Eternity's Child Demo Now Available!

Good thing I already have a Steam account.

Can't play it, don't have Steam

1.) It's better than a 1.
2.) It's not THAT much better.

The controls in the demo aren't that great. I spent a few minutes trying to jump up on certain ledges.
The whole "keep firing until someone dies" thing is a little annoying.
The graphics and everything are nice. It's a pretty game. Just the gameplay is.. well.. uhh...

Anyway, it just didn't my float my boat. On a scale, I'd give the demo a 4 or 5.
Hopefully the game is much better than the demo would lead us to believe.

Added: After tweaking the controls a little, it seemed a little better.
My main two complaints are jumping, and shooting. Unfortunately, that's a large part of the gameplay.
Jumping just feels slippery. I don't even know how to put it, maybe someone can phrase it a little better.
Shooting? It gets annoying. You have to shoot the cannon's bullets, then shoot the cannon. You have to shoot at the bat, then you have to shoot the five little bats that come at you when the big bat dies.

Obviously the shooting will remain the same, but if the WiiWare game has better controls, I'll give it a looksie.
As of now, I'd rather spend that $5 on a gallon of gas, maybe go to the park or something with my significant other.

Yeah, it is a little annoying, but it was just my cup off tea, and I had a lot of fun with it. The jumping was somewhat reminiscent of N, so they were pretty familiar to me, and the shooting was pretty fun, just hold the button and you're good to go! As I've said before, I can't wait until it comes to Wiiware! (platformers are always better with a controller)

Edit: Now that I think about it, I'm going to have to hear what the control scheme is on the Wiiware version, since I'm not sure whether I can jump, move, and hold the fire button at the same time with the Wii remote.

That marked the tenth great demo I've gotten on Steam. I'm starting to think I should actually buy something from them, they got some pretty great stuff!

@SuperMario
never looked that good in the first place

@ TokiToku-
Don't even get me started. lol
You're preaching to the choir.
I was one of the few that didn't jump on the EC hype train when Luc made an account on several gaming sites and informed everyone how much effort he had put into this game.

Know what I was thinking?
I could enter the Olympics, sign up for the men's swim team, and put all my effort into the 100 meter.
Does it mean I'd do good? Uhhh no.
Putting all your effort into something only helps when... you know... you're good at what you're trying to do.

I wish I could find the link...
But on an earlier article, I remember at least one person saying this game had a chance to be this site's first 10.
Now it'll be lucky to score a 5. lol
This should be a good reminder, gameplay > graphics.

Added: I think Mega Man 9 is the only game that has a shot of scoring a 10.
Other than that, I don't see anything on the horizon which warrants a very high score.
Tetris, World of Goo, Plättchen, and Bomberman are the only games looking good enough to even warrant an 8, at this point.

i think the first 10 will be Plättchen Twist 'n' Paint

@TokiToku
yes Plattchen FTW!!!

Plattchen better be out on monday. didn't they send it in for approval weeks ago.

@Bahamut ZERO
you can get steam for free at www.steampowered.com

Not having Steam should be considered a crime

EDIT: Also, I gotta mention this, if you get Steam because of this, get Trackmania Nations Forever, which is an amazing game and completely FREE. Then, if you like it, get the upgraded version, Trackmania United Forever, ASAP, as it's 50% off this weekend ($20) and seriously one of the best values for PC gaming you'll ever find (Well, aside from The Orange Box of course).

well Alten8 are handling the Wiiware controls and other things that are different and I don't thing that demo level was the best one to design for a demo

The Wiiware one is alot more story focused, so see it as well a story platformer that should work well with wiimote controller

but hey I never said EC would be the best new thing gameplay wise, it's a very different type of platformer in terms of physics and most people think platformer = Mario

Hey guys I'm 22 this was my first game

All I can say is you guys wait for the wiiware world review they will know if it's good or not knowing that the PC and Wiiware versions are both handled by different people (with me having more control over the wiiware one)

@supermario
You got it right. And if the game got a 5, well....

@LucBernard
So...many....smily faces........

Hey, and even if EC sucks, you can only improve from their right?

"The bad things that don't kill us will only make us stronger."

I forget where I heard that but it's good advice.

And a story focused platformer! Sign me up!

.....I'm a Final Fantasy fanboy, I'm a sucker for good plot

@Super Mario (added comment)
I want the first 10 to be "Fun! Fun! Minigolf"

The game doesn't deserve a score at all.

