Do not be fooled by the title. This Child Of Eden game is no child’s play. It took me 90 minutes just to complete the tutorial level and my arms were aching.
This game is specially designed for the Xbox Kinect motion sensor. So, I was waving my right hand to ‘lock-on’ the alien forms and then flicking my fingers forward like a magician to unleash a barrage of homing missiles at them.
Watch out for anything purple. For that I had to bring up my left hand and unleash my auto-firing tracer gun that decimates purple creatures and their purple bullets.
Gesturing with your hands for hours while standing is solid training for a 42-year-old dude like me, who needs to build up his biceps so he can rock a six-month-old baby to sleep without cramping up.
The game itself is a work of art as you traverse five very different levels represented by swirling psychedelic colours and creatures.
The enemies look like they stepped out of Tron. Some look like viruses on steroids, while others look like supersized cousins of phoenixes and whales.
To fully enjoy the game, turn up the volume and luxuriate in the Kitaroesque music that underlines the surreal experience of wallowing about in swirls of kaleidoscopic colours.
The plot is out of this world. A beautiful Asian girl, Lumi, is the first person to be born in space. Her memories have been preserved in some kind of an Internet called Eden.
Dangerous viruses are out to infiltrate Lumi’s sacred memories and you must purge Eden of these aberrations.
With only five levels to beat, the game can end quickly if you are able to swipe and flick your hands expertly like Tom Cruise in the film, Minority Report. But it took me forever to clear a single level because I had to keep replaying it.
You can also use the game controller to play the game. It is definitely easier but it lacks the distinctive thrill of the Kinect system that often made me sway my derriere to the music as I sent the viruses to their doom.
While Child of Eden provides a unique experience, I prefer something more down to earth – like mind-numbing shooters and dragon-killing adventures.
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