Child of Eden: Rez sequel. Turn on, tune in, lock on | Out now on 360, PS3 in Sept.

Lunker

Who: Child of Eden
What: The spiritual successor to the Dreamcast/PS2 trance-electronica rail shooter masterpiece Rez
Where: PS3 and 360 (full retail release, $49 US)
When: 360: June 14 (NA), June 17 (EU); PS3: Sept. 1 (NA), Aug. 26 (EU)
How does Kinect and Move work into this? Motion controls for the respective platforms are entirely optional.

The cult classic [vidurl=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwWWkgx2Stc]Rez[/vidurl], from Q Entertainment and the tripped-out brain of Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Lumines, Every Extend Extra/E4), is unabashedly one of my favorite games of all time; it's a beautiful, hypnotizing blend of audio, visuals, and gameplay that's chopped up, electrified, quantized, and locked to a four-on-the-floor bass beat. In strict gameplay terms, it's a rail shooter akin to Panzer Dragoon Orta with a computerized aesthetic and a hard trance soundtrack; you lock onto enemies, fire off homing missles, and avoid getting shot down while you make your way through individual levels across five broad areas.

But audio is a massive part of the game's experience, so much so that it's hard to divorce the music from the game itself. Every action in the game has a corresponding sound, so your actions create the game's soundtrack; locking on is the snap of a hi-hat, firing a missile generates a chord or bleep-bloop, and every single one of your actions is in tune with the background track and locked to the beat. The end result is that you're playing a rail shooter, but the game is far more about creating than it is about destroying -- you build up and create the trance as you play, and each level becomes its own album track that you shape on your way through it.

Child of Eden, then, is the modern-day spiritual successor to Rez: It's apparently traded in the hard, driving, Tron-inspired aesthetics and trance for some lighter, happier tunes and vistas, but at its core it's still the synesthetic merger of music and interactive gameplay that fans have been raving about for years. It's time for fans to get a second hit, so turn on, tune in, and lock on.

Gameplay videos ahoy:

Gameplay: Root Structure

Gameplay: Over the Sea

Trailer

Live E3 2010 demo at Ubisoft conference

Images (spoilered for H-scroll, stolen lovingly from GAF):

Vincent Grayson

DO WANT.

Is that trailer different from the Ubisoft one? I missed whatever they showed during the conference.

Lunker

Oh yeah, the Ubi conference opened with Mizaguchi himself playing the game live on a completely darkened stage with white gloves for about 5 minutes of pure gameplay. The whole thing was gorgeous; I sat there slack-jawed the whole time.

I'm dying to learn more about this. I'm hoping and hoping that this isn't Move/Kinect exclusive for some godforsaken reason. I'm also stunned that MS didn't secure this for their stage demo or at least the whole pre-E3 show, as this was at least 14 times more impressive than any parade of circus freaks and poncho armies.

Xaviar

Lunker.. Every time you post, I spend money.

Vincent Grayson

Lunker wrote: »

Oh yeah, the Ubi conference opened with Mizaguchi himself playing the game live on a completely darkened stage with white gloves for about 5 minutes of pure gameplay. The whole thing was gorgeous; I sat there slack-jawed the whole time.

I'm dying to learn more about this. I'm hoping and hoping that this isn't Move/Kinect exclusive for some godforsaken reason. I'm also stunned that MS didn't secure this for their stage demo or at least the whole pre-E3 show, as this was at least 14 times more impressive than any parade of circus freaks and poncho armies.

I really hope it's not an exclusive...while these movement-tracking things look neat, I'm just not into putting another $150-200 into my consoles, especially when I'd rather just buy a Wii and have a bunch of new games I can play.

Lunker

Updated with the Ubisoft demo.

I know that it's only stage-demo theatrics, but the whole "white gloves, dark clothes" thing looks sick as hell.

maximumzero

This might make me buy Natal when it's cheap enough.

Lunker

PR incoming!

LOS ANGELES, USA – June 14, 2010 – Today Ubisoft announced Child of Eden, developed by Q? Entertainment Inc. under the direction of the renowned game creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi.

Child of Eden is a multi-sensory shooter that will send players diving into a kaleidoscopic matrix of synchronized music and mind-blowing visuals that will usher forth a landmark game experience.

Scheduled for a Q1 2011 release on the Xbox 360 ® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and for the PlayStation ® 3 computer entertainment system, the game will also be compatible with Kinect TM for Xbox 360 ® that will provide an enhanced gameplay experience as the player will become truly immersed in the game, with no physical barriers between him and the game world.

Child of Eden thrusts the player into the center of a battle to save Project Lumi, a mission to reproduce a human personality inside Eden, the archive of all human memories. As the project nears completion, the archive is invaded by an unknown virus. The player’s mission is to save Eden from the virus, restoring hope and peace.

