I had the opportunity to play Heavenly Sword back in May of last year, and what I saw then was very impressive.  Admittedly, what I saw was not much more than a small section of a single level for a female God of War clone (complete with the same style for the boss fight) with better physics and environment destruction, but it was still one of the most impressive pieces in the Sony booth at E3 2006.  Cut to April 2007 and we're still waiting for most if not all of the big showcases from Sony's E3 booth to get released on their new console (but we did get Gundam...oh yes...we got Gundam right in our big stupid faces).

Today Sony released some new information about the story of Heavenly Sword as well as ten new screenshots.

"Emotionally charged, stunningly beautiful, and delivering unprecedented dramatic character performance, Heavenly Sword(tm) showcases the power of PLAYSTATION(r)3 (PS3(tm)) computer entertainment system. A dramatic tale of revenge sees Nariko, a fiery red-haired heroine, embark on a quest for vengeance against an invading King and his army. The story builds around the ancient Heavenly Sword, which once belonged to a powerful deity. It can never be wielded by a mortal without it slowly but inevitably draining their life-force."

"When the invading King (played by Andy Serkis) destroys the warrior clan that guards the Heavenly Sword, the clan leader's daughter, Nariko, takes up the sword in a desperate fight for survival. Nariko must now pay the ultimate price as she embarks on one last mission of vengeance against the King and his army before her life is finally and irreparably overtaken by the omnipotent Heavenly Sword..."

"Andy Serkis, the world's leading CG actor, famous for his roles as Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" and Kong in "King Kong," was heavily involved in the creative process. As well as starring in Heavenly Sword as the villain, King Botan, Andy was a major contributor to the character development, writing, casting, directing and performance capture for the PS3 title."

Heavenly Sword features a deep, diverse combat experience made possible only on PS3.

KEY FEATURES

• The Heavenly Sword - The Heavenly Sword itself can transform into three distinct weapons, each with its own accompanying fighting stance used by Nariko to vary combat styles.

• The Combat Engine - The combat engine can scale up from sophisticated one-on-one encounters to one-on-many, where enemies employ intelligent squad-based dynamics, right up to combat against battalions pushing real-time gameplay and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to unprecedented new levels.

• Physics-Based Combat - The physics-based combat allows players to sweep debris against opponents, kick tables to halt an oncoming surge of fighters, smash the enemy into the scenery, or throw bodies into other enemies using "aftertouch" controls.

• Wide range of Objects & Weaponry - Heavenly Sword provides a wide range of objects & weaponry including rapid fire crossbows and massively damaging bazookas.

• Creative in-game Cinematography - Coupled with real-time story evolvement and amazing set-pieces, Heavenly Sword feels like a blockbuster action movie that takes combat gameplay to new heights.