Even the most seasoned gigolo will tell you to stay away from red heads. Fiery, adventurous and always looking for trouble (in other words, our kind of people), they'll take you on a wild ride throughout life's seedy underbelly. When it comes to Nariko, the crimson haired vixen in Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3 adventure, Heavenly Sword, the trip involves cutting through waves of enemy soldiers en route to a climactic duel with a lizard woman/Masters of the Universe reject named Whiptail, a well-endowed spitfire that drowns her victims for kicks. And we thought we were freaky.

Our journey begins on a ledge overlooking a beautiful fortress. Surrounded by churning waterfalls and bathed in warm sunlight, the palace epitomizes beauty, a wondrous place filled with enemies unaware of the horrible fate about to befall them. In a matter of minutes, the object of their desires will interrupt their daily routine, tease them with her vivacious body and then gut them like a fish, slicing their warm bodies with the magical blade, the Heavenly Sword, a weapon so powerful that it drains the life-force of it's owner, eventually killing him.

After wandering around, we notice a shining marker displaying the X button. Pressing it causes Nariko to vault on a rope and quickly slide across a huge chasm. Enemies occupying a pillar notice this and chop the ropes, causing the wild chords to whip in her direction. To save her from death, we press a series of buttons, which result in her leaping from rope to rope until, after pressing Square, she lands in between the soldiers and then the real fun begins.

At first, we button mash like an overactive toddler, jamming the buttons and watching as Nariko introduces her enemies to her sharp toy. It's great fun, save for the guys that follow our every move and pinpoint precision. We soon realize we need a new approach.

Heavenly Sword separates itself from other games for many reasons, chief among them, its deep combat system. Button mashing works for the stupid enemies, but the tougher ones demand a little respect. We realized this after dying and watching Nariko's corpse plummet to its watery grave.

The second attempt yielded success, thanks to mastering the game's three stances: Speed, Ranged and Power. Speed, the default stance, causes Nariko to furiously slice up her foes. Ranged (achieved by pressing and holding L1, then pressing Triangle or Square) unleashes the Heavenly Swords' chains, allowing her to whip the blades around in a frenzy (this attack looks cool, but does little damage). Power Stance, on the other hand (press and hold R1, then press Triangle or Square) kicks some serious ass, cleaving enemies while at the same time launching them high into their air, giving Nariko the opportunity to continue the assault above ground or just knock people off cliffs. In addition, the game automatically detects when someone's down, and if she's in range, she performs a final blow, such as driving both blades into a sternum.

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