Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8183 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Sony Computer Entertainment UK
• Released on: 2002-02-22
• Platform: PlayStation2
• Number of items: 1

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

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.

simply..... wonderfull
if i tried to right down how i felt while playing this i would just right pages and pages.
its a shoot'n'up at heart, but one with a soul.

play it and just see for yourself why Sega is still one of the best developers around right now

Beautiful
Okay, so on paper Rez is "just" an on-rails shooter and, like all games of this sort, ultimately a memory test. You play it through, you learn the enemies' attack patterns and you destroy them. However, that's to miss the point entirely.

Cliché though it may be Rez simply has to be played to be believed. It has the finest art direction of any game I have ever played. It succeeds in doing what the various WipeOut games tried to do by successfully marrying dance music and psychedelic visuals to an incredibly playable game. The visuals are simply perfect for the game, and the music... well the music is one of the few game soundtracks which it's actually worth playing through a decent hi-fi (preferably a surround sound system - although the music isn't mixed with a surround system in mind there are enough phase effects for a pro-logic or Neo:6 processor to pick up on - the whoosh as you proceed to the next level in Area 5 is breathtaking).

Sure its simple - the great shooting games always are and there are rewards for playing it well.

Sure it appears to be relatively short with only 5 basic levels but there are a whole host of unlockables, many of which you have to work very hard to get.

If you have any interest in shooters, if you are a fan of incredibly stylish Japanese games or if you're simply sick of games which you have to devote at least an hour at a time to and looking for something that can just be picked up and played then I would highly recommend you buy this game. You will not regret it.