Computer viruses are very common in our world today, and is pretty much the main problem of most computer users. Child of Eden gives players a chance to eradicate the enemy virus in a computer system through five individually themed levels.
The game is an on-rails shooter infused with some simple rhythm action elements. An onscreen cursor is used to attack enemies; blue for lock-on and pink for rapid-fire. The idea is to use the blue lock-on fire mode to highlight up to eight enemies at a time (known as an octa-lock) and then use the rapid-fire mode to shoot down enemy projectiles, as well as certain enemies.
Extra points are awarded for firing an octa-lock in time with the music, with “good” and “perfect” messages appearing onscreen to let you know when you’re doing it correctly. Finally, euphoria (a screen-clearing bomb, essentially) can be used to clear the screen of enemies if things become too hectic.
You can finish the five main levels and see the credits in a little over an hour, but thankfully there’s plenty of replay value in the form of new difficulty settings, alternative visual styles, and an unlockable challenge level. There’s also content that requires repeated plays to unlock, such as concept art, music videos, and items that can be played with in Lumi’s garden. Unlocking all of these items means completing the levels many times over, improving your purification rate, and performing specific tasks within each level, such as 50 perfect octa-locks.
