www.Original-Gamer.com - Child of Eden Review

Latest Videos

Child of Eden Review

Posted on October 12, 2011 by MikeV

First announced back at E3 2010, Child of Eden is a strange mix of a first person rail shooter and music rhythm game from Tesuya Mizuguchi, creator of Rez, Sega Rally Championship and Space Channel 5. So we already know that the music is going to be awesome, and also like most of Mizuguchi’s game gameplay would be interesting to say the least, since it uses the Playstation’s motion controls, the PS Move. But with gamers apprehensive with motion controls, can Child of Eden’s motion based gameplay, stunning visuals and a futuristic soundtrack change their minds.

BUST OUT THE GLOWSTICKS

Amazing Soundtrack - I want to first point out the music Child of Eden; it is some of the best original music that I have heard in a video game in a while. Personally I don’t listen much to this type of music, which is called electronic body music or industrial dance, but the songs are really catchy. The band responsible for the music in the game are called the Genki Rockets. If you played a series called Lumines, then you may have heard their music, which is perfect for the game, since it takes place in a futuristic version of the internet called Eden.

Story Tugs at Your Heartstrings - With most rail shooters and rhythm games; there isn’t much in terms of story, which is fine. Child of Eden pushes it further, setting up a story and giving purpose to mindlessly shooting down enemies. In the far future, scientists have found the memories and personality of Lumi, the first person to be born in space. Seeing that she has never stepped foot on earth, they have decided to recreate her using her memories and personality and insert them into Eden, giving her life again. But as they are making the final preparations to put Lumi fully online, a virus invades Eden and threatens to destroy it and Lumi. With a story like that, how can you not feel for Lumi?

Eye Melting Visuals - Tesuya Mizuguchi must have been out clubbing the night before he pitched the idea of Child of Eden because everything is bright and flashing. There’s so much going on the screen that it hurts, but in a good way. The visuals complement the music, giving off a futuristic feeling. There’s even a mode that’s dedicated to just listening to the music and enjoying the levels without the enemies shooting back at you. Speaking of shooting….

Choose Your Weapon - There are two ways to play Child of Eden: with the Move or with a standard DualShock3. You can play the game with either one and will still have fun. Setting up with the Move controller is pretty simple and it only takes about a minute or so to calibrate. Aiming the on screen reticle is just pointing at different spots at the screen. Movement is 1:1 so when you move, the aiming reticle moves with you.

PARTY'S OVER

Tragically Short - I was surprised that the game had only five stages and one score attack mode. Each stage, depending on the skill of the player, can take anywhere between 10 to 20 minutes to fly through, which averages about an hour or so of gameplay. For a shump/rhythm game that’s about the minimum, which isn’t bad for what it is, but I wanted more, like maybe some Rez inspired levels or even the game itself on the disk.

No Dual Wield - On the cover, instruction booklet and the commercials it shows the player controlling the tracers and laser lock-ons with his hand in sort of a dual-wielding motion. Sadly, that’s not an option here. It would have been really nice to be able to have that as an option, since I would looked more like a raver with glow sticks rather than a Harry Potter waving around a wand.

Child of Eden is one of those games that no matter how you try to explain it to someone, they’ll have to play it themselves to understand. Child of Eden is a really good game with really awesome music and matching visuals, a story that makes you care and a choice of motion or standard controls. On the downside, once you beat the game, that’s it. There isn’t anything else besides trying for the highscores in each of the stages and score attack, but that’s common for shumps/rhythm games. As for dual wielding, it would have been nice to have that but it doesn’t detract from the music and the visuals of the game. And just because it uses motion controls, don’t bash it until you try it. If motion controls are not your thing, there’s always the DS3. Either way, you will have a fun time with this game so give it a try.