Heavenly Sword [PS3]

''Whiptail, on the other hand, is mad on a different level. If initial appearances are anything to go by, she seems to be twisted with power and rage, and an insatiable desire to please Bohan. More tangible, though, is her body language, which brims with sexuality, even though she is admittedly a foul, snake-creature. When Nariko eventually faces Whiptail, the battlefield is a large, rectangular courtyard of sorts, filled with ankle-deep water. Of course, Whiptail uses this to her advantage and sends massive waves at Nariko, who must dodge them precisely, or face a significant loss of health. I was particularly impressed with the realistic appearance of the waves, which sprayed water like a mini-tsunami. When you finally get in close though, the fun really begins, since you have a very limited amount of time to attack before the general swims away. In this small window, you have to strike and dodge frequently, and I will admit that these short little encounters are incredibly well done. Whiptail dodges Nariko's attacks in Matrix-like fashion, and it's all done in real time. If you throw a particular combo, Whiptail bends and flips out of the way, only to counterattack with incredible zeal. Although the fight grew repetitive very quickly, the initial encounters were nothing short of amazing.

During this battle, you are given a brief chance to control Kai as she lays down cover fire (well, cover fire with her crossbow) for a weary Master Shen so he can escape. This section of the build was a little long, but it was amusing to shoot arrows in slow motion and see them plunge into your targets, with devastating results. One notable moment was when I missed my first shot as a soldier charged towards the wounded Shen, and, in desperation, I fired one more wild shot that landed square in the guard's posterior. Luckily, it killed him, proving that Kai fires some very powerful arrows. Unfortunately though, you're not given the chance to actually maneuver Kai around. She remains in a stationary position for the length of the confrontation.

After Nariko finishes off Whiptail, you're treated to one final cliffhanger of a cutscene before the preview build ends. Ultimately, we were impressed with what we saw during our time with the game, but there are a host of problems that still need to be fixed. The shield throwing mechanics are definitely broken, and there were some serious audio issues that actually prevented me from hearing some of the dialogue (I didn't have the subtitles on because they didn't work yet). These issues, however serious, are still fixable though, and I hope they'll be addressed before Heavenly Sword is released.

Although I am well aware that solid gameplay is absolutely critical for making this a good game, I would buy it just for the cutscenes. Serkis clearly poured some artistic energy into the directorial elements of Heavenly Sword, and the story of Nariko and her dying clan could become one of the better-told stories in recent videogame history. Check back for our full review as the release date draws near.

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