Joystiq [PlayStation]

How humiliating! We got so caught up in the news from everywhere else, we completely neglected to keep up with the Heavenly Sword week over at GamePro. No worries, though, we'll catch you up over the next couple of hours. Wednesday's feature focused on the three fighting styles available to Nariko and her sword, which is slowly draining the life out of her. These styles can be changed mid-attack, so it's not unlike Devil May Cry 3's switching weapons on the fly. Here are the three styles in basic detail:

1. Speed Style: This is the default battle stance primarily composed of rapid short-sword strikes. It's best used for close encounters.
2. Ranged Style: These chain swords let you pick off distant foes, or hook one and slam him into the ground. Like Kratos, maybe, but we're going to say Ivy from Soul Calibur just to be different.
   
3. Power Style: Slow, but can inflict... you guessed it... massive damage!

Stringing together long, custom combos sounds like a blast. As far as the controls, GamePro proudly announces that they're pretty intuitive and easy to get the hang of. As far as SIXAXIS goes, it gets a workout (moving the camera, influencing the direction a projectile is thrown, etc) but isn't central to the gameplay.

One last thing... heroic exploits. These are timed button-pressing sequences (or "on-screen prompts" if you prefer) that involve quick reflexes on your part for survival. We may be completely wrong about that, but there are points in the game where you take part in something beyond the normal slashing action. Maybe it's like Resident Evil 3 where you have to make a decision about how to act really quickly (Jill vs. Nemesis text-decisions)?

We'll bring you Thursday's feature in a little bit!