Heavenly Sword Screens (PS3): You will say "WOW!"

[Omega Amen]

I have been eagerly anticipating a fantasy beat-em-up game called Heavenly Sword, a game developed by Ninja Theory that is inspired by kung-fu wuxia films like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Hero, which will release on the PS3 later this fall.

However, now with some recent screenshots released on the Internet, I am really excited now, and I hope it plays as well as it looks... because it is looking fantastic! The graphics engine and the art direction is really impressive. I have to share these with all of you! Even if you are more into art than games, you should look at these screens.

Remember these are all screens taken from the in-game graphics engine. These are not pre-rendered CG movies. You should also have a good internet connection to view all these screenshots since they are not small.

Here is one batch a NeoGAF poster put up.
And here is his second batch.

All the screenshots and more came from this article. Just click on the small thumbnail pics to see its larger version.

This is my favorite. I imagine it as Mithrandir advising Ashley on an impending troll wave.

This is probably Link Antilles's favorite pic. Why? It is third-person shooter gameplay... with an explosion!

[Bobtheduck]

Well, the skin on all the characters looks really strange... Kind of like leather or something, but the general world looks really nice, and I've seen the facial animation, which looks nice (why wouldn't it? Weta's making it)

[Tenshi no Ai]

Weta's making it

Wait, Weta workshop is helping out? Can't remember the actual company doing it, thought it was Sony Corp. for some reason. yeah the game looks great^^ It's on my guy's "MUST buy right away for PS3" list. He considers it like God of War but only with a female protagonist. I must admit, can't wait to simply WATCH the game (which I do often for enjoyment).^^

[Bobtheduck]

As beautiful as it is, I know a bunch of my male friends have a difficult time with it. Another, accurate name for this game could be "Death to future generations."

[uc pseudonym]

Those shots do look nice. I like the genre, but of course quality will be determined by gameplay far more than the graphics engine.

[Omega Amen]

Wait, Weta workshop is helping out? Can't remember the actual company doing it, thought it was Sony Corp. for some reason.

Here is a more accurate summary of the situation. Ninja Theory is the developer (programmers, artists, designers of the game). Sony Corp. is the publisher (pays the developer and provides marketing and retail support to them). Ninja Theory wanted high quality motion capture acting in its game. Sony agrees to let Ninja Theory to work with Weta.

And it is not just Weta... Andy Serkis (who played Gollum in LOTR and Kong in King Kong) is the actor for the game's villain, King Bohan, and he is serving as director for all dramatic choreography in the game.

Sony made a video about this relationship with Weta/Andy Serkis on this game. Click here to view it.

[Zilch]

As beautiful as it is, I know a bunch of my male friends have a difficult time with it. Another, accurate name for this game could be "Death to future generations."

I wince just by your descriptions.

GAH! OW!

Sorry, had a flashback of some gameplay footage.

GAH! OW!

There it is again.

GAH! OW!

THAT DOES IT! I'm going to go play God of War!