When producer Tetsuya Mizuguchi announced he would
create a new title for the current generation of consoles, gamers were right
to be excited. With a strong legacy of titles from the consistently
excellent Q? Entertainment backing him up, there was little doubt something
special was coming down the pike. The result of several years’ development,
Child of Eden is a perfect companion to the emergent motion controls that
have become popular over the years. The game’s backstory involves Luna, the
game’s heroine who you are trying to reconstruct on the internet. The
network has evolved significantly over the years, but has become corrupted.
Its your mission to purify the net and help Luna back to life by eliminating
viruses you find during the course of your journey. As you unlock levels and
remove these obstacles, you’ll unlock her and she becomes a kind of
pop-star, singing songs while she’s being reconstructed. The game’s feel is
a bit more natural this time around, and you can unlock some of the
creatures, such as space squids and sting-rays that you encounter.
While its visuals are a still a little bit abstract, the game’s
reliance on more natural, organic creatures definitely makes it more
accessible than some of Q’s earlier titles. You definitely feel like you’re
in a aquarium in space, convulsing with surreal visuals and bright colors.
However, those who played Rez won’t feel completely adrift, since Child of
Eden shares much of its approach and structure.
There are many familiar elements and the basic parameters set in Rez have
mostly continued in this spiritual successor. You begin by pointing your
shots using a basic reticule and immerse yourself in a screen overflowing
with life and dangerous creatures. Many of them are there to please the eye,
but others are dangerous viruses you need to shoot at and destroy in order
to purify the environment. Firing at the enemies randomly won’t do you any
good in Child of Eden, You need a bit more of a nuanced approach. The first
skill you need to learn is how to use the tracers to maximize your score.
You do this by targeting the purple object viruses that appear on screen.
Once you have done this, you can release a single shot that destroys all
these at the same time. Another thing you need to look out for are the
special items. One of these brings you extra life when hit, but they don’t
come on screen that often, so you have to learn where they are and go ahead.
The other is called euphoria which clears the screen of most enemies at
once, but isn’t effective against certain types. You earn score multipliers
by hitting enemies in this way, and can add even more points but unleashing
targeted attacks in time to the music. It’s not as easy as it sounds since
many enemies will converge on your position simultaneously, requiring a
quick burst of speed to defeat them. The game gradually builds in intensity
as you play through the levels, and most begin at an almost dream-like pace,
increasing in intensity as you get nearer to the end-stage boss creatures.
Fighting these bosses takes some effort since they attack in long duration
and take many hits to defeat. After you’ve beaten them, your score is
finalized and you can earn extra items and unlockable content.
Playing
Child of Eden with the Move controller allows for a comfortable amount of
precision and smooth movement. The game seems ideally suited to the
controller and feels very good when you play it. You can set the level of
vibration and movement in the calibration mode, which is a fairly quick
process that sets up the game nicely. The Move controller offers a
responsive and fluid experience and makes Child of Eden feel natural in your
hands. We attempted to play the game using a standard PS3 controller, but we
found the results left a lot to be desired, since the game wasn’t designed
for it. Trying to play with a standard Dual Shock significantly reduced
accuracy and made the game feel tedious and frustrating. However, when using
the Move controller, things improved significantly. We found that the
reticle movements, and shots fired were quite a bit more accurate and the
motion control made things much more intuitive. This technique was made much
easier using the tracking system, where you can effortlessly glide the
controller over the screen to locate foes. The ability to locate enemies
this way reduced a lot of repetition typical of shooting games. You can play
through the game in practice mode as well, which is a good way of memorizing
enemy patterns to maximize your score and ranking in each level. After each
level, you’re given a star ranking as well, and this is important because
additional levels can only be unlocked by earning a number of stars. This
can be frustrating early on because you’ll find yourself repeating levels,
but with a little practice, you can definitely improve your odds.
Child of Eden is definitely one of the more unique
games on the market. It’s mx of surreal, techno-infused visuals and thumping
techno score make it feel more like a dance party than a traditional game.
The minor story keeps things from feeling too abstract, and the main
character of Luna is an appealing girl who’s appearance signaling the end of
a level is one of both relief and enjoyment. Child of Eden’s structure is
fairly simple once you get the hang of its nuances, and while its not the
deepest or longest-lasting game, there’s enough unlockable content to keep
you busy for a night or two. The game’s easy accessibility is more
pronounced when you compare the Move and standard controller modes. Its
definitely something you’ll want in your collection. While the design
doesn’t evolve the style and approach seen in Rez dramatically, there’s
enough of an enhancement to deserve at least a solid playthrough. Child of
Eden is one of the more interesting and enjoyable titles on the market, with
a solid mix of music and visuals that make it one of the more original and
beautiful titles produced for the Motion control market. You can see that a
lot of work went into the design and appearance of its many creatures, and
the game’s overall feel is one of a surreal journey through space. It’s a
surprisingly surreal and relaxing experience, despite the fact that you’re
constantly shooting things. This sounds contradictory, but the game balances
its frenetic action with soothing undersea and natural environments, giving
it an interesting aesthetic. While this approach is probably not going to
appeal to everyone, Child of Eden is an immersive and enjoyable title that
creates an interesting hybrid of shooter and music genres.
- Michael Palisano
