Sony’s games have a reputation. Ever since I played The Legend of Dragoon seven years ago, I’ve come to expect that Sony will continue to impress me with cutting-edge visuals. Heavenly Sword is no exception. In a brief demo lasting no more than 10 minutes, I was sufficiently awed.

Heavenly Sword definitely raises the bar with its visual style. The environments were stunning. Cinematic sequences looked impeccable and the visuals during gameplay were only slightly lower in quality. The game had a very fluid, cinematic style that, combined with the epic scale, made me feel as if I were the heroine in a movie.

Soon after the cinematic sequence ends, I was sliding down enormous ropes thicker than three of my character’s torsos. I had to jump between the huge ropes and land on a column towering over a hundred feet up. While I fought the enemies there, I tried not to get too distracted by the fantastic view of the untouched beauty of nature surrounding me.

There was also a beauty in the grace of my character’s movements. She had ridiculously long, supermodel legs with enough muscle to justify her incredible strength. The combat animation was fluid and the fights were elegant. She moved with the swiftness of a dancer, but executed attacks at a deadly speed.

Combat, although fluid, felt somewhat unrealistic. I enjoyed being able to use my sword in three different ways: as a ranged weapon, for speed attacks (as two swords separately) or as a power attack (three swords as one). The special attacks were cinematic but didn’t waste time with transitions. Some moves felt artificially effortless, such as picking up and throwing bodies with ease. The intense speed and fluidity was fun but unrealistic. It reminded me of God of War in terms of the bloody hack-and-slash, so it didn’t seem to push combat boundaries.

Other elements in the game felt very polished. The voice-overs were high-quality. Sound effects were spot-on. Certain mechanics, such as using the sixaxis to guide a thrown object, were innovative. Aside from a few irregularities, such as a lack of a block button, this game was quite well-rounded.

After only 10 minutes, it is impossible to truly judge a game. I have heard that it is a short game but, from my limited experience, it seems to be worth the time. I hope that I can play the full version of this game when I finally get a PS3 of my own.