Child of Eden Review

By Simon Parkin Published 14 June, 2011

Adam and Eve it.

Version tested: Xbox 360

The language of video games is long established. Mario verbs such as 'jump' and 'pound' joined Pong's 'deflect', Space Invaders' 'shoot' and Zelda's 'explore' in the medium's formative years to build a basic vocabulary that few deviate from even now, thirty-odd years down the line. Child of Eden, pseudo-sequel to Tetsuya Mizuguchi's seminal trance shooter Rez, is notable then for adding two new words to gaming's lexicon: 'grasp' and 'splay'.

These actions occur on our side of the screen where, 99 per cent of the time, video game players merely twitch thumbs to exert their will. But here, you stand in front of the television, watched by the unblinking eye of the Kinect camera, painting on-screen targets - up to eight at a time - with sweeps of your grasping hand.

Then, when you are ready, you splay your fingers outward, as if throwing a fistful of sand away from yourself. In one motion a clutch of tracer bullets tears off into the screen toward the highlighted targets. 'Grasp' and 'splay': Mizuguchi's lingiustic gift to motion-control gaming.

Child of Eden - which can be played either with Kinect or using a standard controller - is an on-rails shoot-'em-up. This is important to state from the outset, because the lights and music and idiosyncratic ambiance can disguise what's going on at a mechanical level. You must shoot them before they shoot you. If your health bar - represented sometimes as petals on a flower, other times as dials on an art deco clock - is emptied, then it's game over and you must try again.

There are two types of fire: lock-on rockets (fired with the right hand) and a machine-gun volley of purple dots (fired with the left). Enemies are susceptible to one or the other. There are end-of-level bosses with attack patterns and weak spots and, at the climax of each of the five core stages, you are awarded a rating and score based on your performance.

Players who value arithmetic over art can rest easy: Child of Eden is an orthodox video game, with criteria for success and failure, ranks to achieve, percentages to claim, leaderboards to climb and prizes to win.

But to reduce the game to its structural components is to miss the wood for the trees. As with Rez, Mizuguchi appears to have a higher purpose than score attack, despite his own Sega Rally arcade heritage. Child of Eden is an audio-visual journey in every sense of the word. It takes you from one place and one state to another; it hopes to leave you a different person to the one who embarked upon it.

At the end of each completed stage you'll be asked to choose a creature to add to the HUB environment.

Your bullets, such as they are, have a rhythmic quality, each target struck sounding out a quantized note that adds seasoning to the music that rolls steadily underneath. That music, composed by Mizuguchi's band Genki Rockets and friends, builds to a series of postponed then protracted climaxes; the game draws you in and carries you along their sound waves, part spectator, part conductor.

In contrast to Rez's digital, angular enemies, Child of Eden's targets are organic. You often shoot not to destroy, but to build; your bullets can be catalysts for creation, causing flowers to blossom when you shoot a plant, or triggering deep-sea creature shapes to evolve from one form to the next. There's a feeling that, while this world is filled with peril, it's also filled with creative opportunity. Your role in it is not merely to tear down, as in so many shooters, but to build up.

This theme is threaded into the simplest of narratives. Lumi, the first human child born on a space station, is being digitally reconstructed by a future generation who wish to view her memories. But she's under threat of attack by a virus, which must be expunged to allow her memories to fully reveal themselves. It's a whisper of a story (originally penned in a poem Mizuguchi wrote after Rez) and it's told not through cut-scene or dialogue but through colour, shape and glimpses of the filmed actress who plays the role of the girl you are sent to save.

So instead of a soliloquy, we get a space whale. Your lock-on fire turns the hot barnacles on its back to glittering jewels. Coat the creature in a blanket of diamonds and it tears off into the Milky Way, disintegrating into a shower of gems that dissipate into nothingness before reassembling as a swooping phoenix. Shoot this creature's wings and bloom-effect feathers scatter. Aim at the red sphere beating at its centre and Lumi herself flashes up onto the screen, crying out in pain and euphoria as her memory is, shot by shot, realised, redeemed.

Later, in the industrial world of Passion where giant cogs clank overhead, a steam train rattles past, morphing into a high-speed bullet train as you evolve it with your transformative bullets. If Rez was an excursion through a series of abstract shape landscapes, Child of Eden is an out-of-body tour through human history, cherry-picking moments in humanity's rise from ocean depths to rocket ships: snapshots that are far from comprehensive, but curiously cohesive all the same.

