Heavenly Sword is a 2007 action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by British company Ninja Theory and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3.

The game revolves around player-character Nariko and her eponymous sword, battling against the forces of a tyrant warlord who seeks to destroy her clan.

Heavenly Sword received a mainly positive reception and sold over a million copies; it was praised for its graphics[1] and combat system, while criticism stemmed from the short length of the game and lack of online capabilities.

The gameplay of the game resembles a martial arts title focused on melee combat while featuring opportunities for ranged attacks.

The main character, Nariko, uses a weapon called the "Heavenly Sword" which changes into one of three forms depending on what attack stance the player uses as part of a unique fighting style.

During a QTE, a symbol for a certain button or for an action such as moving the analog stick to the right or left appears on-screen and the player must match what is shown to successfully complete the scene.

While Kai cannot perform hand-to-hand combat,[2] in stages that call for her to explore the level she is able to hop over objects and to free herself from an enemy's grasp by temporarily stunning them.

[5][6] A warrior tribe finally took charge of the sword, ending the wars and pledging to keep it safe and unused for the world's own good.

[9] The game's main antagonist is King Bohan (Andy Serkis), a tyrannical ruler who is determined to bring the world's tribes to heel and pave the way for a new golden age.

[10] Nariko is trained as a warrior by her father, Master Shen (Ewan Stewart), who both cares for her as a child and has difficulty coping with her role in the clan's seeming undoing and the death of his wife.

[11] Nariko's only friend is Kai (Lydia Baksh), a wild and erratic young girl who is the last member of a clan destroyed by the armies of Bohan.

Nariko fights alongside her father and her clansmen as their defenses are weakened and stretched by scores of Bohan's warriors scaling the city walls accompanied by catapults.

Kai finds Nariko after disobeying Shen's orders to hide and informs her of the temple where her father and clansmen are held captive.

The team began production without a specific console in mind, tailoring gameplay elements to the PlayStation 3 when the game was picked up by Sony as an exclusive for their upcoming platform.

Ninja Theory collaborated with Peter Jackson's company Wētā FX to create realistic facial expressions both during cutscenes and in gameplay.

[23] A demo was released to the PlayStation Store on 26 July 2007, featuring a short, cinematic clip at the beginning and two brief enemy battles, lasting approximately five to ten minutes.

An eight-second clip of the game was seen in an episode of the TV series Heroes entitled "Parasite", ostensibly being played by Jessica Sanders and her son, Micah.

[24] While the episode was broadcast over four months before the actual release of the game, the level displayed remained in the released build, including the rope sequence shown; the icons in the final game used to inform the player which buttons to press were changed from large, central icons as seen in the clip, to be smaller and positioned at the bottom of the screen.

"[25] Sawhney stated that his creation of "musical textures take in everything from Hollywood, European and Chinese cinema to Indian and middle eastern instrumentation through the orchestras and soloists hovering between sonic tidal waves and reflective moments of intimate grace.

The animated series relies on a simple and stylized 2D look, which allowed director Ben Hibon to "create a complete visual re-interpretation of the world and its inhabitants".

The layers were composed onto a 3D stage with multiple foreground, middle ground and background elements, which allowed the use of 3D cameras and lighting to give depth and movement to the video.

Anna Torv reprises her role as Nariko, joined by Alfred Molina as King Bohan and Thomas Jane as Loki.

[37] USA Today gave the game nine stars out of ten, saying, "PlayStation 3 fans hungry for more satisfying first-party content from Sony will be satiated with the feverish pace Heavenly Sword provides.

"[52] Digital Spy gave it four stars out of five, saying, "The lavish sword combat system and the awesome presentation are what make this title a worthy buy.

"[54] The New York Times gave it a favorable review, saying, "The scenery is breathtaking, battles can be exciting, and the intelligent, cruel King Bohan — voiced brilliantly by Andy Serkis (...) — is one of the best video game villains ever.

"[55] Maxim gave it a score of six out of ten, saying, "A few of the puzzles are a total bitch, the button-press sequence/finishing moves that the game steals directly from God of War require too much precision, and the sniper sequences wind up being even more tedious than the fighting.

"[67] In March 2008, it was confirmed that Ninja Theory is not planning to create a sequel for Heavenly Sword, and instead has decided to work on a new project[68] (most likely Enslaved: Odyssey to the West).

Sony Computer Entertainment retains the intellectual property of Heavenly Sword, and there is always the possibility of production on a sequel being outsourced to another developer.

[69] In June 2008, it was reported that a sequel to Heavenly Sword was in-development at SCEE Cambridge Studio, but was canceled due to Sony no longer seeing it as a commercially viable product.