Heart Work: Symphony Of Destruction
Gameplay 5
Graphics 7
Sound 5

Heart Works isn’t a very long game, but offers more choices than most titles in the genre and these actually lead to different scenarios and endings. It is however quite heavy on the sex and violence so don’t expect a very meaningful plot.

Gameplay: The story is short but can end in multiple ways.

Graphics: Not bad for the genre and completely uncensored.

Sound: Features voice acting and pretty decent music

Summary 5.7 Above Average
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Heart Work: Symphony Of Destruction

Developer: Tin Man Games | Publisher: Tin Man Games |Release Date: 2014 | Genre: Indie / Adventure / RPG | Website: Official Website | Format: Digital Download

Yuu Asakura is just an average student until his life is forever changed by a chance encounter with a stranger. In his rush to make it to his train on time, Yuu barges into a stranger and ends up mixing their briefcases. When Yuu arrives home and discovers the mishap, he finds money, a mysterious package and Colt automatic in the briefcase. What happens after this depends entirely on you.

Heart Work: Symphony of Destruction is not a very long game, but it makes up for it with nineteen different endings. Only three of these endings are what you can loosely consider to be “good” but it does add a lot of replay value. In a refreshing change for the genre, virtually every choice you make has a relatively logical outcome and branches the story into new directions. You can, for example, become a hitman, turn to the police for help, take the gun to school or become involved in a drug heist. Unfortunately, the results turn out to be mostly the same; everyone that you come into contact with is invariably raped and murdered. There is no censorship either, so this is not a game for the easily offended.

The whole “cursed gun” scenario is an interesting one, but the games obsession with rape and murder undermines any chance of it being taken seriously. The game even has a very controversial school shooting scenario. The original game was released way back in the late nineties, but this updated version features slightly improved visuals. It’s not going to win any awards, but it doesn’t compare too badly with other titles in the genre. I noticed a few spelling errors cropping up here and there, but overall the game is polished enough to be more than playable.

Interestingly enough, the game features voice acting for both male and female characters which is rather rare in the genre. There are also sixteen music tracks, although none really stood out as particularly memorable. The game has a nice bonus section that enables you to check out how many endings you have witnessed as well as the usual CG and album artwork sections.

Heart Work is definitely not a game for everyone, but the branching plot and multitude of endings elevates it a bit above other titles in the genre.

*Review originally published October 2010.

System Requirements

  • Windows XP / 7
  • Processor Intel Pentium IV, 2.2 Ghz or higher
  • RAM: 512MB
  • DirectX 9.0c
  • 700 Mb Free HD Space
  • 128 bit 128 Mb Ram VGA
  • Windows XP / 7
  • Processor Intel Pentium IV, 2.2 Ghz or higher
  • RAM: 512MB
  • DirectX 9.0c
  • 700 Mb Free HD Space
  • 128 bit 128 Mb Ram VGA

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