Who would've improved Heavenly Sword?

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 5 August, 2010

Alex Garland, reckons Ninja Theory.

Enslaved co-writer and The Beach, Sunshine and 28 Weeks Later scriptwriter Alex Garland would have improved early PlayStation 3-exclusive title Heavenly Sword had he worked on the game, developer Ninja Theory has said.

In 2007 Eurogamer gave Heavenly Sword 7/10.

"No amount of lavish technical polish and drama-filled cut scenes can disguise how it feels to play, and the fact that at its core, the combat doesn't quite cut it," Kristan Reed wrote.

"Yes, it would have been," Ninja Theory co-founder Tameem Antoniades replied when asked by Eurogamer whether Garland would have made Heavenly Sword a better game.

"He's got something that as game developers we don't have, which is this keen visual eye for storytelling. So undoubtedly, yes."

While most reckoned Heavenly Sword's problem was with the combat and not the storytelling, Antoniades insisted Garland's narrative influence would have made the game better to play.

"Not only does that kind of approach make the story hold up, it actually improves gameplay," he said.

"If you can hit the mark, the game stops being a collection of animations, gameplay moments and story moments, and it can transcend and become this experience that you just immerse yourself in. And that's the objective.

"Honestly I don't know if we're going to hit that - you never know when you're developing. But that's what we're trying our best to do."

Antoniades denied that Cambridge-based Ninja Theory is working harder on its next game, upcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 action adventure Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, due out 8th October, than it did on Heavenly Sword.

"No, I wouldn't do that.

"Actually, Heavenly Sword was really tough for a whole slew of reasons that weren't to do with creative - they were to do with technology, the whole PS3 announcement and things around that. This was comfortable development where the tough part was on the creative side, and that's a good place to be."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Widge #1 2 years ago

    Sony game engine optimisation team, reckons Widge

  • drumbaby #2 2 years ago

    Naughty Dog, or Sony Santa Monica, reckons drumbaby.

  • Buztafen #3 2 years ago

    Though i agree with the 7/10 score that EG gave, i personally really enjoyed HS. The animation and voice work in particular were of a very high standard. Andy Serkis was ace! Looking forward to Enslaved.

  • iamian #4 2 years ago

    I quite enjoyed HS too but I think they should wait and see what people think of Enslaved (critically and commercially) before they keep harping on about how great Alex Garland is!!

  • Antaios #5 2 years ago

    I personally loved (yes, loved) Heavenly Sword. It's the only PS3 title to date I've finished more than two times (which, of course, is also due to the relatively short length of the game).

  • TheNinkyNonk #6 2 years ago

    Loved HS

  • Zimo #7 2 years ago

    If this bloke is so great, why oh why was 28 Weeks Later so poor?!
    ..and poors being kind

  • spiritsnake #8 2 years ago

    enslaved feels too much like a cross between uncharted and ratchet with only the omni wrench. maybe good though,i hope it is.

  • JahB #9 2 years ago

    Kratos.

  • DocRobotnik #10 2 years ago

    "If this bloke is so great, why oh why was 28 Weeks Later so poor?!"

    ...Because he didn't write it. He wrote 28 DAYS later. The original.

    Mistake on EG's part, that is.

  • schnide #11 2 years ago

    I liked 28 Weeks Later. 28 Days Later, no so much.

    Alex Garland gets a lot more credit than he deserves - he's ridden off the success of The Beach for a very long time, and because he's the only writer whose name people know in the games industry he's portrayed as some kind of demi-god.

    But I'll reserve judgement to see if Enslaved, which already exists as a story, is successful due to his writing skills.

  • Douche #12 2 years ago

    28 weeks later was utter pants. 28 days later was pretty good.

  • Bigglesworth #13 2 years ago

    Wow. That's two rather sharp knives in the backs of both Andy Serkis and Rhianna Pratchett. There was nothing wrong with HS's dramatic and narrative elements. I think Tameem Antoniades needs to look closer to home.

    Oh yeah, and I also loved Heavenly Sword. It's my most re-played PS3 game.

  • Slipstream #14 2 years ago

    Yeah, plot, scripting and VA-wise HS was top notch.

    However it was the gameplay that faulted, forgive me, but I don't think Alex Garland could've saved it from that.

  • Alf-Life #15 2 years ago

    This article's a bit out of place... I read the interview, but it was a loaded question from EG. Why make that into an article in itself?

  • micster #16 2 years ago

    It doesnt need improving, its a damn fine game on its own.

  • bad09 #17 2 years ago

    "28 weeks later was utter pants. 28 days later was pretty good."

