As a shoot-em-up, I'm all over this - absolutely cannot wait! I'm still not sold on the Kinect at all, the only interesting stuff I've seen is via hackery. There's no way I would play this game using that control setup - it's just horrid!

Is there any impression of this with a controller vs motion control also any info on how the scoreing works not sure if i should pre order or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIBNuxm0Uco

Had a quick go, it's Rez alright

... and the Kinect support seemed quite good! I did struggle slightly with the flick-release for locked on missiles, but it seemed like it just needed getting used to. There is some lag, but it doesn't hurt it too much - I was soon accurate enough with aiming not to have to worry. I will have to report back once I've tried a normal controller.

The main question this week then being - which t-shirt:

http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/15606214/Child-Of-Eden/Product.html

http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=64265

Is it "just" Rez or does it have something else going for it?

I'm not in a position to watch videos today.

Should I just watch a video and shutup?

It is marginally more involved than Rez, you have separate rapid fire gun and lock-on missile weapons, which makes it feel more like Panzer Dragoon. The AV design is more fluid and upbeat as well, compared to Rez, which was more minimalist and I guess... introspective?

Oh yeah, the main gameplay change is the idea of launching locked on missiles in time to the music, something Rez promised but delivered in a very flimsy way. This time round, there is a palpable benefit - 'perfect' attacks, score multipliers, etc.

I didn't play it enough to draw any more comparison than that - but it does seem as if there is more to it.

Ahh cool, yeah, the Rez music fusion never really happened, or if it did I am so musically inept that I couldn't really amalgamate the shots with the beats.

If there is some phat bass to be had in conjunction with blowing abstract objects up in a completely surreal universe, I'm all for it.

Sounds Cool.

Rez did allow the player to dick around with snare and cymbal effects, snare when you press the shoot button and a cymbal for each lockon scores, release of missiles you could do anytime and the effects for missile hits would auto-align to the track. Outside of that it was all about rinsing the enemy missiles for those base kicks.

This sounds like CoE adds another layer to that, which is no bad thing.

I'm intrigued. I loved Rez, so if this is more of the same then I will defo be picking this one up.

Just pre-orderd this...hope its good on a pad.

I've just taken a look at this for the first time. I really wish I was back in my flat with this hooked up to my old projector, doors locked, windows shut, and volume UP!, accompanying the experience would be a cocktail of both legal and illegal substances. Even with my head getting in the way of the display at times it'd still be bliss.

FFS, I miss my old place during times like these.

Just got this and had a quick go on Kinect mode... don't think it, Kinect, likes sun light, and I haven't really "got it" yet. Maybe a few drinks will clear my abilities, like when one play pool half cut.

I still haven't got my head around this being available to buy...

I want...

But I NEED to buy a retail copy of MAHVEL (baby), 3rd Strike is about to hit and Shadows Of The Damned is right around the corner - I can't afford or have enough time for all this win T_T

This is out im so out of the loop i thought this was well of i kinda lost interest with some of the preview videos they seem to show it of as the most casual fashion aiming it for the dweeps and the fact the game had no score toting up in the corner made me think twice about it.

But the comment on here and else where seem very postive and the game seems to have a good lair for scoring from what i can gather like the sounds of bullet canceling very sin and punishment the only thing that has annoyed me is leaderboards are only for gold members which is a shame i will still pick this next week when i get a chance

I'm still trying to get my head around it - I don't think it is as good as Rez, but it is growing on me.

Visually it is really, really great, although perhaps each level isn't quite distinct enough. It is a lot harder than Rez, I sailed through that originally, but I died a few times getting through this game on Normal difficulty.

Hard difficulty I think is the same level layout, but double player damage - I don't find this any more difficult really. If you are starting to get hit, you've goofed it already.

So the main problem so far - the music isn't good enough. Or more specifically, the music isn't varied enough. It is very well produced, fits each level very well, but tends to blur and become forgettable. You could never accuse Rez of that.

The gameplay changes are generally for the better - the on-beat 'perfect' multiplier is pretty good, switching between tracer and lock-on adds a little more skill (although learning when not to lock-on takes more trial-and-error than skill).

I'd also say potentially the bosses are a little too similar and unfocussed.

... but as I say, it is still growing on me! I'm really not sure at the moment if my feelings are purely down to it not quite being Rez 2, but something else. I would say it is definitely worth playing.

