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.