There is Eden in Kinect?

When Tetsuya Mizuguchi's Child of Eden was first announced for the X-Box 360 as a Kinect-based game, I was worried. Its brilliant prequel, Rez, that was released on multiple systems had shown us that rail shooter games require precise control of an analog stick to be played properly. Later, it was revealed that the game would not be Kinect-mandatory and that the regular controller can be used for the game - I was very relieved to learn that. Then, another twist: a PlayStation 3 version will also be released and that the Sony iteration will utilize the Move controller. I was definitely aiming to get the PS3 version since then but I had a change of heart. For one, the release of the PS3 version has been pushed to a later date this year while the 360 version had already hit the stores since Tuesday of last week. Since I had planned to use the regular DualShock controller to play the game on the PS3 anyway, I went ahead and pick up the 360 version of the game because I didn't see the point of waiting if I was going to just play the game conventionally, without the assistance of motion controls.

A hidden surprise inside the game case...

Child of Eden follows the same formula as its predecessor: it is a rail shooter where you move forward automatically and all you have to worry about is shooting the enemies that show up on the screen. When I first booted up the game, I decided to give the Kinect mode a try. So that should have been a really horrible experience right? Well, wrong! The Kinect controls are actually really, really smooth. Sure, Q Entertainment cheated a bit by enlarging the target cursor on the screen but the responsiveness of it being controlled by the movements of your hands is just amazing. Playing the game with the gamepad provides an extra sensory experience in the form of the vibration feature and it cannot be denied that the controls are a lot more precise using it but playing this game with the Kinect actually makes you feel like you are involved in a progressively futuristic activity, especially the fact that the game has a high philosophy sci-fi storyline as well as a collection of psychedelic music and graphics. The Kinect makes things extremely involving. I am definitely impressed by the Kinect implementation for this game and I am glad that I have made this decision because this experience just cannot be replicated using the Move controller.

But Wonderland has always been a peculiar place...

By the way, I also inducted Alice: Madness Returns by Spicy Horse for the Personal Computer into my Game Library today. American McGee's Alice was a wild ride and who doesn't love Alice in Wonderland? Of course in this continuation of the classic tales, things got a lot darker for Alice and the inhabitants of Wonderland. Unfortunately, my adventure in Wonderland will have to wait... Eden is awaiting my return!