@LucBernard
Don't talk about physics, your game don't have physics

i played the demo. i would say 4.5 or 5.

I've been meaning to get a Stream account for a while.
@Luc
Do you have any idea when the WW game will be submitted to Nintendo? Are you and Alten8 still working on it?

The game does have physics.
Whether they're realistic or unrealistic is another thing.
But all games have some sort of physics.
It's like saying my stuffed animal Snoopy isn't really a dog. Yes, he's a dog, he's just not real. But don't tell me that.

If anything EC's physics are realistic.
I mean, you have a little floating guy with wings, if he jumps, I don't see him coming to an immediate stop.
I see him doing a floaty, loose jumpy hop.

Is that better?
Well that's debatable.
It's certainly harder to get used to. And I'm sure most people would prefer the pinpoint precision some platformers have offered over the years.

And yes, the game is finished.
It's in God's hands now.... uhhh... I mean Nintendo's.

On a completely unrelated note, anyone else think Luc looks like a young Michael Bolton in his avatar?

i heard somewhere that plattchen was coming out on monday is it true?

@Bahamut ZERO
You heard that phrase from the song Stronger By Kanye West..?
No.... Umm.... It is soo familiar too, where is it from?

@x.SuperMario.x:
Haha he does but younger!

@andy836

This isn't exactly the place for that question.

This is place for that qustion: http://www.wiiware-world.com/games/wiiware/plattchen_twist_n_paint

@Mickeymac
never!!!!!!!

Uh...I can't say much about the game with just the demo. The graphics and sound are great, but the controls are a bit iffy. Then again, like Mickeymac said, platformers (as well as most games) are better with a controller. The demo level didn't have any bottomless pits either or leaps of faith, so I can't say much about that. I'll wait for the WiiWare review.

@ x.SuperMario.x
"I could enter the Olympics, sign up for the men's swim team, and put all my effort into the 100 meter. Does it mean I'd do good? Uhhh no. Putting all your effort into something only helps when... you know... you're good at what you're trying to do."

To hopefully avoid an argument, I'll just say I severely disagree with your statement and your comparison is a false analogy.

I'll rephrase it.
I could put all my effort into acquiring a position at the local McDonalds.
But could I still suck at making burgers?
It's entirely possible.

Orrrrrrr.
I could put all my effort into a video game.
Does that effort make the game good?
Uhh, Therapist Joe says yes.

Now I understand ya. Don't quite agree with ya, but I can't argue against that. Still, I don't know how you can screw up a McDonald's hamburger considering it's McDonald's....

@ Virus
lol good point.

I enjoyed the demo and I can't wait for the WiiWare version which will be better

I just gave the demo a whirl. For the record, I had to download Steam on my laptop and I was afraid I couldn't play the game as it called for 2ghz of processing power, whereas my laptop's three years old and only has 1.6ghz and the graphics card is outdated, charitably pointed out by the demo as it was booting up. Anyway, I did get to play it. I lost my USB mouse, so I had to make due with the little pad in the center of the board. Here's a quickie review, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly:

The Good

The graphics and the music are very well done. Burton fans would no doubt enjoy the aesthetic eye candy seemingly taking references from such films as The Nightmare Before Christmas and perhaps Yellow Submarine in that everything has a surrealistic style to it and that every inanimate object has a creepishly-charming smile on its face. A little too "Hot Topic-y" for some though. The music sounds like the best Danny Elfman impression I've heard. The concept looks simple to understand. You have an elf-thing with a sock-thing on its head-thing and you're looking for blue gems in the company of a red-headed love interest with wings, dressed like a Rocky Horror Picture Show Cosplayer. You explore, she shoots down stuff trying to kill you. Like Lost Winds in that you have to play both characters in collaboration to complete the quest.

The Bad

Maybe it was my graphics card (again, my laptop is three years old), but the game didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped and it marred the experience. But in this case, I'll will blame the card and overlook this. However, when it did feel up to speed, the flow didn't feel as fluid as it should have been. While the art looks great, the animation was kind of pissy, in that it resembled a crude flash animation as opposed to a legitimate game. The controls weren't as solid as I'd hoped (again, I'll blame that on the absence of my USB mouse). The idea is good, but it needs to be tightened. Also, I've run into a few glitches, such as Mr. Elf-Sock-Head moving on his own free will. It only lasts a few seconds, but I can imagine it'd be frustrating when playing the Full game and trying to make those "damn near impossible" jumps I keep hearing about. Also, I got stuck. I don't know if I was doing something wrong, but near the bottom of the level, I was in a pit that I couldn't get out, so I had to turn off the demo.