Key features of Child of Eden:
Multi-sensory effect: A visionary entertainment experience that synchronizes stunning graphics and innovative sound design to electrify the senses. By bringing physics in synergy with spectacular visuals and audio, Child of Eden is creating the next-generation sensory experience.

The world of Eden: Coming straight from Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s creative mind: a unique, surprising, rich and beautiful world.

Controls: Simple and natural. Designed for standard controllers and Kinect for Xbox 360. With no controller required, Kinect for Xbox 360 adds an extra dimension to the experience as the player truly merges into the game. The sensor will detect the player’s body movements, allowing for a completely new multi-sensory shooting game experience.

For more information on Child of Eden, please visit: www.childofedengame.com

No motion controls necessary. Begin fist-pumping ... now!

Snare

I'm noticing a delay between movement and what's happening on screen, could be annoying?

Lunker

Snare wrote: »

I'm noticing a delay between movement and what's happening on screen, could be annoying?

It looks like a tiny bit of lag; I think what's happening is that with Kinect, you hover over to auto-lock, and then you close your fist and either open again or have to flick a bit in order to trigger the shots. It's also tough to tell because Mizaguchi is playing on a smaller TV, and it's being projected to the massive screen.

CheesecakeRecipe

Lunker wrote: »

PR incoming!

LOS ANGELES, USA – June 14, 2010 – Today Ubisoft announced Child of Eden, developed by Q? Entertainment Inc. under the direction of the renowned game creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi.

Child of Eden is a multi-sensory shooter that will send players diving into a kaleidoscopic matrix of synchronized music and mind-blowing visuals that will usher forth a landmark game experience.

Scheduled for a Q1 2011 release on the Xbox 360 ® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and for the PlayStation ® 3 computer entertainment system, the game will also be compatible with Kinect TM for Xbox 360 ® that will provide an enhanced gameplay experience as the player will become truly immersed in the game, with no physical barriers between him and the game world.

Child of Eden thrusts the player into the center of a battle to save Project Lumi, a mission to reproduce a human personality inside Eden, the archive of all human memories. As the project nears completion, the archive is invaded by an unknown virus. The player’s mission is to save Eden from the virus, restoring hope and peace.

Key features of Child of Eden:
Multi-sensory effect: A visionary entertainment experience that synchronizes stunning graphics and innovative sound design to electrify the senses. By bringing physics in synergy with spectacular visuals and audio, Child of Eden is creating the next-generation sensory experience.

The world of Eden: Coming straight from Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s creative mind: a unique, surprising, rich and beautiful world.

Controls: Simple and natural. Designed for standard controllers and Kinect for Xbox 360. With no controller required, Kinect for Xbox 360 adds an extra dimension to the experience as the player truly merges into the game. The sensor will detect the player’s body movements, allowing for a completely new multi-sensory shooting game experience.

For more information on Child of Eden, please visit: www.childofedengame.com

No motion controls necessary. Begin fist-pumping ... now!

This news has made my morning.

Lunker

Other screenshots from the official site:





You people have no idea how much I love Rez. This is like Christmas and Easter rolled onto my birthday and undergrad graduation day all at once.

corin7

Game of the show so far... at least for me. Looks like I will be playing through Rez for the millionth time tonight. So excite!

Lunker

Edited - just realized the PR doesn't mention Move, only Kinect. This is a little peculiar, but who cares? Standard controllers are a go!

cj iwakura

Tetsuya Mizuguchi is my god; which my title is indicative of.
(Spaaaace Channel 5)


I hope the PS3 version doesn't require Move or anything.

Lunker

No other Rez fans here besides us lonely souls? I was expecting way more love for this; as-is, my announcement of the show, even with all of the absurdly great 3DS info.

Cantido

Wait...Eden got Mind Raped at the end of Rez?

Antihippy

I'm getting this.

Jurg

Rez was pretty awesome. Now I'm looking forward to this, as well.

The last level of Rez is seriously beautiful- it's amazing how much cryptic text can add.

CheesecakeRecipe

Also, a lolIGN article explaining how the Kinect mechanics work for shooting.

Using Kinect, Child of Eden plays as if you were conducting a symphony. The music and the beat are as integral as your motions. And they are simple motions. Unlike most Kinect games, Child of Eden won't leave you covered in sweat with your calf muscles burning. The only motions are with your hands and the controls are simple. One hand is your glove gun. You make a grabbing motion to pull in ammo, then throw it out at enemies in a blast. Clap hands to switch guns. Use your other hand, which is your Vulcan cannon and auto-fires shots.

As you play, a rhythm builds, of clapping and shooting. It's hard to explain, but impressive to watch.

LoveIsUnity

I was already considering picking up Kinect, but this pretty much seals the deal. Also, I know this makes me terrible at games, but I can't beat the final boss in Rez for the life of me. I've played through the level like 50 times, but I can't seem to beat it.

