Child Of Eden -- Synesthesia: The Video Game

Child of Eden, a sort of spiritual sequel to Rez by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, is a stunning blend of visual, audio, and (with Kinect) movement experiences. And while you might not think much of an on-rails shooter these days, the truth is it's far more than that. For one, it's got an engaging - yet minimalist - story that feels like a cross between The Neverending Story and anime Serial Experiments Lain. Not sure what I'm talking about? Here's a taste for you, courtesy reviewer Adam Rosenburg:

"At the center of the narrative is Lumi, a beautiful, young woman who was in fact the first human to be born in outer space. The game opens long after Lumi's life has ended, though her consciousness still exists in digital form on the Internet, which is now referred to simply as Eden. That consciousness, which is broken into five "archives" (levels) for the purposes of the game, is now in danger being destroyed by invading viruses.

It is your job then to protect Lumi from the attacks and restore her digital being to its preserved form. You do this by flying through each archive along a set path, blasting bad code with your two weapons, a multiple lock-on laser and a rapid fire "dumb" laser. The combat, which the game calls "purification," is central to what you're doing, and it can be managed using either a standard Xbox 360 gamepad or your Kinect camera."

If you've ever found yourself in need of losing yourself in a game, breaking down the boundaries between yourself as a controller and yourself as an extension of the game, it looks like Child of Eden is just your game. And if all that sappy, romantic view of gaming doesn't interest you, don't worry: there's a quality shooter in here too. But don't take my word for it, check out the full Child of Eden review and see for yourself!