Rez

"A great game for those who love Electronica and Action."

The game Rez cannot be explained clearly without the various elements. Each one ties to another nicely so I am listing them in the order of importance to the game.

Sound/Music - This is going first because to actually understand Rez, you have to understand the importance of the music. Every level starts with a flat beat of Electronica. Your character, and the background pulse to the beat as the music plays. As you lock on and kill enemies, new rhythms are added to the music. So when you kill the first 3 in the first level, they each produce a different tone that adds to the music. By the end of the level you have a complex beat going that really gets you into the groove. The music also progresses in complexity if you don't kill any enemies, but with the subtle tones added from the enemies it sounds great. Oh yah and the music is great, I am going to get the full MP3's later on. 10/10

Graphics - The graphics in Rez look extremely primitive at first glance. Using an old-skool Voxel-Based art (Voxel based is my word for when there are like wire frame 3-D characters) to make up your Character (or Avatar as it will be called from now on) and the background. Whats special about it though is that as the music pulses through the level, the objects convulse to the beat. When an enemy is killed, they produce bright flares of light. This light also affects the level by making the objects flash that colour for a brief moment. The levels all reflect some kind of ancient historical locations, like Egypt, these levels are also made up of Voxels. The enemies are standard 3-D textured objects though. Overall the graphics are very well done and smooth. 7.5/10

Gameplay - Gameplay is a simple affair in Rez, short and to the point. Your character files through the levels on rails, shooting anything in its path, most enemies take 1 shot, but some take more. As you progress through the levels you find Blue objects and Green objects. When shot, Blue objects add to your level bar and red ones provide you with OVERDRIVE attacks (more on that later). After collecting sufficient blue objects you level, which changes your Avatars form. Each for is slightly different, each changing shot speed and shot power. You progress though the areas of the level by shooting each Data Port (looks like Cubes) eight times, these take you to the next section of the level. Bosses are pretty difficult, but with work they fall easily. Overall a wonderfully simple game, refreshing from today's overly complex games. 8/10

Control - Control in Rez is incredibly simple, the game is essentially a Rail-Shooter (Time Crisis or Area 51). The sight is controlled with the Analog stick or the D-Pad (although the stick is much easier). When you want to attack enemies you press and hold the A button and sweep the sight over the target. This causes you to lock on to the enemy, up to eight at a time, and when the button is released the blasts fire from your Avatar's various body parts (Mostly joints and the head, get you minds out of the gutter :p). Most enemies will die in one shot but some take more. Pressing the B button causes you to do an OVERDRIVE attack, but only if you have one in stock. This basically kills everything on the screen. Easy to learn and not hard to master, this is wonderful control scheme. 9.5/10

Story - Yep, this game actually has a story. Basically you control a hacking program within a computer system. The enemies are the anti hacking software and firewalls that impede hackers. You eventual goal is to unlock the final area, which leads to the final boss. Think of this boss as Microsoft's main server, if it goes so does the rest. Not a great story, but humorous non the less. 5.5/10

Replay Value - This game is short, no bones about it. It can be beaten in under an hour. It is fun to go back to old levels and try to shoot down 100% of enemies and collect 100% of items (you need to go through all 10 layers by shooting the cubes to unlock the final areas), but other than that this game lacks lasting appeal, other than the fact that the beats are solid and its really fun just to mindlessly shoot everything. 7/10

Overall Rating - Overall this game is the second best game I ever played. This review is based on the Dreamcast version of the game. I would assume that the PS2 copy is about the same but with worse control (PS2 analog sticks are terrible). Overall this game is fun, and replaying it isn't a chore, but rather an entertaining distraction. 8.7/10

Rent/Buy – I say buy, but only if you love Electronica and want a good experience that is as fun the first as it is the 20th time you play. Rent it if you want a quick dose of fun.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/11/02, Updated 02/11/02