The Ugly:

Eternity's Child is a solid idea that had potential to be a solid experience. Unfortunately, the demo left me with the impression that the whole thing was sloppily thrown together too fast (I can still smell the super glue) and that all the budget went into the music and art as opposed to gameplay and mechanics. However, I'll admit I'm not a PC Player (again, I downloaded Steam just to play this thing), so maybe it's not my place to grant myself authority to review the demo of Eternity's Child. For what it's worth though, I'll still give Luc the benefit of the doubt and wait for the WiiWare version. Hopefully, Alten8 will take notice of what people didn't like in the PC version and talk to Luc about making proper amendments to enchance the WiiWare version. I can definitely see myself enjoying the Wii-Mote interface over a keyboard/mouse interface for a more intuitive experience. This bird can still fly...it just needs more time in the nest. Bless its sock-headed little dark heart.

*UPDATE*

I found a USB Mouse in the office and gave the Demo another try. The mouse defintely helped me enjoy the experience more. I also figured out a way out of that hole (I feel stupid now, press jump just as you hit the spring as opposed to holding the jump button down like in other platformer games).

Overall, it's still a great concept, but it still needs some more time in the oven. The mechanics and gameplay, in their current state, still feel too unrefined for a mass market (leastways, for my taste).

@Thomas

Just stand under the plaform and hold the spacebar, that got me out of it . If that doesn't work, try getting a running start first, but try not to move while in the air. In fact, from there you'll see a shortcut back to the start, which, again, just hold the spacebar as long as you can and try not to move while in the air. I fell in too, and thought I had to restart, but it all worked out in the end.

Edit: Actually, your way sounded better.

Well, I really enjoyed this game. The jumping, while not perfect, was somehow familiar to me, and it didn't cause much of a problem, more likely due to the fact that my favorite platformer is N, which has a similar feel to this game, and also uses ragdoll physics. The shooting was the most fun for me. I can't remember whether you can run and shoot at the same time, but at the very least, you could rapid-fire it, as well as fire a shotgun-type shot, which made the enemies pretty easy to deal with. I really enjoyed this game, but I'm starting to feel like I'm in a niche group here. This game may end up becoming the new Critter Round-up - only one person liked that game(maybe two).

That garbage need 2ghz? I have system shock 2 on a 400mhz and it run smoothly.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=715108

You know what guys that demo level sucked, as people on the forums agree it does not represent the game.

So what I'll do is this, put out another demo of the first 2 levels instead.

Sounds like a good idea. For now though, i may try the demo level currently available soon.

If only wiiware had demos...

I played the demo, and now I know why its only 5 bucks...on the other hand I found the Planet Busters demo, which was awesome.

@David77
it ran smoothly on my 1.6ghz celeron.
@Objection_Blaster
maybe it would if we had more then 300mbs of space.

Fair enough Luc.

I mean this whole thing is like the most sad thing I've seen. No I have not played the game, but that the developer has to defend the game on many different forums and make constant excuses like "no...this demo was bad, the next will be great" is just...sad. Really, really sad.

Good news is that it's better then Strong Bad.
Bad new is Strong bad is about the worst game i've ever played. I've never been so bored in my life and regret downloading it more then Table Tennis. What did any of you see in that game that warrants the rating???

I give strong bad a 2
I give Eternity's Child a 2.1

I don't see how posting a second demo level will fix the controls. I don't like talking negative about other peoples creations but OMG...

The art style is terrific! I really like it, and it shows Luc has a really good artistic talent. I believe in constructive criticism and if people have issues with the game, I hope they can express it in a respectful way. Remember you reap what you sow. I hope Luc does not pay attention to the posts that are full of insults. I really see potential with Luc and video games. Anyway, I'll wait for the final verdict when one of the Wii Ware World guys give it a review.

@Bigby
You're right about strong BAD. It's certainly one of the worst adventure game ever. I played over 50 point and click adventure games in my life and this is the most boring. It's simply lifeless. Some people think the very bad art design is new and cool. But it's just garbage.

I just went to the Destructoid site and read some of the comments and I have to say I am embarrassed for some of the people who posted on that site. Some of the comments they made about Luc are really uncalled for.