If you want the full-body physical experience - feeling part of the music, sweeping your arms like a conductor in wide arcs that call the timpani section to action at your signal - then Kinect is the way to play Child of Eden. With the lights down low and the right ambiance and mind-set, it's a dance-like experience - but not in the orthodox video game understanding of Simon-says rhythm-action routines.

Rather, you move with the light and music and as the chords rise wave after heightening wave; it's close to a transcendent experience, the kind you might have alone in a 2am club, or atop a mountain at sunrise with your headphones on. Play the game for a while and you'll unlock 'Feel Eden', a non-difficulty level in which you are free to motion your way through its soundscapes, impervious to attack. Perhaps this is the peril-free Eden Mizuguchi always envisaged.

But once you've experienced the jaw-dropping sights on offer, the more gritty business of competition and completion begins. Within these parameters, Child of Eden is indisputably best played like Rez: with a controller. The accuracy of the analogue stick combined with the short jabbing motions required to switch between shot types make this a more precise, controlled experience.

In particular, the Euphoria special move, which clears all enemy bullets from the screen, is practically unusable with Kinect as it's triggered by holding both hands aloft - a motion that also hauls the camera upwards and away from the action with a nauseating lunge. With a standard controller, however, Euphoria works like a standard smart bomb.

The five basic worlds are challenging, and unlocking the next in sequence isn't merely a case of completing the previous journey but of amassing enough performance stars. As such, you'll need to play and replay each stage in order to win progress, a demand that some may find harsh and off-putting. But these stages, songs and visuals comfortably bear repeating, revealing their secrets with slow but dependable regularity. The kinetic and musically eclectic sixth world Hope, unlocked when you complete the others, is a worthy pay-off.

As with all of Mizuguchi's work, Child of Eden offers a memorable journey and a strong sense of development. But where Rez was concerned with the evolution of the player character, which transformed from amoebic blob to running man, the auteur's latest is about the evolution of the world around the player.

It leaves you with a peculiar sense of power: it feels as though you have the influence of a redemptive god, restoring a fallen world back to its Eden state after a corrupting virus. A splay of the fingers and what is broken is repaired, what is begun is finished. Alpha and Omega. Grasp and splay.

9 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Simon.

About Simon Parkin

Simon Parkin is an author and journalist on video games. A core contributor to Eurogamer since 2005, he is also a critic and columnist on games for The Guardian.

Read more articles from Simon by visiting the Simon Parkin archive page.

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Comments (132) Latest comment 10 months ago

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  • lolercopter #1 11 months ago

    Mizuguchi's creations finally getting some love. It only took a decade.
    Edited by lolercopter at 14/06/11 @ 17:49

  • Psychotext #2 11 months ago

    Nice! Out soon too, I had no idea.

  • Genyus #3 11 months ago

    Finally, something to spend my holidays with!

  • raloB #4 11 months ago

    Awesome Game! Quite easily Mizuguchi's best work. Hope the review reflects this. :D

  • geox30 #5 11 months ago

    This is the only game I really envy X360 users for

  • anomagnus #6 11 months ago

    Bought, and dare I say it, given the rampant hatred of kinnect, I’ll probably pick up a kinnect as well.

  • Dizzy #7 11 months ago

    9? Awesome... but TBH after seeing the game in action a few times I was never in doubt that it was going to be a great little game.

  • Centrifugal #8 11 months ago

    Looks beautiful. I'm tempted to get a Kinect, what with this and all the titles announced at E3.

  • Ror1984 #9 11 months ago

    Wow.

  • Opti #10 11 months ago

    Looks great. Also tempted to pick up Kinnect. Anyone know where the best deals are atm for it?

    Opti

  • optimusprym8 #11 11 months ago

    instabuy

  • jablonski #12 11 months ago

    "An EG 9 means that it's a perfect 10 as far as I'm concerned. "

    -1 for being EG.
    But +2 for being a game it's cool to like (Demon Souls, SOTC, Rez etc)

  • morriss #13 11 months ago

    At last a Kinect experience can enjoy as a gamer, rather than a family man

  • glaeken #14 11 months ago

    So some of the controls don't work well with Kinect? I thought game was designed for Kinect? How can they have controls that don't work well with it?

  • LudusSolers #15 11 months ago

    Very much looking forward to this - Dark Souls, Arkham City & Battlefield3 asides, this was at the top of my 'Most Wanted' list for 2011.

  • kinky_mong #16 11 months ago

    Well deserved score based on the time I had with the game at the shop currently in London. It even makes a massive motion control sceptic like me tempted to buy Kinect because it really added to the experience.

