Rez HD XBLA Review

Finally Rez gets the second chance it absolutely deserves and also in a way that will enable more people to experience the game without feeling like they'd be risking money on a full price release. So what does this HD version bring to the table then? Well the obvious HD widescreen visuals and 5.1 surround sound, perfect just got better.

For those that are experiencing the game for the first time I'll do my best to describe it. Bare with me now this won't be easy. Essentially the game is an on rails shooter but to categorise it as such doesn't do it any justice what so ever. Rez is the greater sum of all its parts.

It all starts off in a fairly tame manner with some sparse graphics, ambient music and the shots you fire creating some sort of rhythmic sounds. As you progress through the level the things you see start to build up. You'll travel past all manner of objects made up of brilliant colours in a fascinating combination of wireframe and solids. The music begins to grow, the beat gets stronger and as it does so the controller pulses in time to it all. The further in to the level you get the more your senses are assaulted. Your eyes see these wonderfully imaginative shapes and colours, the music surrounds you and still everything you do happens exactly in sync, the controller vibrations get stronger and stronger and your little guys legs begin to kick on screen (and so will yours for that matter). It draws you in deeper and deeper and you won't want to get out any time soon.

If you like your game graphics to be more abstract than reality based you'll absolutely love this. For those in to art, the game is dedicated to the painter Kandinsky during the ending credits and if you look up some of his work you can see where some of the inspiration came from. Kandinsky claimed that he heard sound when he saw colours and when senses overlap in this manner, it is called "synaesthesia". As they said back in 2001 when this first came out "let's go to synaesthesia".

The 5th and last area in the game is the most awe-inspiring of all and I'll say no more about it for fear of spoiling it for you. You will see the final level reasonably easily too, this isn't a particularly long game but you will want to play through it again and again and there are many things to unlock such as different game modes. The thing is though you really won't care. You'll notice I've spent nearly all of this short review describing the experience, what you'll see, hear and feel rather than what you actually do and that's because Rez goes beyond gameplay and is such an amazingly well put together experience you really should be prepared to at least give it a go. I have no doubt that the game isn't for everyone but a review is supposed to be a personal opinion and my personal opinion is that you really couldn't ask anymore from the game than it gives, even more so based on the fact that it'll cost you just 800 points. That's why I'm awarding it the first ever top mark from GAMEOV3R.

Turn up the sound, dim the lights and immerse yourself in a gaming experience you won't forget.