Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9891 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Sony Computer Entertainment UK
• Released on: 2002-02-22
• Platform: PlayStation2

Amazon.co.uk Review
Rez is a stylish blend of the film Tron and the arcade classic Space Harrier. Your character continually flies forward while being attacked by a barrage of enemies that can be despatched by targeting them and unleashing guided laser beams. Each explosion triggers a sound--destroy a chain of up to eight and the resulting notes blend seamlessly with the background music. The sedate pace soon picks up, making the game a constant riot of light and sound.

Graphically, Rez is gorgeous. Wire-frame cities, valleys and pyramids rise up as you pass and colours melt all over the screen as you dispose of your opponents. End of level bosses are ingeniously designed and jaw-dropping. Blue power-ups can help evolve your character from the simple humanoid you begin with to various more sophisticated forms--too many hits though and you regress to a basic spheroid shape. Red power ups fill up your overdrive gauge (smart-bomb to you and me), which will eliminate everything on screen. Another nice touch is added by the synchronisation of the thumping techno beats of the soundtrack with the rumbling of the controller.

Rez isn't going to be to everyone's taste: it may be too abstract and the action may be too relaxed for some. There are only five levels but you can unlock a myriad of different modes, views and colours to enhance a game that despite being short is certainly not short of replay value. It is as superb to watch as it is to play. --Jonathan Winter

Manufacturer's Description
Rez is the first game of its kind, a unique shooting title that blends exhilarating quickfire gameplay with mesmerising graphics and the most inventive use of sound in a video game ever. Fly through cyberspace and become hypnotised by an intoxicating mix of shooting action, musical creation and spellbinding graphics, as you venture to the core of Eden, a vast computer system with a conscience. Destroy the viruses and firewalls that inhabit the sub-systems to discover the truth behind the birth of humanity. Witness the evolution of your character as you progress deeper into the complex mainframe, in an unforgettable and entrancing experience from Sega.

Customer Reviews

Trippy.. while it lasts
More of an experience than a game, really. In some ways, you could claim it's all style over substance. All you do is move a cursor about the screen and target enemies to shoot when you let the button go. But after a few minutes / hours / days of playing, it all makes sense. Sort of. Ok, so you are inside a huge computer system, which is attempting to shut itself down. It's your job to fight through its defences and get to the computer core. Theis takes you through 5 levels of "on-the-rails" shooting, where the only way to keep going is to fire at anything heading your way before it hits you. You can link your shooting together into large groups of enemies at once, to receive bonus items that will make you "evolve" into more advanced forms. As you fire and destroy things, the music speeds up and responds to your actions. This is combined with feedback through the Dual Shock controller as well as the impressive imagery on screen, to immerse you in a kind of "trance-like" environment, where your only focus is keeping up with the action around you. It's somewhat... trippy, and the final level is a fantastic journey through the history of evolution. The graphics are superb wireframe models and light effects, and the enemies are varied and resemble organic and mechanical forms of all kinds. Sadly, the game ain't very long. Well, its quite possible to play the levels again, and again, to get the perfect score, and there are a few unlockables, but its very easy to finish the main mode in a couple of hours at most. Nice and immersive, while it lasts.

Like a fine wine, gets better with age
Rez, like Ico, has quickly become one of those cult games that everyone is clammering to get their hands on. Like the works of a great art master, only now the game has become difficult to track down do the public appreciate it for the genius it is.

Check through the bargain bins and you'll find many a EA sports sim, or the last 'allegedly great' ubergame (Killzone, Driv3r ...) languishing in their rightful places. Titles like Rez and Ico should be snapped up on sight, if you don't someone else will.

The premise isn't anything groundbreaking, you're an entity trying to hack into this computer mainframe to coax an AI program Eden out of hiding. The shooting mechanic is very similar to Panzer Dragoon.

So what is all the fuss about?

Its the joy of playing a game and having the soundtrack and visuals around you created by your actions in the game! Firstly the 5 levels (4 short and one a tad more substancial) are set to wonderfully throbbing electronic tracks by the likes of Ken Ichii and Adam Freeland, and as you peel away the code by hacking the system in each level ... the intensity of the music soars, your joypad begins vibrating wildly to the music, everything on the screen seems to pulse with life as bassdrums hammer through your system. Great.

Then comes the shooting, press your trigger to begin a lock on triggers a clap, hovering over bad guys starts acid basslines wibbling, releasing a salvo of missiles gets a synthetic cheer ... when stuff gets really hectic it sounds like you're wired into a Roland 909 Drum Machine rather than a PS2!

And thats it really, the simple joy of Rez. The levels are pretty easy with only the last one offering a bit of challenge, theres a few unlockables ... beside the point, the joy is in playing something thats just a bit different.

You can probably tell that this is a bit of a Marmite game, so beware when grabbing. Dedicated shooters would prefer Panzer Dragoon. This is one for the real gaming connoisseurs.

Dream Like Immersion
An amazing experience - I think anyone that tries to attach the shoot em up tag to it misses the point. This is something you can lose yourself in, something lacking in a large number of console games where one only needs to reach a certain number of points or vanquish bosses. Yes, those things feature here, but as a previous reviewer stated the sense of being suspended, of playing to the music, and high stimulus graphics make this something else. Try it with headphones, in the dark and on a large TV or monitor - you'll love it.