    Going to have to settle for just the controller this weekend though, and can't wait!

  • TruSmiles #17 11 months ago

    I'm actually really happy that this plays great without Kinect. Not because Kinect bothers me, but because I simply can't afford to buy it on top of all the games I'm getting this week :D

    Rez is my favourite game, ever. Sooo happy this is awesome.

    Also, Genki Rockets FTW.

  • butler` #18 11 months ago

    Cool. Might be time to buy kinect.

  • tomjoadsghost #19 11 months ago

    @lolercopter:- um, mizuguchis creations practically always get love, i cant think of anything except the ninety nine nights games which havent been well received.

  • Mattattattatt #20 11 months ago

    Ban this sick Kinect filth. We all know where it's leading in a couple of generations: [link url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is12anYx2Qs
    ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is12anYx2Qs
    [/link]

    (Interesting game, BTW. I didn't expect the 9/10 from watching the video. This is the first game to make me really want to try Kinect.)

  • Trafford #21 11 months ago

    Nice, got my pre orders in. Amazon and my mate Dave.

  • maximusfarticus #22 11 months ago

    Think I'll wait for the Move version and get the best of both worlds.

  • lolercopter #23 11 months ago

    @tomjoadsghost - Rez and Space Channel 5 were overlooked beyond belief and the sales prove it. N3 was just bad and I'd rather think it never existed.

  • Daddy-Doom-Bar #24 11 months ago

    Can't wait for this. Too bad I agreed to let my boys get it me for fathers day. Gotta wait till Sunday for it!! So glad Kinect finally has something worthy to explain its existence. This is the reason I personally bought Kinect (and for the boys to play Kinect Sports et al). Very happy it seems to be as good as it was promised to be.

  • ToAks #25 11 months ago

    huh??

    its Xbox360 exclusive now?i thought there would be other versions later this year, hmm , am i wrong?

    EDIT: ofourse i am getting this right away, i know it will be rare and hard to find within a year or 2 for sure and if its half as good as rez then i will jump in joy.
    Edited by ToAks at 14/06/11 @ 17:26

  • Arwin #26 11 months ago

    Sounds like it will be good with Move controls then come September! But I love the sound of it and may just buy it twice, also on my 360 (no Kinect for me in my 2,5m couch-to-tv living room, let alone my 2,5 wall to wall study where my 360 currently resides)

  • pinebear #27 11 months ago

    Sign me up for a space whale, Mr Parkin.

  • IronGiant #28 11 months ago

    Amusing, the game for kinect core gamers doesn't work well with kinect. Interesting to see how the PS3 version scores with Move.

  • davisorle #29 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 15:13:15 09-05-2012

  • Widge #30 11 months ago

    I doubt I'll be able to persuade work to get this, they won't even get their finger out to buy Sports Central.

  • RodHull #31 11 months ago

    Dear Sega

    Please make another Panzer Dragoon game with Kinect controls.

    Yours sincerely

    Jeremy Chumfatty, Papua New Guinea

  • havoc2011 #32 11 months ago

    Just goes to show that with games you weren't expecting much can be awesome, whilst the ones with big expectations are a total flop.

    Beautiful game.

  • Widge #33 11 months ago

    Panzer Dragoon = needs controller.

  • 43n1m4 #34 11 months ago

    Looks like I have to find money for this game as well.. (sigh) - at least I have Kinect already. Looks like a blend of art and gameplay, and such games should be supported IMO.

  • MaFlippinHeadHurts #35 11 months ago

    At last, the first game worth buying a Kinect for, let's hope there's more on the way

    To those looking to purchase a Kinect, my mate was saying at the weekend that Asda were selling them for £79

  • theonlyix #36 11 months ago

    I want it!! A must buy it seems!

  • coolbrittannia #37 11 months ago

    Can't help but think this would be awesome with ps move.

  • Whitster #38 11 months ago

    Well looking forward to this on Friday.

  • [maven] #39 11 months ago

    I'll skip the Kinect for this. I'll gladly play the game, but twice its price for a hardware addon I only see myself using for that one game alone? No thanks.

  • Oli Verified Reviews Editor, Eurogamer.net #40 11 months ago

    @ToAks

    There is a PS3 version in development, but it doesn't even have a release date. It looks like Microsoft has leaned on Ubi for a period of exclusivity in order to push it as a Kinect game.

    I didn't tag this review with PS3 as a format because that version is a long way off, and since this review necessarily spent a long time talking about Kinect and we had no chance to try it with Move, it really wouldn't be representative of the PS3 version when/if that appears.