@TokiToku

Since it's only WiiWare I don't think size would be a huge problem, since I doubt a demo would be larger than the game itself. Of course that'd be a different story for a retail game DX. Anyway, I have STEAM(don't know why >_>) but my computer sucks so I can't actually play any games. Though since it's free I might download it and MAYBE I could actually run it.

Well, I downloaded the demo and I gotta say, all the comments about the controls are really uncalled for. Jumping was fine, shooting was fine, everything controlled fine. The graphics were nice, even if the animation was a bit lacking, and it was very well.....average. My only problem with it is.......it simply isn't fun. I don't know if it was just the demo or what but the game didn't give me any sense of satisfaction out of playing it. Maybe a new demo really is necessary.

comments about the controls are really uncalled for. everything controlled fine

Oh, okay.
So opinionated comments are uncalled for, because they disagree with your opinion.

In that case. The game didn't control fine.
All the comments about the good controls are really uncalled for.

See what I did there?
At least you were right about the game not being fun.
I totally agree.
I've had more fun changing the oil in my car.
New demo, please. Mmkay?

@x.SuperMario.x

I think he was referring to David77's comments. Those just sounded kind of like insults.

Edit again: I fixed.

@Mickeymac's edit
Yes, yes it is.

Here

"Casts Auto-Life on Mickeymac"

"Mickeymac recieves Pheonix Down.:

You'll need it.

On another note, the demo wasn't THAT bad.

Still, if that's the same level as the game, I won't buy it.

On another note, the demo wasn't THAT bad.
Still, if that's the same level as the game, I won't buy it.

Then it wasn't THAT good either.

The jumping did feel kind of off, and the level was somewhat lackluster. Those are my only real complaints.
The overall artistic design was amazing however.

Even based off that one level, it's not a 1/10 game. Considering it only costs $5, I'd say it's a 5/10 - 6/10.

It's not groudbreaking, but it has potential. I won't be buying the whole steam version, but I'll wait and see when the Wii-ware version comes out.

@SuperMario
I loled
I didn't say it was good. Just not a 1. I'd say a 4-5.

@David77
Lifeless is the perfect word I was searching for. I love graphic adventures, everything from kings quest to Mist but Strong Bad has to be the worst ever. Im still trying to scratch my eyes out...

I assure you that I wont make that mistake again by buying any of the others coming out.

Luc's art is fine, it's nicely stylized and he could have a future in it but his game is a stinker. Sorry but it is... Whooops before I forget (OPINION)

@Mickeymac
I don't insult Luc. I insult the game. Th guys have some obvious talent , but game design is not one of them. He certainly have futur in the game business, but as an artist. And people don't have to be polite about a game so bad. They ask for our money, we ask for quality.

I tried the demo, it's OK. I'll still get it on WiiWare but the controls should be better.

@ x.SuperMario.x
Ok, so I didn't word that correctly. I really should have said that those comments about the controls were those people's opinions that I don't agree with. I mean, IMO, the game controlled fine and a lot of other games on the market control very similar to it. (albeit those were mainly originally flash games)

I downloaded the steam demo today and I really liked what I saw. I don't have incredibly high standards, I knew this was going to be a simple platformer. What drew me to playing the game and becoming interested in it though was the beautiful dark artwork you incorporated Luc, I really like Tim Burton stuff and it sorta made me feel like I was playing a video game made by him. The gameplay itself wasn't totally horiffic, definitly not a 1. It does need work though. I tried to jump on a ledge but it took a while to be able to get on it properly because I had to use the arrow keys to maneuver my way up. But please please please don't give up on this game man! It has great potential if you keep tweaking it up. I really hope the Wii-Ware version gets to be just as good as the steam one or better as long as some more tweaks are made. Maybe if you plan on adding the level-editor to the wii-ware one and being able to send your created levels to friends, it would be an awesome addition.

7/10

I'd get it right away--if I hadn't just removed Steam last week. Oh well, I'll be playing the WiiWare version anyway so I'll wait on it.

ahhhh some people are never happy

well yeah like some users said take EC for what it is, there will be a new demo soon and once close to the wiiware one, try out the demo don't like it, don't buy it

name any other wiiware games that give you a PC demo beforehand?

a 5 dollar platformer, want a AAA game? get one in the store at 60$

the Wiiware one is half focused on story and platforming and will be different

oh yeah plus there will be a kind of how can I say? hmmm the PC and wiiware versions will react to each other...

I might tell how next week

I still want the Game Boy Advance version of Eternity's Child.