Child of Eden

Child of Eden - The good
- Beautiful graphics and audio soundtrack
- Immersive Kinect controls
- Use of up to 4 controllers as vibrating force feedback
- Well-designed shmup (shoot'em up) with intricate gameplay-scoring mechanics

Child of Eden - The not so good
- Shmups tend to be shorter games than other genres
- Menu navigation can be confusing because it sometimes switches between Kinect and controller
- sitting position does not control as well as standing (higher Kinect sensor placement preferred as well)

Menu navigation can be with either the Kinect of the game controller. Menu navigation is a little confusing because it doesn't seem you can go completely controller-free to navigation. It appears you can but often the game seems to switch to controller mode and you have to press a button on the controller to switch back to Kinect menu control. In general, the menus are a little confusing in terms of selecting missions.

The game is definitely meant to be played with Kinect controls rather than the standard 360 game controller. Combined with the controllers for force feedback, controlling with the Kinect is the most immersive experience where you just forget the interface and become one with the game.

If you place your Kinect at waist level, the game control appears to suffer a slight bit. The game appears to control better with the Kinect higher up, especially when targeting near the bottom of the TV. It's not a major difference but if you can, put the Kinect above the TV. The logic also applies to sitting down. Child of Eden does allow you to play in the sitting position but when sitting down, targeting objects near the bottom of the screen can be hard because if the Kinect is placed low and you're sitting down, when you move your hand to crotch level to target low objects, the cursor will spaz while the Kinect is figuring out where your hand is. The game controls better in the standing position as well. I played a large chunk of the game with the Kinect at waist level and it played fine.

The game uniquely allows you to use up to 4 controllers as vibrating devices so if you wear baggy pants or shorts with pockets, it's an awesome experience. I thought it would be a gimmick, but it just feels awesome. It's not just generic vibrations. Different explosions produce different effects. The vibrations also appear to be spatial and positional as well. There's also some pulsations due to the various music beats. You have to experience this pants vibration to understand how good it feels. I only have 3 wireless 360 controllers so I didn't have the full 4 controller experience but it felt great nonetheless. I also tried 2 controllers in the front pockets of my shorts and it worked great. It really recreates the atmosphere of being in a game machine at the local arcade.

The game starts with an introductory movie in high definition that looks like something out of the mind of Tim Burton. You see a real actress model playing Yumi where she's walking through a surreal forest scene with augmented CGI. Her images will intersperse throughout the game. The actual in-game graphics are very good. Personally, the art direction is merely good for me since the artwork is somewhat abstract and there's not as much artistic license as I would've liked, but my lack of enthusiasm is merely personal preference. The framerate is extremely solid and shows no obvious moments of slowdown.

The first mission is the tutorial level where they teach you the game mechanics. The right hand is used to paint the various enemies on-screen. You just move your hand over the enemies which locks onto them. Once they are locked you do a simple wrist flick to unleash the explosions. You don't have to do a dramatic motion to unleash your weaponry like you may have seen in various hands-on gameplay videos, just a quick flick of the wrist. The left hand controls your tracer weapon which is like a machine gun. There is no locking of targets. You simply maneuver the onscreen cursor with your hand which autofires.

The trick is figuring out which weapon to use on which enemies so you'll be switching back and forth between the weapons constantly. As part of the game mechanics, the game doesn't allow you to use both weapons simultaneously. They designed the game to force you to switch hands thru the different types of enemies so weapon choice is not merely preference. For example, in order to destroy enemy bullets, you need to use the tracer gun (machine gun) instead of the standard weapon. Raising both arms (a la an orchestral conductor) will unleash your smart bomb which clears the screen of bad guys. General movement of the screen is on-rails like most shmups. However, you can shift the view in a direction by moving the cursor to the edge of the screen. During the frantic scenes where enemies are filling the screen, you'll often be waving your right hand as if you're erasing a chalkboard in order to paint enemies and launch explosions quickly.

Targeting via your hands is wonderfully done as you never feel like you're fighting the controls. You'll feel part Mickey Mouse in The Sorcerer's Apprenctice, part Tom Cruise in The Minority Report. I've never liked the Rez controls whether it was on the Sega Dreamcast, Sony Playstation 2 or Xbox 360. Every tiem I played Rez, I kept wishing the game used a mouse. I hated the subtle autoaiming in Rez to compensate for a game controller. But in Kinect, it feels amazing and accurate with your hand. You rarely overshoot the cursor like with a game controller.

