The majority of your attacks are done with the Square and Triangle buttons.  The biggest complaint with the combat system is that there is no block button.  The character you control Nariko automatically blocks attacks when you are not attacking.  This takes away from a lot of the skill of these types of games though.  If you are not in the right stance and in the right position she may not block the attack. 

The only issue with the game play is that once you get deep enough in the game there is a lacking amount of depth which will leave you feeling like you are killing the same enemies over and over again.  Fans of series such as Dynasty Warriors or other button-mashing type games will not be detracted by this but there is surely not the amount of variation in game and level design as found in the likes of God of War.

One very cool thing about Heavenly Sword though is that the boss battles are actually quite exciting.  The bosses use attacks which are usually done in strings meaning once you figure out what they are going to do, they will do it each and every time.  This allows a classic type of game play where you have to figure out the boss through trial and error in order to be successful. 

Where Heavenly Sword is lacking though is with a lack of variety in such things as in-game puzzles and more variety to the overall game play.  It is damn fun, but more could have been added to make the game last much longer and keep you more intrigued.  We do get tired of whacking the attack buttons every now and then you know.

There are extras in Heavenly Sword which will keep you coming back even though there is no multiplayer, just a single-player experience.  The extras include new combos you can unlock, videos, character, art, and points you can earn for battles.  Nothing major but it does add depth.

As stated the audio and visual presentation of Heavenly Sword is some of the best stuff we have seen on the next-gen PS3 to date.  The audio presentation is very well done as the musical score does a nice job of keeping you intrigued in the action and in-tune with everything going on.  The voice work is also very well done and is presented in crisp and clear dialogue.