Vincent Grayson

Won't be getting Kinect, especially since I like my PS3 controller better...but goddamn am I excited about this.

DusT_HounD

Oh man, i only heard about this yesterday, but i'm officially stoked. LOVE Rez, so am waiting with bated breath. CoE (in this case, we're not using that abbreviation to mean 'church of england') looks pretty much godly in terms of following on from Rez- synaesthesia? Check. Weird-out plot? Check. Can't tell what's going on in screenshots? Check...

Hope that there are cool extras, like Rez's Lost area etc...

[edit]also, liking Genki Rockets in the trailer; and how 'Project Lumi' is a reference to GR's fictional lead singer!

Variable

very impressed

could make kinect worth it

darleysam

I will buy kinect and play the hell out of this. From my diamond tower.

Xagarath

I m entirely delighted that I won't have to buy any additional controllers or consoles for this.

Avicus

This will be fantastic. And the fact that I can play it with my dualshock makes it all the more sweeter. It just seems difficult to play without buttons. I could see it working easily with the move or the wii since players can hold down the lock on button and have a couple to spare for other stuff but purely gestures? While standing? (lol kinect doesn't work sitting).

Zython

When I heard this was a spiritual sequal to Rez, I rushed to watch the trailer. Goddamn, I am stoked.

MinionOfCthulhu

Jurg wrote: »

Rez was pretty awesome. Now I'm looking forward to this, as well.

The last level of Rez is seriously beautiful- it's amazing how much cryptic text can add.

In the quiet rhythm of the mother sea, life grew.
Always seeking to survive and flourish.

You know what? This has pushed itself past pretty much everything except the 3DS for shit I was looking forward to and impressed by at E3. It looks beautiful.

Lunker

Bump with a small update: apparently Ubi uploaded the game's Heavenly Star remix on SoundCloud for listening! Mizuguchi and his team have also been "working on this game in secret for two years," apparently. They also have the remix from the E3 trailer here.

maximumzero

Lunker wrote: »

Bump with a small update: apparently Ubi uploaded the game's Heavenly Star remix on SoundCloud for listening! Mizuguchi and his team have also been "working on this game in secret for two years," apparently. They also have the remix from the E3 trailer here.

Holy shit that's a remix of Genki Rockets' "Star Line" I knew I recognized that track from somewhere. I bought their album about a year ago and it's been sitting in my iTunes library until recently when I discovered it.

cj iwakura

Not nearly enough hype for this.

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/08/20/tetsuya-mizuguchi-interview-illuminates-child-of-eden/

Q Entertainment’s Kinect compatible game Child of Eden grabbed our attention during Ubisoft’s press conference. The game has the essence of the cult hit Rez with hand gestures and music from the Genki Rockets. Does… Child of Eden have any connections to Rez? That’s one of the questions I asked Tetsuya Mizuguchi when we talked about Child of Eden.



How did the Child of Eden project get started?



Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Director: One day a seed was planted in my mind, and it felt like the time was right to tell the story of Lumi and Eden. My work with Genki Rockets stimulated many feelings in me, and this was the next natural course for my work.



Rez was said to be inspired by the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky. What works inspired Child of Eden?



It would be hard for me to put it down to one specific influence. Child of Eden is the culmination of many of my life’s recurring themes, and now just seemed to be the right time to make this kind of game. In-between projects I often travel to relax and recharge my batteries, whether it’s on a beach in Bali or at a rave in Switzerland. The process of game making, like any other entertainment career, is a series of reactions.



The theme of Child of Eden is hope & happiness. Can you tell us about the game’s story and why you wanted to make a game with such a positive vibe?



The themes found in Child of Eden are the themes that resonate with me personally. You’ll find common threads in all of the games I’m involved with from my days at Sega to the things we’ve created here at Q. Even a game like Ninety-Nine Nights, a combat action game which could easily have been told from a simple “good versus evil” perspective, tells its story from multiple perspectives. Child of Eden is, too, layered in its message. Everyone has hopes and dreams. I just happen to convey these emotions through the video game medium.



Does the story have any connections or nods to Rez?



The obvious ones are there to pick out and examine. The rest you’ll have to play the game and see for yourself.



Lumi, who we’ve seen in the Genki Rockets videos, plays a key role in Child of Eden. Can you tell us more about her design and origins? Did Lumi always look the same?



The character of Lumi has always looked pretty similar to what you have seen of her so far. But as you will see in future revelations, there will be an evolution in her sophistication. She’s my muse, you could say.



image



Why did you choose to only use music from the Genki Rockets? Were there any licensed songs you were considering for Child of Eden?



For Child of Eden, I wanted to focus my attention on every aspect of the game; the music, the lyrics, the world, and the sound design. So the best way for me to achieve this was to create the soundtrack with my musical outfit, Genki Rockets.



