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Rez HD is a very unusual game; it is the same concept as the Panzer Dragoon series that many of us hardcore gamers loved from back in the day, mixed with some stylized wiry visuals, trance music and vibrators. That’s right vibrators!
The game is the idea of Tetsuya Mizuguchi, a man whom has based nearly his entire successful career on making experiments rather than completely fleshed out software. Of recent the only games he has made that can be considered real games are Lumines for PSP (with subsequent sequel and Lumines Live! for XBLA) and Meteos for DS. Though both are puzzle titles, and it would be kind of hard to make a half-assed puzzle game even if you tried. Even the Xbox 360 exclusive Ninety-Nine Nights that he helped create is nothing more than a snazzy tech demo. This all amounts to it shouldn’t be a surprise that Rez feels more like an experiment and experience rather than an actual full game.
The previous incarnations of Rez came to Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, and I will admit I had never played either version before the XBLA title. It seems that almost unanimously that gamers and critics alike were tagging it as an experience like none other and that it should be displayed in a fine art museum or something. Of course, the people whom say this would say just that as they probably don’t even know what a real museum is, and thinks that there is only one per city to visit. They seem to be more interested in the fact that the game can rumble the fat under their belly’s than experiencing something more than what is just a fun trick.
Rez HD as I suggested before is an on rails shooter reminiscent of the Panzer Dragoon series, allowing you to guide your free floating person through a virtual world with visuals like a Tron movie, and admittedly better than any Tron game I have ever played. The wire frame visuals mesh together well with the bright colors that move to the beat of the electronic music that pulses through your speakers as well as you are basically hacking servers across a computer until ultimately making it to a boss by shooting down various strange projectiles and enemies. The game overall actually reminded me a bit of the movie Lawnmower Man and the old computer-animated cartoon Reboot for some reason. Strangely, there are only five main levels to the game, each not all that hard, with unlocking time trial modes and the like proceeding afterwards. All in all you are looking at about an hour or two of fresh gameplay for essentially ten dollars. It does come with higher resolution graphics over the original (along with the original SD version) and online leaderboards, but those are the only additions to this version of the game.
Oh but it isn’t about the gameplay right, it is about the experience! Well the philosophy of the game is supposedly that all your senses but taste would work in conjunction so that you felt the music, color, movement and so on through the music that bumps, the movements and simple stylized visuals, and strangely, the vibration of up to four controllers at a time. I will admit I tried this with a second controller, placing it on the small of my back because if I placed it anywhere else it would have shook off my chair and cracked me in the foot. Apparently the designers thought that the fact that the controller shakes violently in your hand wasn’t enough for you to figure out the beat, or the fact that the music is incredibly simple and basic wasn’t enough either. I guess having a controller shake violently on the end of my ass until it goes numb was the only way to seal the deal. It is a cute idea, and may make for some kinky sex with your wife or girlfriend, but other than that it’s probably best to keep the setting off.
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Rez HD is an interesting experience, but at ten bucks it is hard to recommend it unless you think that this is something you would definitely enjoy. The original idea of Rez was based from theories from some Russian guy, but seriously what has Russia ever contributed to the world other than vodka? A lot of what comes out of Russia is good in theory, much like communism but the end result is almost always a numb bottom.
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