Heavenly Sword 2 – A Look Back at The Sequel That Never Happened
[summaraize]
For the last decade, PlayStation gamers have wondered why PlayStation never followed up on the 2007 release of the PS3 title Heavenly Sword. Back then, it was rumored for a while that Ninja Theory was developing a sequel, though it seems the project never took off and was instead put on hold in favor of other projects, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West being one of them.
Since then, we’ve only seen the title through alleged concept pieces. The title appeared again shortly after Guerrilla Cambridge was shuttered, as several pieces of their work were auctioned off to private collectors.
Despite no indication that PlayStation is interested in reviving the IP, over the years, we’ve seen images of the game pop up. Let’s take a look back at some of those and a look at the sequel that never came to be.
Heavenly Sword 2 – A Look At the Sequel That Never Came to Be
First, as a refresher, let’s look at the original alleged concept art published in 2012. Gaming website Siliconera initially uncovered these pieces, though at the time, it was hard to say whether they were actually for Heavenly Sword 2.
These were found in 2012, and it would not be for another seven years before we would get another look at the sequel, this time from Guerrilla Cambridge. The studio closed its doors in 2017, and some items were allegedly sold in an auction sometime later. A user on Oscure Gamers forums got a hold of some of these items in 2019, which included over 50 never-before-seen concepts and drawings for Heavenly Sword 2. Unfortunately, they only shared three of them.
Now there’s a good reason why Guerrilla Cambridge had a hold of these, as while Ninja Theory developed the title, Sony owned the IP, and many of the artists who worked on the original Heavenly Sword went on to work elsewhere within Sony. Such was the case with Doug Telford, an artist who worked at SCEE Cambridge (before it was renamed to Guerrilla Cambridge). His website states that he worked on most characters for the first Heavenly Sword and would go on to do work on its sequel before it was canceled for undisclosed reasons.
What’s interesting, though, is that at some point, he uploaded some new concept art for past work, which included some pieces of the Heavenly Sword 2 pieces. Not only do some of the art pieces featured on his site match the ones from the auction, but they also seemingly confirm the 2012 pieces as the real deal. Multiple concept pieces feature characters that would don samurai-inspired armor and such. A few of the pieces have some descriptions on them, though nothing too revealing about them outside of factions and hierarchy. We can only assume that some of these were meant to be for bosses, given their detailed designs.
I know it’s ancient history now, but it’s pretty cool to see what could have been. I can tell you, while the original Heavenly Sword hasn’t aged too well, it’s still a game I have fond memories of, so much so that I’ve always wished that PlayStation would do a sequel. At this rate, we’ll probably never see the IP again, though I wouldn’t be against a revival of it, especially considering that it was a game that many compared to classic God of War. It would be an excellent way for PlayStation to cater to those wanting that classic hack-and-slash style of combat that the God of War series has since moved on from.
One can dream, though it’s a dream that is unlikely ever to happen.
Stay connected to MP1st and the latest news by following us on Bluesky, X, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Google News.
