Rez HD

"A truly unique experience gets a makeover"

Rez HD hits XBLA exciting long time fans and amazing newcomers.. or so we'd like. So what's the dirt on Rez's return?

Story: Basically, you are a hacker who is infiltrating the bloated, virus ridden, and massively exploited computer that runs the life support systems of human colonies in a distant future. The AI, Eden, has recently began to doubt her purpose and shut herself into a sleep-like state, threatening mankind. It sounds stereotypical, and it doesn't have much to do with most of the actual gameplay, but it's the thread that binds the player to the game. Furthermore, it has a large impact on the imagery and reasoning behind the final area of the game.

Graphics: Well, at first glance, and from viewing still screenshots, it appears that there's not much going for Rez in this department. Bright wireframe shapes and untextured low poly models strewn about. Once you play Rez, however, you'll quickly see how everything fits together so well. Being inside a computer, you shouldn't expect lifelike texturing and high polygon models and characters. Furthermore, everything reacts smoothly to the beats and your actions. With it's new HD makeover, everything is crisp and clear, a godsend to those of us playing Rez on HD TVs on PS2. There's also some new graphic features under the options that add new enhancements such as lightbloom, Tile, or Sepia. In a nutshell, the simplistic, but stylish and vivid visuals suit Rez perfectly.
10/10

Music/Sound: This is what Rez is all about, and it still stands up today as being an epic experience. The music hasn't lost one iota of it's appeal moving to XBLA, and some enhancements were made to the sounds and music. Some disagree, some don't. I personally have a problem with a few area, but also feel some of the 'improvements' did the trick and makes Rez all the better. For those who don't know, every action you take adds to the already awesome background music, depending on your form, the targets, the number of targets, the level, etc... and it doesn't end up messy. It all fits together and creates an audio experince similar to later games like the EE(E)(E) and Lumines. Furthermore, you can hook up additional 360 controls to act as 'vibrators' that you place on your feet, neck, etc.. that rumble to different beats of teh song. Wicked.
10/10

Gameplay: This is by far Rez's weakest area, but that doesn't mean it's bad. It's a Panzer Dragoon -esque rail shooter. You follow a set path, and hold the A button to target enemies and missiles. Then, let go to zap them. It's simple, yes, and can get repetative, but it's fun. Additionally, the way everything syncs to your actions is a nice touch that keeps the otherwise simple gameplay a bit more interesting. Rez claims to be an experience before a game, but in the end it's still a game, and games need to be fun. Rez does a good job of keeping it balanced, however, so it gets:
8/10

Replay: Unlockables, and lots of them. Harder versions of the levels where you can compete for scores, a direct assault (all levels one after the other), a few bonus areas, a boss rush, forms, cameras, hidden forms, new colors/music styles. You'll keep coming back to unlock a new feature or break a new record. There's a scoring gimmick involving a chain multiplyer that works great for online leaderboards.
9/10

End Result: Well, here it is, it's Rez. You've heard it's name in the inner circles of video game fandom. Maybe you've been seeking it out and couldn't find it. Maybe you have no idea and saw this on XBLA. Maybe your friend was bugging you to play it but you never got around to it. Is it all we've said it was? That's up to you to decide, many either love it or hate it. It's a unique game, one of a kind, and the least you can do is give it a shot, the demo's free.

Me, I love it.
10/10 Final score
Buy/Rent/Gamefly: It's XBLA, and it's $10, buy it.

Tidbits:
+10 Dune Points for Fear is the Mind Killer
+10 Sylpheed points for all the untextured polygons, SEGA CD style!
+5 Eyegasm points for the LightBloom mode
-3 "personal coolness points" for me, for not having 3 controls for the vibration.
-37 Capitalism points, the amount of money I spent on Rez - the cost of Rez HD.. I'll live.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/31/08

Game Release: Rez HD (US, 01/30/08)