Heavenly Sword demo is out, both minutes of it
After downloading the
Heavenly Sword demo, I was disappointed to find it was the
same few minutes of gameplay offered to us at E3. You slide down some ropes, tap a few buttons, engage in combat, drop to another platform, fight a few more guys, and that's it. You can beat the whole thing in a matter of minutes, and it gives you a very limited feel for the game.
Which is a shame, as the more I play it, the more I like the control scheme. You simply stand still to block, and you have to constantly switch between your stances with the shoulder buttons to change up your attacks. It's worth taking a look at the combos before you enter the demo, as there are many of them and it takes a significant amount of time before you'll feel comfortable with the control scheme. This isn't as easy to pick up and play as a game like
God of War, but the extra time spent learning the moves pays off with a very deep set of combos and attacks. It may look like a button-mashing game at first, but it most assuredly is not.
The point of a demo is to get one interested in a game, to get you happy enough with a taste that you'll want to spend some money on the entire meal. The problem with this demo is that chance is wasted. Picking up objects and throwing them is good fun, but the platforms you fight on are so small you'll barely get a chance to try it. The combat system takes much practice to get good at, and by the time you get your rhythm, the demo is suddenly over. If anything, the framerate issues and sound bugs in the demo may put people off of the game for no good reason. This is what they decided to release?
I think
Heavenly Sword is going to be a strong game, but I fear this demo may not be a good representation of what we can expect.
Via Arstechnica
Linear Mode