  • Sonic_D #41 11 months ago

    Oh man, looks like I'm gonna have to buy a sodding Kinect for one game then. Can't play Dance Central in my flat!

  • tomjoadsghost #42 11 months ago

    @lolercopter:- yup, they did sell badly but they got *great* reviews, This is a review, it *still* remains to see how well it sells.

  • Billy_Sastard #43 11 months ago

    I would buy a 360+ Kinect for this game alone, It's coming to the PS3 with Move soon (which I have both of) but I can't see it being the same experience.

  • layleeloo #44 11 months ago

    Excellent. Been keeping an eye on this since its first announcement due to Rez and the like. Shame we have to wait so long for the PS3 version.

  • Subdominator #45 11 months ago

    "An EG 9 means that it's a perfect 10 as far as I'm concerned."

    And we all agree that the usual 8/10 is an average game. Doesn't leave a lot in between. ;)

  • Shinetop #46 11 months ago

    But where Rez was concerned with the evolution of the player character, which transformed from amoebic blob to running man, the auteur's latest is about the evolution of the world around the player.

    No. Just no. Stop using words like "auteur" to make things seem more like art, or an Important Achievement. You can express appreciation for someone's creative work without sounding like a beret-wearing, cravatted douchebag. Elitists are already ruining classical music, jazz and wine with meaningless self-important fancy-babble, there's no need to bring that attitude to gaming.
    Edited by Shinetop at 14/06/11 @ 18:31

  • Bander #47 11 months ago

    Grasp and Splay? That's not how I was told to play it at the Child of Eden experience at all! And the staff were very impressed with my score so I must have been doing something right.

    Several Americans already have the game and many say that they're not getting better scores with a control pad over using Kinect, possibly because it feels more natural to move in time with music, or something. I would expect mileage to vary between players.

  • Cronan #48 11 months ago

    How long is it? I heard five hours.

  • badoli #49 11 months ago

    Oh wow. So i finally gotta get Kinect... This month is going to be expensive with all those great titles AND kinect to buy...

  • spudsbuckley #50 11 months ago

    Looks like an XBLA game that would be intersting for about 10 minutes.

    Saw the 9 coming a mile away. Presume EDGE will follow suit. This game is aimed squarely at the "games are art" crowd who'll fellate it for just looking a bit different.

  • ozzzy189 #51 11 months ago

    Edge gave it 8.

  • Cronan #52 11 months ago

    Joystiq are saying it took them 90 minutes to play through the whole thing. Is this a full-price title?

  • Feanor #53 11 months ago

    Plays better with a controller, as expected.
    Edited by Feanor at 14/06/11 @ 18:46

  • badoli #54 11 months ago

    This game is aimed squarely at the "games are art" crowd who'll fellate it for just looking a bit different.

    Of course it is. The same way as "Army of Two", "Duke Nukem" and "Gears of War" is aimed at adolescent minded guys who say "this is gay" on a daily basis, drool at "manly man muscles" and don't see the irony. Just get used to the fact that there are other people owning an XBox aswell!

    Seriously, opinions like that sometimes embarrass me for owning one myself. But then again, i like all games, so i can't without.

  • Bombonera #55 11 months ago

    Damn, it looks like I may finally have to buy a Kinect.

  • Razz #56 11 months ago

    Is it against the law to buy this using my Job Seekers Allowance? :D I've been good as avoiding buying anything but this is crumbling the walls of my resove.

  • mcmonkeyplc #57 11 months ago

    Suckle jungle boy?

  • chrisjm #58 11 months ago

    *pre orders*

  • Mister-Wario #59 11 months ago

    It sounds like a fascinating title. I wonder how long it takes to complete, since while I think I'd enjoy it I'm not sure if I'd want to pay £40 for something I could clear in an afternoon.

    Also, any news on how it plays with Move?

    EDIT: ah, it's not coming on PS3 for ages, if ever. Damn.
    Edited by Mister-Wario at 14/06/11 @ 21:03

  • chris_ace #60 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • SvennoJ #61 11 months ago

    Looks interesting for a couple of hours. Just not sure that it is worth full price. Geometry wars, flower, pixeljunk eden, space invaders infinity gene all seem very comparable experiences. 30 dollars extra for kinect functionality?

  • Beano #62 11 months ago

    Better without Kinect then?... who would have thought?

  • pancho #63 11 months ago

    Shinetop: it's not wanky to use the word "auteur". With Mizuguchi it's entirely applicable. He is a creative whose style and complete control over all elements of production give his games (especially Rez and CoE) a personal and unique stamp.