    It certainly was pants when compared to the brilliant original but to be fair it was watchable, the build up to the outbreak was pretty good it just fell apart in the second half of the movie, I think they just didn't know what to do with a sequel and it showed.

  • nick_f Verified Senior Producer, Microsoft #18 2 years ago

    Who gives a monkey (ba-dum!) about Andy Serkis? Special Agent Olivia Dunham from Fringe (Anna Torv) was the main character in Heavenly Sword...

    More of that, please!

  • Phishfood #19 2 years ago

    Bayonetta's story telling was very shabby, not that there was much of a story to begin with but the gameplay alone carried it.

  • Markitron #20 2 years ago

    A slightly underrated game, but then not many ppl had a ps3 in Sep 2007. By the time the PS3 hit mainstream (late 2008 imo) this was already a bit outdated. Played thru it recently and it still looks gorgeous.

  • Jim_Lahey #21 2 years ago

    I also really enjoyed Heavenly Sword. Except for that stupid "twing twang" bint.

  • jonsaan #22 2 years ago

    Heavenly sword was an enjoyable game that I played to completion. Just thought I'd share.

  • peterfll #23 2 years ago

    Well, based on the feedback from people that actually played your game to death Ninja Theory, perhaps you should listen to them rather than assume some expensive tool for hire would have made it a AAA title?

  • IkariW #24 2 years ago

    Peter Molyneux?

    ;)
    Ikari

  • septimus #25 2 years ago

    I really enjoyed the game. Flawed definitely, but not to the point of broken.

  • kangarootoo #26 2 years ago

    For the record, I liked 28 weeks later. But it can't hold a candle to 28 Days Later.


    P.s. can we start using abbreviations if this is continues please? 28DL and 28WL should do the trick :)

  • BuddyChrist #27 2 years ago

    Hs= beautiful game. Story and acting, can't say that for many other games.

  • Widge #28 2 years ago

    The characters and story were excellent, in fact there was a patch in the middle of the game that was pure gold and completely enthralling. Strangely enough, these were the sections without Nariko wading her way through flocks of enemies. Sadly, yes, the combat wasn’t so hot. I don’t really care about combat going to Tekken depths of move lists and timing intensive combos, but at least a God Of War aspect where you have to adapt to the scenarios and enemies presented to you would have been nice. If mashing your way through a host of enemies gives you an easy win, then why not mash your way through.

    The same I found with Crisis Core, on the whole I could ignore material because rolling behind enemies and repeat-a-mashing them tended to win the day.

    Thankfully, the games had stories to keep your driving through.

  • Bander #29 2 years ago

    My personal opinion of stories in games, is that gameplay can enhance a story, but a story cannot enhance gameplay. No story has ever motivated me to continue playing a game I didn't enjoy, and I find myself much more likely to revisit games with no plot at all. Having said that, I've loved several RPGs and graphic adventures, because the challenges have made brought me further into the plot than a book or movie would be capable of.

    I'm sure this is a minority view, but I would invite people to question whether some games are really best thought of as interactive stories, regardless of how complicated the game mechanics are.

  • RegorTtenneb #30 2 years ago

    HEAVENLY SWORD WAS A GREAT GAME!!!!! It annoys me to the bone when people discuss it as failure. Financially maybe but id fliipin well loved it and stories like these reminds me of how sad I am that we will never see the sequal....

  • Pirotic #31 2 years ago

    I wonder if Sony will have to get the boys from Liverpool to come over and fix the game for them again this time. The script was the least of it's problems, the big promises and subsequent under-delivery was. I'm all for British developers doing well but come on Tameem Antoniades, release something special and then talk like a big shot, not the other-way around.

  • ThreeOutsideDown #32 2 years ago

    Who would've improved Heavenly Sword?

    anyone.

  • knightmt #33 2 years ago

    Enjoyed it.

  • Triggerhappytel #34 2 years ago

    "Wow. That's two rather sharp knives in the backs of both Andy Serkis and Rhianna Pratchett. There was nothing wrong with HS's dramatic and narrative elements. I think Tameem Antoniades needs to look closer to home."

    I totally agree Bigglesworth; I thought the plot was excellent and the voice acting and way it was conveyed through the cutscenes is still as good as any game I've ever played.

    The issues I think were with the gameplay, and Alex Garland's involvement wouldn't have changed that, unless unbeknown to us he's a master programmer too.

    EDIT - let me just add that I did love HS, but it was a flawed game for sure. I would bloody love it if Sony commissioned a sequel though, through Ninja Theory or another dev.
    Edited by Triggerhappytel at 05/08/10 @ 23:57

  • telboy007 #35 2 years ago

    Chuck Norris