The story sounds good on paper but apart from information at the start of the game and various small pieces at the end of levels, there is hardly a story to be told.
The story focuses on you saving Project Lumi from a virus attack so that a human personality can be created within Eden, the archive of all human memories, to restore hope and peace.
Nothing is really explained and it's obvious that the developers decided to make a visually stunning game rather than a story motivated game.
Whilst the story isn't the strongest, it really did have me feeling like I was fighting for something, that this person's memories laid in your hands.
Like the story, there are hardly any characters worth talking about as there is only one - Lumi.
Anybody familiar with Genki Rockets should know who Lumi is but for those who do not know Lumi is the lead singer of Genki Rockets, she is fictional and is made up from various, unknown people.
In the game Lumi is someone who was born in 2019 and was the first person to live in Space, yearning to live on Earth and sends messages to people on Earth through song. Her body, memories and data were preserved after death and are now being used to recreated her within Eden.
The game is an on-rails shooter and the gameplay is one of the most appealing features to this game as it was made primarily for Kinect - a motion sensor that allows you to play games by using only your body.
You can use a standard controller but that takes away a lot of the excitement you'd have if playing with Kinect.
The controls are fairly simple with you using your hands to shoot and purify the virus, your right hand uses the lock-on attack (can lock-on up to 8 targets at once) and your left hand will use a more machine gun like weapon that is weaker but more effective against certain types of enemies.
Kinect is highly responsive and accurate but if you go to scratch your upper body, mainly the head, with your other hand whilst playing then the Kinect will assume you're changing weapons and the camera will start to go in the direction of your other hand.
If you've played Rez then you know what to expect!
Levels are usually around 15-20 minutes long but the visuals are enough to keep your attention especially with the bosses at the end of each level.
I went in thinking the game would be easy but that was the wrong thing to think.
You start each level with 3/5 health and you end up with so many enemies attacking you that you're bound to lose health, especially when they shoot at you and you need to change weapons to save yourself from being further damaged.
The graphics are what sold me the most on this game and I'm sure that is the case for most people.
Beside being great graphically, the art style is so breathtaking that I would love to frame it and hang it on my wall - the developers could make a fortune releasing art prints, posters and the like!
There's so much colour, abstract art and ideas that it stuns me, there's a giant, golden Phoenix, a flying, blue Whale andmuch more to be found if you play it.
This is the sort of game to be played on a big screen in a dark room to be able to take it all in, immersing yourself in what the game has to offer.
The audio is amazing but I'm slightly biased as I've listened to Genki Rockets since the first No More Heroes released on the Wii (their track Heavenly Star was featured on Travis' TV as a music video) but they deserve to be featured heavily in a game such as this one.
Some of their tracks are recognisable although most are remixed and come without Lumi singing but remixing was a good choice as it feels like the tracks have ben distorted by the virus as Lumi seems to sing more towards the end of levels once most of the virus has been purified.
I really cannot stress how great the music is and how great Genki Rockets are.
For a game that lasts roughly 2-3 hours, the lasting appeal is outstanding as it's impossible to collect all trophies/achievements on your first playthrough as multiple playthroughs of one level are required to unlock rewards for Lumis garden, the level select screen where Lumi is surrounded by things you unlock from the levels, and to 100% purify everything.
There is also a hard mode that is unlocked after completing normal mode and if normal mode is anything to go by then I'm not expecting it to be easy!
Also unlocked after completion is a challenge mode which doesn't fit into the story but is more like a survival type mode with you fighting off levels of enemies.
The game has much to do after the first playthrough and considering it is a fairly cheap game now (I got mine for £17.99 with a t-shirt) you owe it to yourself to experience this.
My overall scores for Child of Eden are:
Story: 3
Characters: 2
Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 9
Audio: 9
Lasting appeal: 7
Overall: 8
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