    That's just using appropriate language. Relax!

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #64 11 months ago

    Usual shower of cunts turning up here I see...

  • bladdard #65 11 months ago

    I'm confused about the Kinect experience and whether or not to invest. EG describe the kinect gameplay as an experience which doesn't sound much like playing the game so is the experience worth getting kinect for?

  • Shwing #66 11 months ago

    To those asking about the best price for Kinect, there are a couple of places doing it for £79.99.
    GAME (online - not sure about high street) is one, the other is zavvi_outlet on eBay.

  • lostlain #67 11 months ago

    @bladdard
    I thought it was obvious from reading the text, that they are two different experiences, Kinect is great for artsy, being one with the music popping pills kind of play. While the 360 controller is better for score attacks and playing it like a game.

    Those saying this is for the artsy crowd, or that i doesn't have a lot of mileage just don't get it. If you liked Rez, it had loads of mileage (even though technically you guys would all complain at it's 2 hour length or whatever). I'm sure if this game get's you and you get it, there will be lots of mileage.
    Unfortunately I no longer have a working 360.....

  • coolbritannia #68 11 months ago

    Kinect has no killer apps. Oh wait. Instabuy.

  • FuzzyDuck #69 11 months ago

    I'd be buying this on Friday if i didn't own the "other" plastic box.

    /shakes fist until sometime in September.

  • bladdard #70 11 months ago

    @lostlain

    You miss my point, I'm picking up child of eden as soon as but is it really worth me picking up kinect as well, is the added "experience" worth it?

  • Wendelius #71 11 months ago

    For those asking if it's full price, look next to the review. Zavi does it for £29.85, Gameplay for £28.99 (if I remember correctly). So it's slightly cheaper than usual (well, at least recent 360 games I've bought at release).

    The gameplay looks interesting enough that I'm more than happy to get it at release. And since I already own Kinect, no extra expense. :)

    The Guardian liked it too: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/201...

  • HEAVYface #72 11 months ago

    i was all set to get this. then the overlaid cheesy video girl put me off.

    it cheapened the wonderful abstract playground into something which resembles one of those ugly mixed media art installations that pensionable artists create to appear relevant and cutting edge.

    rez didn't have to stoop to that. i kinda still want to get it, because the gameplay appeals to me, but i'll wait till its dirt cheap.

  • MeBrains #73 11 months ago

    as a kinect sceptic this does sound awesome. one for the history books even. would love to play it...

    but ps3 owner here... close to 40 and none of the immediate mates have 360's... damn.

    edit: wooohhh... the above sounds to be too much praise for the game after having read more than a paragraph... i do feel embarassed now... :S
    Edited by MeBrains at 14/06/11 @ 22:33

  • Sid-Nice #74 11 months ago

    I like to play games that I win; so until Kinect masturbator arrives this will keep me happy, sounds great.

  • JediMasterMalik #75 11 months ago

    Kinect killer app plays better without Kinect?

  • 32768Colours #76 11 months ago

    Might pick it up on the cheap. Like Rez before it, it just seems to be an abstract version of Afterburner. Not particularly groundbreaking stuff but good fun.

  • Stoatboy #77 11 months ago

    Ace. Have had this preordered for a while now, fingers crossed Shop-To can pull the early trick again.

  • Dave52 #78 11 months ago

    Hmm... quite a wooly review. No doubt a beautiful and fun game, but is it any good with Kinect. There seems to be a moment there where you suggest that Kinect is the way to play, then - once you discuss succeeding and completing the game, you suggest it should be played with a joypad, a la Rez.

    So, is it good with Kinect or not? How accurate is it. If only given one control system would you opt for Kinect or Pad? Would PS Move be a better implementation (clearly more accurate)....?

    When's it out for the PS3...?

  • lucky_jim #79 11 months ago

    This is the only game that has got me vaguely interested in Kinect, so I'm very pleased it plays just as well with a controller. As someone who happily played Space Channel 5 parts 1 & 2 and Rez with controllers, I'm definitely comfortable with the set up and can't wait to dive into more Mizuguchi madness.

  • mikebates #80 11 months ago

    ace, a decent use of kinect. cant wait)

  • Matthew_Hornet #81 11 months ago

    This and Geometry Wars 2: only two reasons to own a 360 (Limbo is coming out on PC, and Fez will be coming soon I hope...)

