Rez

PS2

UGA - 2002

      Before I say anything, I have to admit that I love shooters. If ever there was a genre where you get out what you put in, it is shooters. My obsession with perfecting shooters, good shooters at least, borders on Ari's obsession with Grand Theft Auto 3, without the weird metaphorical lovers thing. That being said, this is one of those "good shooters."

      The plot is interesting, in a philosophical way that Master Duck might like, but also a good excuse for the sights and sounds. Essentially, a new computer system, Project-K, has been created to deal with massive amounts of information. Project-K is equipped with an advanced A.I. center, called Eden. Eden becomes self-aware, and questions its very existence. It begins shutting itself down snd it is your job to re-awaken it. During the final battles, I actually felt sorry for Eden. You are forcing it to to continue existing when it has determined that it does not deserve life.

      Anyway, you probably don't know this because it's all in the manual, not the game. The important thing is that re-awakening is done by going hacking through firewalls until you reach Eden itself, which I'm sure is somehow symbolic. When I say hacking, I mean shooting. You begin as a human-shaped wire-frame, which you can't control. The only thing you control is a targeting square. Hitting 'X' fires at whatever is in the square. If you hold 'X', you can swing the square over multiple enemies, firing on as many as 8 targets when you release 'X'. Health is equally simple. Some enemies will drop power ups, pick up six and you "evolve." Every hit makes you devolve. If you get hit at the lowest evolution, you die. Rez also features an "overdrive" akin to the bombs in Raiden and other classic shooters.

      Now that you don't care anymore, I'll tell you why Rez really stands out. It has the most impressive combination of visuals and sounds ever. Each level has a solid techno beat associated with it. As you progress through the level, more layers are added to the beat, making it more intense. In addition, the levels begin rather barren, comprising a horizon, maybe some walls, and some basic colors. As the music gets more complex, the backgrounds do, too, adding various elements to suit the music. The backgrounds and colors pulsate and move to the beat of the music. All this is quite a feast for the senses, but isn't the end of things. There is an interactive element to this experience. Everytime a shot is fired or and enemy is killed, a sound is cued. These sounds actually help "make" the music you listen to. Not only that, but the sounds are different depending on what enemy is killed, how many enemies were locked onto, and what form you are. Doing some quick math, you'll note that this allows for 40 or 50 million different sounds, each of which changes the music. The result is that you never hear exactly the same track twice.

What I liked: I've never seen so much style. The art is all wire frame but it looks amazing. Everything pulsates and flashes and moves to the beat, which really makes the game what it is. Also, I really liked the musical interaction. There are also a ton of extras to unlock like new color schemes, forms, and even bonus levels.

What I disliked: Not much really. Sometimes I wish I could move the character around, but, on further consideration, that would totally change the game, detracting from the overall feel. The stages do seem to drag on sometimes. Since you can't control movement, you can't complete a stage any faster or slower, but, again, to change this would change the game.

What to expect: Synaesthesia. I don't know what it means, but I'll agree. The gameplay is as simple as it gets, aim and fire, but the experience is beyond words. Colors, shapes, and music, sight and sound, all coming together perfectly to create a truly unique game.

What not to expect: A flight sim. You do not control the character at all. Also, don't expect a music game, this is a rail-shooter.

What sets it apart from the genre: The interface of visuals, music, and gameplay.

Ratings on:

Controls: 10 - Piece of cake. All you do in this game is aim and fire and both work great. You can even choose whether or not to invert the up and down.

Graphics: 7* - I have no idea how to score this. Everything is made of wireframes and polygons, but that is what they wanted. The color schemes all look great and the animation is very smooth. Frankly, this score is too closely tied to style for me to give a very fair assesment.

Sound: 9 - Whether you like techno or not, this is great. No music has ever suited a game better. It's really mind boggling because the music makes the game, but the game isn't about the music. Also, every gun, enemy, and "color scheme" changes the track a little bit.

Style: 9 - The coolest looking and feeling gameplay experience ever. I'll even say it's as immersive as Ico. If the gameplay had been more original, I would have given it a ten. But as it is, I just can't.

1st hour: 8 - Whoa. Pretty.

5th hour: 9 - Beaten it a few times but there's still so much to unlock.

10th hour: 9 - Ooo, new color schemes.

1st week: 10 - Started playing with the lights out and headphones on.

1st month: 8 - It will always be cool.

#1 thing I hate about this game: The items. I always think I got them all but end up with only 70%.

      by Sundu