Exclusive Hands-On Preview Heaven Developer: Genesis Works Publisher: TBD Genre: Adventure Release Date: TBD Platform: Exclusive Hands-On Preview by Randy Sluganski March 6, 2009

Buy this game at Trade for this game at:

Heaven, I’m in Heaven. Good thing you can’t actually hear me singing or you probably would have already quit reading this preview!

Developer Genesis Works was kind enough to provide JA with a short preview version of their much anticipated pc game, Heaven. So there are no misconceptions, Genesis Work’s mission statement as stated on their webpage is to create interactive games that stimulate Christian spiritual growth. And let’s be upfront, just as many gamers will never play this game because of conflicting religious viewpoints, so too are publishers who don’t give a second thought to promoting violent and bloody products, afraid to sell any game that features any religious elements at all other than Satanism. So regardless of Heaven’s quality, Genesis Works has a tough retail road ahead of them.

As for myself, as a Humanist, I like to think that I’m pretty open-minded and can look at and preview the game objectively without any specific religious beliefs coloring my perspective.

The game opens as a young boy named Joshua promises his wheelchair bound elderly grandmother that he will someday fulfill his dream of piloting a spaceship. Twenty years later as Joshua pilots a flight, a meteor shower devastates the ship which is soon surrounded by a group of angels who guide it to safety.

Upon awakening Joshua finds himself in paradise with his grandmother Axis, who is now a beautiful young woman, as his guide. Joshua must now, with his grandmother’s guidance, determine his fate.

My playable demo was limited in scope, but was still enough to provide a feel for the gameplay. The graphics are simply phenomenal. Heaven is so shiny and sparkly that it looks like they have a never-ending supply of Windex. The screenshots accompanying this preview were taken in-game but still fail to do justice to some of the stunning scenery. In fact, you could say – get ready, here it comes – that the graphics are to die for (bad pun very much intended).

As we stated in a previous preview, the talent involved with creating this game for the past decade is quite impressive. World renown concept artists Stephan Martiniere – the visual art director at Cyan where he worked on Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, Uru: The Path of the Shell and Myst 5 – and Dylan Cole – who worked on the films Superman Returns, Daredevil and The Chronicles of Riddick – have brought developers Genesis Works' Biblical view of Heaven to reality. Former employees from Digital Domain – a visual effects company co-founded by director James Cameron and effects whiz Stan Winston – and Marvel comics have also lent their talents and skills to Heaven.

The puzzles could be considered Myst-like in their implementation. Crystal walkways rise out of the water once sparkling crystal poles are activated. A random symbol generator is key to the golden streets level and is needed to open a control station and a quick peek through an eyeglass in a gazebo reveals clues to puzzles that must be solved elsewhere.

The young grandmother character Axis, which some forum posters have scoffed at as being Barbie doll-like in appearance, is meant to be an idealized version of how the grandmother would have liked to look like and in this context makes a lot of sense. There is also an absolutely stunning scene of Axis walking on water as we view her from below.

The opening scenario has the player piloting the spaceship as it is being rocked by meteors and my initial impression was that it is somewhat disingenuous, but upon further reflection – and I don’t want to ruin the slight surprise – is actually quite an imaginative way to begin the journey.

Some of the religious symbolism and dialogue is a little heavy-handed – and I’m sure some gamers won’t be able to get past this fact - but I would rather the developers be forward about their intentions rather than leave me guessing as to their meaning.

Still, anyone who enjoys a well-crafted game with high production values and simply stunning graphics needs to add Heaven to their must-play list once it is available.