    EDIT: Seems I'm getting negged - sure, you're free to disagree. I was just saying how it is for me personally. I'm sure there are 360 exclusives that appeal to you, but I don't like Halo much and can do without Gears of War in a pinch. Etc. These two are the only games that make me genuinely sorry I don't own a 360.
    Edited by Matthew_Hornet at 14/06/11 @ 23:47

  • VicViper #82 11 months ago

    Luckily i had some points with GAME so this is coming to me for about twenty quid, no Kinect yet though, might grab that in a month or two but I love Rez and still play the XBLA version from time to time so a 'sequel' for it is a instabuy.

    I look at this as more of a shoot em up after you get your first experience through it as then its all about that perfect run like Rez oddly enough.
    Edited by VicViper at 14/06/11 @ 23:13

  • RedSparrows #83 11 months ago

    Wow, comment retards are out in force.

    Kinect seems pretty clear here:

    If you want hi-scores, use the pad. If you want a fun and novel experience, that engages you and is gorgeous, use Kinect.

    Was that so difficult? Is that so bad?

  • digitalash #84 11 months ago

    Kinect Killer App? Or too offbeat? I hope the former, I suspect the latter.

  • DarthMartious #85 11 months ago

    So an on-rails shooter rehashing the now familiar rhythm dynamic as found in decade old games such as Rez, but with motion control (which is apparently shit compared to using a controller) gets 9/10?

    Leave off.

  • DarthMartious #86 11 months ago

    It leaves you with a peculiar sense of power: it feels as though you have the influence of a redemptive god, restoring a fallen world back to its Eden state after a corrupting virus. A splay of the fingers and what is broken is repaired, what is begun is finished. Alpha and Omega. Grasp and splay.

    This quote leaves me with a feeling that the reviewer has been watching too much porn lately.

  • coldfoot #87 11 months ago

    PS3 version is targeted for september: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/116/1163291p...

  • darkmorgado #88 11 months ago

    There's a lot of trolls in here, isn't there? I see bleaseboxx, General_Ironfist and IronGiant are up to their usual tricks.

  • cjs #89 11 months ago

    Hm. Given the contrast between the motion stuff and the controller accuracy, it really sounds as if this game wants to be using the PlayStation Move.

  • marshaal5 #90 11 months ago

    9/10 for a game that is supposed to be ABOUT 4 HOURS LONG ? REALLY ?

  • anomagnus #91 11 months ago

    @marshaal5

    You miss the point completely. You can clear rez in about 5 hours, its not about a rush to the end. These games are meant to be replayed over and over.

  • BuckEntropy #92 11 months ago

    9/10 YES, it's really that deserving for those of us who appreciate the genre. I couldn't even put into words how disgusted I feel by this sort of thing, people say they're bored with all the generic shooters, but then have to mindlessly dismiss anything else they don't 'get'. If running through a repetitive - usually glorified on-rails - game shooting the same shit over and over but with some pointless forgettable story that stretches the same basic gameplay to 10 or more hours magically equates to "value" for you, then freaking have at it. But some of us are actually capable of enjoying and appreciating a challenge for it's own sake, and pursuing better plays because we're just plain having fun. And I can already say this is a more demanding game than REZ, a lot of unlockables and I still haven't been able to see the 5th stage yet.

    I can't comment on the Kinect experience itself, but unless they tune it differently using Move would make a lot easier. Just like REZ you can't even change the aiming speed using a controller, so at least in that respect Kinect makes for an interesting tradeoff. And on that subject, to anyone trying to be upset about the wait for PS3, I'd be grateful because I'm willing to bet they also wanted to get one version done and then focus on the best adjustments for the other version. I'll be surprised if there aren't some significant tweaks to the game in a number of areas: having finally played it I can see for certain how much blending is employed, and there's been no precedent for PS3 being able to pull this sort of thing off quite the same. They might do the same thing a little different with some more insane lighting effects, or something along those lines, anyway I'm quite interested to see how it fares. And honestly I'll be quite shocked if they don't take full advantage of the enhanced audio features. If it turns out as good as it easily should on PS3, then you'll know why, so stop being babies.

    Loved REZ, loving this.

  • muscleblade #93 11 months ago

    I got it early and played it last night. Tried both with and without Kinect and the game is not the same with a controller. With Kinect its amazing.

  • Mister_G #94 11 months ago

    This is on PS3 with Move too, so would have been better if EG had reviewed both giving their thoughts on the differences between the 2 conrtol methods.

    From what I've seen the 2 version would play almost exactly the same. Only difference is you're holding a controller with the move version.

