Child of Eden - Review
(for Xbox 360/Kinect)




Let me level with you right off the bat, you probably won't buy this game. If you do, it won't be for months, or longer, until you find a copy that isn't as expensive as this title is. The only reason you would go out and buy it immediately is if you were one of the ten million or so who picked up a Kinect when it came out.

The game contains five-sixish levels, each of which plays in about 10 minutes, and you'll have to replay each a couple times to unlock them all. You'll "finish" the game in 90 minutes. It's short enough to be considered a downloadable game, but it sells for about $50 dollars.

So I don't expect you to buy it, especially if you don't have a kinect (which are something like $150 on their own). You can play it with a controller, and it's still fun, but not quite the same.

That said, I really, really hope you surprise me and buy it anyway. This game is incredible as a shooter, as an impressive tech demonstration and most importantly, as an art piece. In the "are video games art?" discussion, there are arguments for both sides, but games like Flower and Child of Eden are the idea proof for the "yes" side of that debate. They combine audio and visuals and interactivity to evoke emotion more effectively than any other artistic medium, when used properly. This is just because they have more visual, auditory, and sensory stimuli available to them to make you feel feelings, and Child of Eden somehow manages to tickle all of them at the same time.

It's visually stunning. And also, often, it's nonsense. You'll shoot virus barnacles off this space whale with your butterfly shooting gun. You'll get purple muck off of internet light squids. You'll fight malicious infected flying flowers and have to return them to their normal, not-flying-around-and-shooting-people state. Sometimes it can be quite a bit too much sensory overload, but when each "archive" (level) comes to a head, it draws itself together in the most moving way I've seen in a long time. The best example is that space whale, part of a level called "Evolution", where you see him transform from a single cell organism into (eventually) a fantastic hyperreal creature we've never seen before. Evolution.

I talked a lot about how the game looks and feels, but the game also plays very well. It's snappy, and controlling the game with kinect is actually much more fluid. Your shots are more accurate, it's more responsive, and switching weapons feels natural. Plus it's just cool to chase down that menacing virus satellite with your hand and sweep shots over it before it shoots you down.

But it feels amazing. The music is very positive, the levels are each very symbolic and gorgeous in their own way. The developers have said they were trying to create the "happiest" game that's ever been made. They did it.

If none of what I've talked about really interests you, take a pass on Eden. But if you're willing to give it a shot and see if it can really move you in the way I've been describing, I challenge you to go get it and see what an artistic video game can do to you. In the end like most art it's indescribable. You just have to experience it.

P.S. The music is by a band called the Genki Rockets. They're J-poppy, electric, and are all about positive sounds and feelings. If any of their music (try starline or breeze) appeals to you, all the better, but if not then Child of Eden will be a tough sell... they did the entire soundtrack.