... and as for the Kinect controls, when they work they are great fun, surprisingly immersive, but half the time it feels as if it is only 90% there, and that just becomes frustrating. If you turn the sensitivity up it feels a lot better (game-specific option). I haven't tried clap to switch weapons yet, that might help. Oh, and the stupid thing forces you to stand, even though it only uses your hands.

Play.com better pull their fingers out or I'm hitting up HMV on the way home.

I got my copy from play on Saturday, but a lot of people have been messed about - I guess they didn't have enough t-shirts?

The HMV shirt is a lot nicer, now I've seen them.

Strange setup, music-wise:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genki_Rockets

http://www.foursp.jp/contents/rachel/

I need another punt at this, seems a little broader than Rez... a little looser?

Progression is odd, and a little strange / awkward.

And the jpop, lets say, chick, and that whole element is going to take some getting use to.

Alot of the concepts and environments play out alot like a Stephen Baxter novel too, I mean, transparent space whales, its a direct lift!

As for the gameplay, I'm not comfortable with the balance between shooting and lock ons, and I haven't even worked out the scoring mechanism, is it just %age down?

It's just feeling at bit like a museum exhibit atm vs a game to jump right into... needs more dragons.

I'll have a proper punt tonight, these are just rambley first impressions.

You will make me cry with comments like that.

I went into this blind and have to say I love it so far. Having to release on the beat makes the system in Rez seem almost childlike, plus there is the alt fire which adds an additional element to the action. Proper lolled at myself the first time you are forced to use it after spending a few moments wondering why everything had stalled. Keeping the beat by grooving around on the sofa is ace - headbanging is teh meth.

Yes, I died at the end of the third level...but there are so many new enemies and sounds and pretty to get familiar with I didn't know what weapon I should have been using!XD And all the time trying to keep the rhythm. OVERLOAD!!!1

Music is different to Rez, but still enjoyable...it makes me remember what I thought the future was going to look like back when Lawnmower Man was out and I was reading all that William Gibson sci fi...

If only I had a lounge big enough for a Connect, pad works fine though tbh.

Yeah. I'm enjoying it for the same reasons you are, now I've played it some more.

Part of the problem for me was that it isn't Rez 2, which took some getting used to, and that some parts (the music and bosses) are not as memorable and lack focus.

It is still a good game in it's own right, and I'm still enjoying it more as I'm playing it.

I'm using foot-tapping for on-beat rhythm keeping The pad-rumble doesn't quite seem on the beat, and is too gentle, boo.

At the moment I'm trying to nail the on-beat/perfect octa-lock score multiplier business... The lock-on weapon targets up to 8 enemies at once, and if you max out at 8 you can get a score multiplier by releasing the lock-on on the beat (a 'perfect octa-lock').

The first POL gives you x2, then the next x3, and so on up to x8. If you are consistently hitting POLs at x8 multiplier then the score increase is massive - the same run could get you 800K rather than 200K, roughly.

Some things knock the score multiplier down though, and I haven't quite grasped the specifics. If you slightly miss the beat and get a 'good octa-lock' I think it knocks the multiplier down one? If you miss the beat completely, it resets the POL multiplier to x2 for the next time you hit it. If you target less than 8 enemies though, it doesn't seem to have any effect on the POL multiplier, and neither does the tracer weapon.

So the skill seems to lie in using the tracer at the right times to speed through dangerous sections, or balance tracer and less than 8 item lock-ons against POLs to make sure you hit the full 8 lock-on as much as possible. While making sure you never miss the beat with a POL and reset the multiplier. Those fractions of a second you need to wait to make the next POL can be lethal though, and then you get into compromising POLs and learning the waves inside-out.

Hope is good for improving at the score mechanism, and score chasing generally. It is a bit more structured, and a lot harder, than the earlier 'archives'. It really explores all the different ways to take advantage of the POL system too.

The thing I love about this game is how rewarding it is and how every go I'm improving (as I learn the patterns and get the beats). Only in the 600Ks but last night was improving 100K each play (not had long on it yet). Scraped through level 3 with a drop of health and currently getting pwned by level 4. I know some people have been breezing through it but I like the challenge its setting me. Have also fallen for the music too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGXx7XzAOHE

Ps3 version has 3d - new?