  • marshaal5 #95 11 months ago

    The question i asked was "9/10 for a game that is supposed to be ABOUT 4 HOURS LONG ? REALLY ?"
    (ign says you can play through in an HOUR yes 1 HOUR)
    nowhere did i mention kinect move xbox ps3 or any other gaming platform.
    i was not having a go at kinect or xbox or move or ps3.
    it was a simple question about a game that could have been on any platform.
    i just dont think an hours gameplay is worth £29.99
    Edited by marshaal5 at 15/06/11 @ 08:02

  • RedgeHammer #96 11 months ago

    Gamefly will have this to me tomorrow, I am so stoked. Nice review, 20+ years ago I sought synesthesia through lysergic acid diethylamide, now the concept I can attain it with a video game and a Kinect, really has me wishing COE would have been around back then, iInstead I had Beyond the Mind's Eye, and a Video Toaster.

  • gregski #97 11 months ago

    Wow, wasn't expecting this kind of score for this game. But happy to see that Kinect is getting it's niche, as it probably never will gain share in the core gaming market.

  • Beano #98 11 months ago

    "This is on PS3 with Move too, so would have been better if EG had reviewed both giving their thoughts on the differences between the 2 conrtol methods. "

    No, it's not out for PS3 untill september. It's a timed 360 exclusive.

  • jablonski #99 11 months ago

    "But where Rez was concerned with the evolution of the player character, which transformed from amoebic blob to running man, the auteur's latest is about the evolution of the world around the player. "

    Auteur?
    If you're like that coming into the game, it's hardly going to be a fair review is it.

    Oh, and go and check out what 'auteur' actually means. It's carries a bit more depth that just 'author'
    Edited by jablonski at 15/06/11 @ 09:22

  • darkmorgado #100 11 months ago

    @jablonski

    Erm, I think they know what the word means. Mizuguchi fits it perfectly - every single one of his games has a very distinct creative stamp on them that sets his games apart from others and makes them instantly recognisable as his own work.

  • pancho #101 11 months ago

    Marshaal5: value for money is just one of the many criteria that go into assessing a video game in a review.

    And 'length of time to complete' is just one of the many ways of judging value.

    In other words, thank fuck scores aren't just based on time to complete else the world would be a grim place.

    So, y'know, shh.

  • drhickman1983 #102 11 months ago

    This game actually makes me want to pick up Kinect.

    Hopefully we'll start to see more games that use Kinect in a way that feels empowering.

  • DjFlex52 #103 11 months ago

    What's amazin' to me is that EG fanboy commenters have been blurting the same bullshit for over 5 years.

    X-boys usually have a tint of jealousy in their comments because of Sony's illustrous console legacy. Sony-boys usually brush their comments with empty arrogance of Sony's past dominance.

    How can you come to EG almost every day and then still have the audacity to ask "where's the PS3 review?" What the hell are you reading when you visit EG? It's been known since 2010 that Child Of Eden was labeled a Kinect game first.

    Are you really gamers or what?

  • Bradach #104 11 months ago

    PS3 move version will be out "later this year"
    http://www.computerandvideogames.com/297...

  • dancingrob #105 11 months ago

    the four hours = rip off crowd are the group most responsible for the state of released games today. To these idiots, a brilliant, tightly paced four hour game is worthless, whilst a 15 hour game, with 10 hours of padding is ideal.

    I despise them.

  • spekkeh #106 11 months ago

    @dancingrob seeing as I could only give you +1, please accept my offer to have my babies.

  • badoli #107 11 months ago

    "9/10 for a game that is supposed to be ABOUT 4 HOURS LONG ? REALLY ?"

    Do you like Portal 1? Best 4 hours gameplay in that very year. I'd rather have another 4 hours of that quality gamplay than 40 hours of Black Ops (of which i still don't know why i bought it).

    If you value quantity over quality, i suppose you shouldn't be here in the first place.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #108 11 months ago

    Yes MrsPacMan?....

  • kinky_mong #109 11 months ago

    I see spudsfuckly is busy peddling his "pretentious reviews! DERP! Hipsters ruin everything! HERP DERP!" bullshit again, and he's been joined by some equally retarded friends.

  • Dr_Z #110 11 months ago

    Surely the Move version of this will take it more into "on rails shooter" territory, whereas the Kinect version is meant to feel very different to any controller based play?
    I'm not saying that on rails shooting is rubbish, i just think I'd prefer the totally unique play style that Kinect offers.
    That being said, I agree that EG really should of played both, to give a fair opinion of both control methods (Move, Kinect), but guess this was impossible due to it not even being available on PS3 yet...evidently, whats with that?

