Andy Serkis as King Bohan is an amazing character. Serkis is also the dramatic director for the game. And I must say he did an AMAZING job! Along with the facial expressions and soundtrack and story, he really got you to connect with the character and feel their pain. It really was like watching a movie and I really hope that games from now on take this emotional direction for it is the best and biggest improvement I’ve seen of games in a very long time. Andy Serkis has made a huge step into a new era of video gaming.
I think the best thing to start off with would be the combat system. Wow! I think that pretty much sums it up. Combos are brilliant, counters are brilliant, smooth transitions and the like. But what I really like is being able to leave a pause between blows during a combo. Not much but just enough so that you can slow down the hits and make it more dramatic and beautiful. Nice touch.
The AI I was actually impressed with, they didn’t just come after you constantly. They would noticeably surround you and wait for an opportune moment to attack, like real people. I love this style because you didn’t have to immediately start mashing buttons in order to keep guys off of you. You can stand and wait, then plan counters with precision.
I also was impressed with the lack of boundaries with the environment when you throw guys. If there was a cliff, off they go! When there was a wall that you couldn’t go outside, they didn’t hit an imaginary wall above the short wall and fall back in the arena, they just fly over it! Done! It gave a more realistic feel to the game that was most impressive. The one thing I wish they did better in the game play was have better puzzles and not just the throwing shields at gong. Got repetitive.
As for visuals I couldn’t believe the facial expressions! So realistic it was amazing! And something that I haven’t found anyone else to mention yet is the waterfalls. Looking over a cliff to see waterfalls in the distance, I just wanted to stare at them! The landscapes are all incredibly detailed.
The soundtrack is incredible, the orchestral score fits this game perfectly. You can hear some of it here: http://www.heavenly-sword.nl/?page_id=28
Oh and just for the record, King Bohan is the best villain character I’ve seen in a long long time! I love it when they are completely insane but also his humor and wit and desire for power was all fitted together perfectly! He seriously made me laugh out loud a few times. Also the other villains, Flying Fox and Whiptail were also brilliantly crazy. Sometimes awkward but still awesome!
A big bonus in this game is being able to play the part of Kai, shooting arrows and them controlling them in slow motion with the sixaxis is a ton of fun, a little difficult in the beginning but once you get the hang of it it's awesome fun.
Overall, best game on the PS3 by far! Besides a few touch ups this game is almost perfect. I do wish the game was longer though, people are saying 6 hours but it took me 10 hours to go through the first time and that is not even going for all the level rewards, replay wise you can play the game on hell mode which is very challenging. Besides that going back and doing each level of each chapter is a lot of fun, especially going back and doing all kai's "twing twang" quests
It's never the same, and always leaves me pissed off yet wanting to play more to get past 
