Child of Eden

[Julio III]

This hasn't turned up from Play yet, which is beyond ****. So got Dreamcast Rez on the go last night with a mate. Its a true classic. Sound cranked up, level 5, proper amazing. My Dreamcast was on its last legs, and after about an hour it finally died. At least it went out in style.

Sad times

[EvilBoris]

Mine didn't turn up from gameplay, so I went and bought it from game. When the gameplay one comes I'll take the sealed one back to game

I almost just put my elbow out firing out some missiles!
I love the way it makes you feel like some kind of psychic warrior, especially when you are in a stance to control which hand you are using.

[monel]

Mine didn't turn up from gameplay, so I went and bought it from game. When the gameplay one comes I'll take the sealed one back to game

I almost just put my elbow out firing out some missiles!
I love the way it makes you feel like some kind of psychic warrior, especially when you are in a stance to control which hand you are using.

How much was it instore in Game? I need it fast and don't want to wait for online delivery. Almost bought it from Gamestation but when I rang they quoted me ?40 instore. I was tempted.

[EvilBoris]

It was ?40. But like I said it's only temporary.

[nonny]

Hey nonny. Do you have any troubles using kinect with your projector? My rooms pretty much a bat cave - treated with black velvet - and i'm worried things won't register in the dark. I'd also have to play sitting down too - have you given that a go?

Rez is up there with my fave games ever and I would happily buy kinect just for this - aslong as it works that is!

Kinect works no problem with the projector. I had timber shutters to block out light in my lounge so I've got an almost identical bat-cave arrangement... everything works even with the light of the projector hitting the screen just above the kinect sensor it has no trouble tracking my movements at all. In fact the only issue I've had with it is it's auto-detect login. It doesnt always work in complete darkness which is forgiveable but to help it work you need to perform the Kinect auto-login process of standing in different spots and pulling poses under various lighting conditions. Basically do that in full light, dimmed and almost dark for it to work out what it's dealing with. This has no bearing on playing a game... just Kinect logging you in by recognising you.


The only other issue is I've got my projector mounted on my back wall, not on a ceiling mount. So where Kinect wants me to stand in relation to its usual position is putting my head in direct line of the projector (Im 6' 3"). To solve this I literally pick up the Kinect and bring it about 3-4ft forwards and put it on the coffee table so I can stand further back. Works like a gem. The Kinect cord is a good 9ft or so out of the box so this works for me. If your projector is on the ceiling your probably not going to obstruct the view and could stand closer.

I havent tried playing Child of Eden sitting down but I dont see why it wouldnt work. The only thing that would obstruct is perhaps having to move around further than you can reach in a sitting position. Some enemies come in low and high meaning you have to move the cursor to pull the screen up/down to catch them. Works fine standing but sitting you might be best using a controller.

[Julio III]

Completed this on normal this evening. Great feeling. Like the way the unlocks now are similar to the Rez unlocks. Overall, the game doesn't seem as good as Rez, both stylistically, musically, gameplay wise. About the difficulty, yes, I found this game difficult, took me multiple attempts at both level 4 and 5. But I remember finding Rez very difficult initially (and friends had this problem too) and now I can clear it on Beyond every time I fire it up. So I'm sure this'll be the same. It doesn't have that great feeling of discovery and, I dunno. Level 4 was seriously awesome, maybe just in how it harks back to Rez. I see myself playing this a lot.

[Adam Stone]

I must admit I didnt play Rez before this, so my impressions are very different to most...

However from a difficulty point of view, I found it all pretty easy - im now playing through on Hard and haven’t died once yet! I have played the hell out of ikaruga though, so perhaps why? Ive been playing with both the pad and kinect - both are seriously awesome but the kinect does feel like a completely different experience. With the pad Eden is a great game, but with Kinect... Eden is something else entirely. Ive honestly forgot I was playing a game on many times, totally lost in the sights and sounds, letting my body do the talking. I don’t think this is challenging, but I do think it is completely rewarding in so many different ways.

Without a doubt one of the very best game experiences Ive had. Its very short, but im going to replay this time after time after time. Worth buying a kinect for.

[Charlie]

I hate being the bearer of negativity, especially as everybody else seems to adore this, but I think the game’s poor, disappointing and in some ways broken. Rez (HD) ranks as one of my favourite games ever made and Child of Eden was my most anticipated game of 2011 but to my mind it’s more of an exercise in pretentious art than in videogame design.

The reticle (using the control pad) moves too slowly; it’s not that much slower than Rez's, but because enemies and projectiles appear from a wider variety of angles in Eden, that slowness feels magnified and consequently the gameplay feels sluggish, stressful and frustrating. Then there’s the visual cue on the reticle for the lock-on, it’s so subtle that acknowledging it requires diverting your attention from whatever else is going on on-screen and that usually ends in disaster. And more frustration.

Lumi as a character and her fleeting appearances and occasional voice throughout the game, far from being obscure, affecting and resonating as Edge Magazine felt, I found annoying, pretentious and cheesy. And far from adding a ‘human’ element, again as Edge claim, I thought she made the thing feel like some tacky arthouse project.