  • BuckEntropy #111 11 months ago

    What's with any timed exclusive? Not like it's something that unusual here.

  • bigtechno #112 11 months ago

    it's a definate buy when it goes below £20

  • Rack #113 11 months ago

    I'll give it a go, for whatever reason I never quite "got" Rez but it's certainly worth a go to see I get on better with this. My house isn't compatible with Kinect though so I'm glad it's not integral to the experience.

  • muscleblade #114 11 months ago

    "The question i asked was "9/10 for a game that is supposed to be ABOUT 4 HOURS LONG ? REALLY ?"
    (ign says you can play through in an HOUR yes 1 HOUR) "

    The game is meant to be played over and over for highscores. Its not a storybased game. You need to see the difference.

  • Beano #115 11 months ago

    "I'm not saying that on rails shooting is rubbish, i just think I'd prefer the totally unique non-play style that Kinect offers."

    *fixed*

  • darc #116 11 months ago

    I was disappointed when I got home to find there's no demo. The game looks brilliant but with gameplay this unusual I'd need a demo to determine whether it's actually any fun (to me, personally.) Otherwise I'll be with the camp scouring the used/bargain bins two years from now.

  • acmilan1899 #117 11 months ago

    This is more like it - makes a change from the usual cashing it shit

  • Opti #118 11 months ago

    Amazon selling Kinect for £99. Can't find it cheaper anywhere else atm.

  • Shwing #119 11 months ago

    @Opti

    I refer you to my previous posting...

    'To those asking about the best price for Kinect, there are a couple of places doing it for £79.99.
    GAME (online - not sure about high street) is one, the other is zavvi_outlet on eBay.'

  • Opti #120 11 months ago

    Thanks mate. I'd looked at Game online but was showing as sold out. Will check the other one.

    Opti

  • Shwing #121 11 months ago

    In fact, anyone who is interested in Kinect needs to act quickly - as GAME seem to have now increased their price to £99.99.
    Zavvi_Outlet on eBay still at £79.99, but for how much longer?

  • Geowolf #122 11 months ago

    Can you play this sitting down and how close can you get to TV with Kinect?

  • dangercopperfield #123 11 months ago

    Its a rental game for me. Just cant affort e50 for a game just a few hours long. Then again, DLC could add much to this title!

  • Opti #124 11 months ago

    @Schwing

    I nabbed one at £79.99 from the Zavvi eBay outlet but there must have been a run on them as they've just bumped the price up to £99.99.

    Thanks for the heads up!

    Opti
    Edited by Opti at 16/06/11 @ 15:07

  • CHAZBIGPOTATO #125 11 months ago

    Looking most Sponditious!

  • Ceatlan #126 11 months ago

    Aww, f**k.

    I've been waiting for this for ages, and having been looking for it on Xbox Live all week, thinking where the heck is it. Now I've gone and realised this is a full boxed release game, bugger. I thought this looked like an Xbox Live Arcade game all the way. Oh well time to wait for it to hit the bargain bins (if it ever does), ain't no way I'm paying full boxed price for a game like this.

    I fully understand that to some people it will be worth it, but no bog standard on rails shooter, no matter how pretty, is worth a full boxed release in my world. At a tenner or equivalent on xbox live, it would have been an insta purchse, I wouldn't have cared if I only got a few hours fun out of it, just so I could experience it.


  • ozzzy189 #127 11 months ago

    Dude, isn't cod an on rails shooter too? Sure feels like one to me.

  • Lemming81 #128 11 months ago

    I don't have a 360, and therefore don't have Kinect. But you know what this review made me think? Kenect needs a remake of Magic Carpet. STAT!

  • rayscoota #129 11 months ago

    Oh wow, looks like total casual drivel. more like 5/10 at most

  • Toothball #130 11 months ago

    @dancingrob

    I'd love to see those who complain about the length of a game like this at HMV. "This Blu Ray cost £20 but only lasts two hours! And this CD is £10 for only 45 minutes! No replay value!".
    Edited by Toothball at 18/06/11 @ 09:12

  • OliverH #131 11 months ago

    Lumi? Isn't the usual transcription from Japanese Rumi?

  • bemaniac #132 10 months ago

    you twats I bought it and it is boring as fuck the music doesn't even sync up to the actions. This is basically rez which I also thought was shite! Why the hell is this £15 in blockbusters already anyway.....oh yeah because it plays like a dog!
    Edited by bemaniac at 29/07/11 @ 23:01