🎬 John • A Film Nerd • 🎥 (@ukfilmnerd.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy)

Game Review | Rez (Multiple Systems) ## Would you like to virtually fly through a computer while destroying programs and enjoying electronic dance music? Then Rez might be right up your street! _Rez_ is a game I have enjoyed for many years over several systems and despite the fact the game can be completed in a set amount of time, I still love to play it. _Rez_ was first released on Sony PlayStation 2 and the Sega Dreamcast in 2001 which is the version I first owned. I later moved onto the Xbox360 and was overjoyed when the game was released in a new high-definition version with the title _Rez HD_. Unfortunately, the game never got a physical release and was only available from the Xbox Live Arcade service. I fell in love with the game all over again in its new graphical glory and improved audio quality. As time has passed, I still keep playing the game but this time it has been upgraded for virtual reality. This was with the Sony PlayStation 4 release where the game had been upgraded once again into full 1080P high definition and now contained the ability to play using the PlayStation VR headset. This release is known as _Rez: Infinite_. The core of the game has remained the same but with each release, new modes of play and a little extra content have been added. At the time of writing, I can now play the game anywhere I want as it is also available on Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headsets (or Meta, or whatever they’re called at the moment!) Okay, I’ve owned the game several times over but what is the actual game about? _Rez_ has very little text in terms of story description but does contain a tutorial so you’ll know how to play the game. The story is that you are a hacker infiltrating a malfunctioning artificial intelligence system. As you make your way through the computer systems you must fight various viruses and corrupt programs. That all sounds very technical but in real-world terms, this is what is labelled as an “on-rails” shooter. You as the player have no control over your character’s movement within the environment. You control the targeting reticule which has a unique property. Fire button-mashing will shoot enemies in a traditional manner or you can try and be more strategic. Holding down the fire button will enable the highlighting of up to eight targets. Letting go of the fire button and the game will fire at all eight targets in quick succession. This is how you chain together higher scores and it helps to memorise the attack patterns and use this feature to your best advantage. Sometimes fallen enemies drop blue or red power-ups. Your character starts with no traditional lives or health bar, one shot and your toast. Although, you do have an energy bar divided into eight segments. Picking up a blue power-up will fill up several segments. Fill up all eight and your character will evolve into his higher version and the process will start again. In effect, you have gained one life. Being hit by an enemy will de-evolve you back down and lose several energy bar segments revealing how many you will need to collect to regain a life. The red power-ups are what we oldies used to call back in the day, a smart bomb. You can carry a maximum of three at any one time and when activated, you will attack everything within your vision for a short amount of time. These are usually best saved for the end-of-level boss fights. Graphically the game is initially quite simple but as you progress through each level, the details grow and it becomes visually more interesting. As you are progressing through some kind of computer system, I guess it’s rather fitting that everything within the game is made up of solid-shaded wireframe graphics. Trust me, it looks better than I can describe here with mere words. So far, this probably isn’t sounding too impressive, why did I buy this game so many times? Quite simply, the music. I love the music in this game which is comprised of electronic dance tunes, it’s all interactive too. The way you shoot down the enemies affects the music within the game. Also, the controller will vibrate along with the bass line of the music tracks and this will just immerse you more into the game. I won’t mention that the original PlayStation 2 release also has a separate vibrator attachment that you could find a use for. No, it wasn’t sexually shaped or anything but I’ll leave it at that! If all this writing doesn’t do it for you, here’s what I’ve been trying to describe to you. A picture is worth a thousand words! * * * * * * If you hadn’t guessed, _Rez_ is one of my favourite games that keeps popping up on current systems which makes me extremely happy. _Rez_ is currently available on Oculus Quest 2, PlayStation 4 and 5 (two separate versions for PSVR 1 and 2. NOTE: This game doesn’t require VR, it can be played flat.) and for Windows PCs via Steam. ### Share this: * Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X * Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook * Like Loading... ### _Related_ https://ukfilmnerd.wordpress.com/2023/05/16/game-review-rez-multiple-systems/