How did you design levels and waves of enemies to match the game’s music?



We begin by designing rough layouts of each level on paper, before building them in 3D. Once we have them up and running in 3D we then have to consider the pacing and speed of the actual gameplay, while taking into consideration the music’s tempo and how it affects the play experience. There’s a lot of trial and error and experimentation before we’re comfortable with what we’ve achieved.



And the boss battles? How did you make those exciting and challenging?



Just as with any boss battle in any video game, we’ve designed each boss to have specific movement, evasion and attack patterns. But more important to Child of Eden is the overall ‘feeling’ you get while playing. To achieve this we pay close attention to the musical element – how the music syncs up and quantizes to the actions—and the sense of timing and speed and pacing that it gives the battle. We have different designers attached to different archives, so in this way we’re also able to keep things fresh. I meet with the Child of Eden team daily to discuss how to keep things fun and vibrant.



Rez’s synaesthesia experiment integrated color and sound. How did you utilize Kinect to add the sense of touch to the synaesthesia experiment?



The Kinect actually removes an element of ‘touch’ since you’re not actually holding a controller, but in response, peels away a layer of the emotional barrier that a controller provides. With Kinect you can really escape into Eden and become a part of the experience by ‘soaring’ through the archives and rescuing Lumi through your efforts. It may be a subtle benefit, but I think this brings you slightly closer to the tenets of synaesthesia by removing the obstacles between you and true immersion.



image



Have you thought about adding in PlayStation Move controls to the PS3 version?



Naturally we’ve thought about it, but unfortunately I can’t comment on this as nothing is confirmed as of yet.



Q Entertainment made a synaesthesia puzzle game and shooter. What other genres would you like to work with and add synaesthesia elements to?



I think our Synaesthesia Engine is flexible enough to apply to nearly any genre and even genres that don’t exist yet. Some of you will know that I’ve worked on racing games in the past, and that’s one genre, to give an example, where we’ve considered applying the principles of synasethesia. If this is of interest to anyone, I’d love to hear your feedback.

WMain00

This requires more

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jScUsvQZkTY&feature=related

FEAR IS THE MIND KILLER!

Kainy

HOLY FUCKING SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT

God DAMN it I need to use za warudo and play video games for a month because those ASSHOLES keep coming up with new amazing games!

Fawst

How... how have I not heard of this until today? There is not nearly enough love for this out there right now!!!

Seriously, I had zero interest at all in buying [strike]the MS Power Glove[/strike] Kinect, but this single game has made it a must-purchase. I will play the fuck out of this game. Oh god, I can only imagine how insane this will be at night with the bass pumped and the volume cranked on my surround sound system with this playing on my 50" plasma.

Wow.

Viscountalpha

LoveIsUnity wrote: »

I was already considering picking up Kinect, but this pretty much seals the deal. Also, I know this makes me terrible at games, but I can't beat the final boss in Rez for the life of me. I've played through the level like 50 times, but I can't seem to beat it.

I don't blame you. Those X-balls can go fuck themselves. It seems like i always get hit by those bastards and I wish they would just die.

Also, this game looks fantastic. I will definitely have to see this one. I wish there was an Off rails mode.

maximumzero

I'm hoping Kinect bombs miserably so I can pick one up to play this with on the cheap eventually.

LoveIsUnity

Viscountalpha wrote: »

LoveIsUnity wrote: »

I was already considering picking up Kinect, but this pretty much seals the deal. Also, I know this makes me terrible at games, but I can't beat the final boss in Rez for the life of me. I've played through the level like 50 times, but I can't seem to beat it.

I don't blame you. Those X-balls can go fuck themselves. It seems like i always get hit by those bastards and I wish they would just die.

Also, this game looks fantastic. I will definitely have to see this one. I wish there was an Off rails mode.

It wouldn't bother me as much as it does if the game wasn't as draining as it is. Playing Rez is an experience, and it feels cheap to replay the same level just for the sake of "completion."

ystael

This game almost makes me sad that I no longer drink cough syrup

don't tell anyone

cj iwakura

High resolution trailer from TGS:

http://www.gamersyde.com/download_child_of_eden_tgs_stage_demo-17121_en.html

Yes it's worth the download. Input lag, but god it looks beautiful.

maximumzero

I'm not entirely sure about the soundtrack being all Genki Rockets music.

I mean, I bought the album, and there's 3 or 4 decent tracks but alot of it just kind of runs together.

Hell my favorite track is technically a "remix".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKvqMPjd77s

Doesn't really kick in until 1:08.

Edit: Also goddammit Mizuguchi Space Channel 5's spiritual successor would be perfect for Kinect. You can mimic the fucking up/down/left/right/chu right there yourself...