied with the whole experience.

Additional missions and content through the PlayStation Store would be a welcome addition to this title, since many would feel that a $60 price tag does not merit a six and a half hour experience.

The game as a whole is a shining example of blockbuster production values that is over with too soon. For PS3 owners it’s an experience that should not be missed. If the price tag is too high to buy, seriously consider renting the title to play through it at least once. Sony has a new IP to pump out a sequel that addresses the brevity of the first adventure while building on the many strengths of convincing dramatic performances and highly engaging gameplay.