Even the graphics, for all their glittering splendour, feel lacking somehow. I’m not saying it isn’t a pretty game, it is, but sometimes it looks rather flat and objects lack depth, for instance orbs can look like flat discs. Rez had a visual depth to it and felt more 3D, like a genuine journey into and beyond the infinite. Child of Eden, for all its polygons and surface beauty, looks visually shallow. There isn’t that sense of stuff going on beyond your field of vision, and so you don’t really feel like you’re in another world. Rez had less stuff going on on-screen, but less is more sometimes, and Rez is much, much more.

Then there’s the music. It was my biggest concern going into the game but nothing prepared me for how passionless it is. I want to say I hate it, but it isn’t interesting enough to hate, but I hate that the music isn’t good. It’s just so tame, so characterless, devoid of any notable rhythm or direction or attitude. It’s nothing music, it doesn’t lead anywhere and it doesn’t evoke any sense of emotion whatsoever. It’s just a mesh of generic noises, I don’t even know what genre it is, it’s just beats and echo and reverb and the occasionally cheesy voice. It sounds overly safe, overly tacky and over-produced. And it tarnishes the whole experience, especially as a key aspect of the gameplay is releasing an octo-lock in time to the beat, but the music is so ill-defined, so vague and flat, I can barely hear the beat. All I hear is a boring… well, noise, because I can’t even call it music.

Rez had attitude, it felt like an underground game and as such it had style in abundance. It was cool, and much of that coolness was down to the pumping and dynamic soundtrack, a soundtrack that evolved in time to the visuals. Child of Eden, in comparison, feels lifeless and antiseptic. It feels like a game which, in trying to appeal to a wider audience and not offend anybody, lost its soul in the process.

It might play like Rez but it doesn't feel like Rez. Oh well, you know what they say about great expectations…

edit: and please nobody take this post personally. I know some gamers get upset when they see a game they like criticised, but don't take it personally. I'm not criticising your taste, I'm criticising an inanimate object, an inanimate object whose supposed beauty and qualities are lost on me.

[Adam Stone]

Cheers to you charlie - awesome post. I dont agree, but i respect what you've said with a full heart. Nicely said man, im sure there are many others who feel the same as you

[Charlie]

Cheers. I only wish I was enjoying it as much as you and others. Oh well, at least it's Challenge Mode is a bit better.

[ETC]

I liked it but pretty simple for this game if you like the band Genki Rockets you will like the game if you dont you wont seeing as how they seem to be the entire soundtrack

[nonny]

I can see your point Charlie but I think the main issue with any game that integrates music into the game-play aesthetics so much is always going to divide people. As a general populous we're all very divided by music tastes so if the music in this game just doesnt do it for you it'll marr everything else it's trying to achieve.

Again I dont share your opinion overall (I think graphically CoE is beautiful, no issues for me) but I do agree, I prefer the music of Rez to this but... I do find the music in this still appeals, even though it does feel like the 'safer' option to garner wider appeal.

Still... as I said a few posts up I would love Kinect controls in Rez HD if that were ever a possibility. Having seen how well they work here that would breathe new life into the game for replay value.

[Kaosu]

100% on Evolution and Passion done and dusted. I think it helps somewhat if you don't play for score when targeting nessercary lifeforms (fish groups don't count at all), and using Euphoria only on the parts where you feel you won't hit every enemy in time. Once I've figured out the spawns and timeframe for Matrix/Beauty, I can finish off the art gallery, then clear up the last levels on Hard to get everything but the last item from Hope... that's going to take a while.

I have no issues with the controller at all, it may feel sluggish at times, but then I remember the mining in ME2 (if I could compare movement speeds) was pretty tedious, whereas this feels faster, and you get used to it after a while.

[Charlie]

I've never heard of Genki Rockets and had no idea they were behind the soundtrack. To be honest that an actual band can produce music like that, well, I won't say it just incase there are Genki Rocket fans on these boards. Haha. Suffice to say I'm not a fan.

@ nonny, I agree, a kinect patch for Rez would be more splendid than a splendid cat in a splendid hat and would get me buying a kinect unit as I can see how it might add a certain something to games like Rez and Eden.

Nice tips there Kaosu, didn't realise schools of fish can be ignored when going for 100% purification runs. I can't beat the last couple of levels on hard, Passion in particular is teeth-gnashingly difficult. Don't get me started on scanning for minerals in ME2, to say it was tedious is an understatement.

I can't be bothered unlocking all the garden items, videos or artwork, but does anyone know how to unlock the last couple of visual effects? I think the game looks much better in 'Trip' mode (that's all I play it in now) and am eager to see what the other effects are. Surprised there aren't more audio and visual options to be honest, as Rez had a plethora of options in that regard to mix things up and suit personal tastes.

[Kaosu]

I can't be bothered unlocking all the garden items, videos or artwork, but does anyone know how to unlock the last couple of visual effects? I think the game looks much better in 'Trip' mode (that's all I play it in now) and am eager to see what the other effects are. Surprised there aren't more audio and visual options to be honest, as Rez had a plethora of options in that regard to mix things up and suit personal tastes.

The last two visuals are earned by finishing each area on Hard and finishing Hope.

I will agree that the audio effects aren't as diverse as they were on Rez. The cave SFX is really amazing, I think.