Though Child of Eden was specifically designed for the Kinect, and that's really how it's meant to be played, I'm talking about the PS3 version here. Oh, and we're not even talking about playing it with the Move controller. No, I played through this gem on the good ol' Dualshock 3. As such, I know I've missed about 90% of what the game is meant to be about. Motion control was a huge part of the push behind its design and marketing, so playing on the PS3 with a pad is a bit like watching a blu-ray through a component cable on a CRT TV. It should be a testament to Eden's quality, then, that it still managed to mesmerise me so completely.
Really, when asking for a spiritual sequel to Rez, you couldn't hope for anything better. The thumping soundtrack and trippy visuals return, with the latter really benefiting from the leap to HD. The plot, for what it's worth, still revolves around shooting viruses to save an AI, this time represented by the beguilingly pretty Lumi. As you fire your way through each stage, visuals and soundtrack blend into a perfect sensual feast, and you'll often find your jaw dropping at some points in a level. Unlike Rez, CoE takes place from a first-person perspective (a hangover from its Kinect origins). As such, if you're playing it on a big enough TV and with a good enough sound system, it can be even more engrossing than its predecessor.
The graphics are an absolute treat throughout; as sky blues bleed into cherry blossom pinks, and colourful explosions fill the screen, every moment feels joyous and vibrant. Thankfully the soundtrack holds its own too, with Tetsuya Mizuguchi showing his usual aptitude for picking incredible tunes to complete the feeling of synesthesia he tries to evoke. Perhaps not as strong as those in Rez, the songs in CoE are still a cut above what you'll find in the majority of gaming soundtracks.
It's difficult to adequately describe Child of Eden without feeling the need to demonstrate it as well; synesthesia styled on-rails shooter doesn't quite seem to do it justice. It's also difficult to describe it without reference to Rez, a trap which I've fallen into constantly while writing this. This wouldn't be a problem if I'd only had a Kinect, and been able to play the game the way it was designed to be played. Played with a pad, it's "merely" an incredible sequel to an incredible game, utterly beautiful, and one of a kind.
Kinect does absolutely add another side to Child of Eden, it's incredible. With the big TV, and the huge sound system there's nothing like it. Standing there at the level start, as the music starts to build, in the default "starting" pose that Mizuguchi demonstrated at E3 (arms out, just above waist level, palms towards the TV), I've never felt more immersed in something. Then when it starts, you naturally snap into a pose, arms up, ready to play. The mechanism of using each hand for a different weapon makes it excellent, and throwing your hands up in a euphoric gesture for a smart bomb fits the game so well.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I adored Rez and I totally get how sucked in you could get even just using a controller. But if the game grips you like that, you need to at least experience it in a darkened room with Kinect.