Game mechanics-wise, there are multiple ways to play Child of Eden like most shmups (shoot-em-up games). If you simply want to kill enemies and finish the game, you can play frantically and move your hands rapidly. If you want to score higher and increase your multiplier, you have to play more precisely and deliberately. For example, you should target more enemies before launching exposions. Also, the more you launch missiles to the beat of the music, the higher your multiplier score will be. This sounds easier than it actually is. It's hard to build a high multiplier because you have to switch to your tracer weapon in order to shoot down enemy bullets. There are lots of little nuances to the scoring mechanics that I haven't figured out yet. I'll adjust the review if as I find them.

Like other shmups, the screen can become quite hectic where it's hard to distinguish between debris, enemy bullets, or enemies themselves so it requires constant attention to quickly identify the various elements. If you love shmups, you'll love Child of Eden.

Of course people will note Child of Eden's lineage to Rez because Tetsuya Mizuguchi was basically the father of both games. But for people that don't know Rez, Child of Eden is like playing your typical shmup such as Raiden or Ikaruga or Torus Trooper or even more old school, games like Galaga or After Burner. The only difference is Child of Eden plays from a first person perspective rather than third person.

I cannot comment on the length of Child of Eden as I have not yet finished the game. However, from reading other reviews, it appears the game is short. Shmups tend to be short so this is more a negative on the genre than on child of Eden (I finished Raiden IV rather quickly). So replayability, such as with Pac-Man Championship Edition and other such games, comes from trying to achieve higher scores. There are a number of things to unlock which lengthens the game somewhat. Length is mostly likely the greatest weakness in this fine game.

There are no multiplayer game modes. Xbox Live support is restricted on online leaderboards. It's unclear if there will be any DLC levels in the future.

Bottom line: Child of Eden is a must-own Kinect game. There are now 3 games that people universally use to show off the Kinect: Dance Central, Kinect sports, and now Child of Eden. This game is defined by the Kinect controls and the amazing music. The music is so well integrated into the gameplay and is not just background noise. Most age groups will enjoy playing Child of Eden except for young children whose dexterity might not be high enough to subtly control the cursor. If you don't have a Kinect, it's still a great game, but you feel a bit disconnected. If you do have a Kinect, it becomes a phenomenal game. If you've never like shmups, Child of Eden may make you a convert.

I received the game from Amazon yesterday and all I can say this is a must buy. I have not played the game without the Kinect (you do have the option to do so). Also I have the Kinect on top of my DLP (the first review said that it works better if it was placed higher).

This is the best game out for the Kinect yet (6/14/11), period (Sorry Kinect Sports, your 2nd best now).

The Graphics are simply amazing, easily a 10. The controls were very good, and the sensor picked up and tracked my arm movements very easily. The pace of the game was great (and some parts are frantic).

You use your right hand to target your laser and after you lock on up to 8 targets a quick flick of your wrist fires the laser. You use your left hand to target and fire a rapid fire gun that can shoot down enemy missiles that are fired at you. When you raise both hands you unleash a powerful bomb that basically nukes everything on the screen. There are blue balls that are periodically released that you have to shoot to regenerate your health (from when you run into enemies or are hit by their missiles). You can earn bonus points (with Good or Perfect ratings) based on how you fire your laser with the beat of the music. After you clear an entire section you get your score and a rating on how you performed.

Additional screens are unlocked based on the number of stars earned.

I can't stress how much fun I had playing this game, It's that good.

Was expecting more based on all these good reviews. It's basically flapping your arms around as you're shown computer art; more specifically flapping your right arm most of the time and waving around your left arm if you see purple. It's ok, glad I got it for $25 in the BYOG1F sale at best buy. Other kinect games (e.g. kinect adventures, kinect sports, and dance central) are always an instant hit with guests when they come round, but I'm not sure this will go down as well as it's less intuitive and needs some explaining -- and even then it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 85 reviews  3.7 out of 5 stars