Games for Lunch: Rez HD

In a nutshell: Panzer Dragoon + an art project + a rave = Rez HD
4/16/2008 2:52 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 3

Developer: Q Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Release Date: Jan. 30, 2008
System: Xbox 360 (original on PS2, Dreamcast)
ESRB Rating: E

0:00 Despite being a huge fan of both rhythm and experimental games, my only exposure to this game was seeing a friend play the Dreamcast version at a party roughly five years ago. It was... it was not a wild party.

0:01 A featureless albino woman is trapped in a tube. A vaguely human shape of rounded square discs hovers around, and then a wild quick zoom out from a white room. I feel like I'm in a college film class.

0:02 The tutorial automatically comes on-screen. Hold A and move the cursor to aim, let go to fire. That's it?

0:03 You can target up to eight enemies at a time. Items can increase your "level" or provide a screen-clearing "overdrive." Seems relatively standard so far, though I like the sound effects. "What lies at the dark end of this network?" the game asks. Is it pie? I hope it's pie!

0:04 I turn on vibration for the full Trance Vibrator experience. Also, for some reason, the point display is "off" by default, but how else will I know how awesome I am?

0:05 The options menu has a story, which it refers to as the "purpose of the game": "The world has become massively overpopulated" with lots of crime, so the government decides to solve the problem with an artificial intelligence named Eden. O...K. Anyway, I have to destroy the viruses and firewalls in Eden's virtual subconscious. "Open your senses..." As "purpose of the game"s go, I've seen better. Maybe it lost something in translation.

0:07 No HDTV means I'm forced to choose standard mode. *pout*

0:08 And we're playing! The first minute seems to be making sure I know the controls. Super-easy stuff.

0:11 Initial impressions: The colorful, wire-frame aesthetic is mesmerizing, but it comes at the expense of the gameplay. I'm having a hard time figuring out when I target an enemy and when I've actually fired my shots at them. Seems like a bit like a case of style over substance. The thumping techno is catchy, but a bit incidental to the gameplay. I don't feel like I'm really creating the sound or anything. Maybe I'm just spoiled by more recent rhythm games like Lumines and Rock Band.

0:14 I'd explain what's been happening, but I'm not too sure myself. Enemies keep coming and I keep shooting them down. I think I hit them all, but I can't really tell if/when I fail. The backgrounds are getting more and more psychedelic/distracting and the music is getting more thumping with each new "layer" of the level.

0:16 "The system is trying to defend itself, trapping you inside it. Defend yourself until Earth[Giga] is destroyed or self-destructs." Lesser games would just say: "Boss Time!"

0:21 The totally trippy boss has made the rest of the dull level worthwhile. He starts as a tiled sphere, then morphs into a tentacle monster, then a sort of halo of tiles. My descriptions don't do it justice, go find a video. I'm finally feeling the rhythm and using my ears as well as my eyes to plan my attacks. Still, the confusing on-screen action makes it hard to see the missiles coming at me. I've devolved from a wire-frame humanoid to a depressing polygonal sphere.