During the end credits of Rez
HD,
creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi dedicates the game to the "creative soul of
Kandinsky." This namedrop should come as a relief to anyone tiring of the
stranglehold that James Cameron and J.R.R. Tolkien have had over the
not-so-creative souls of most game designers. Even more encouraging is the fact
that Rez HD
builds beyond its aesthetic aspirations—Mizuguchi uses sound and vision
to expand on traditional shooting mechanics.
Rez HD is a rail shooter in the
vein of Panzer Dragoon or even Area 51. Players aim but don't steer—it's like
being armed with a paintball gun on a Disneyland ride. Only rather than
recreating a haunted house, Mizuguchi sends players on a Snow Crash-style hacking run. As a
cyberspace agent, you plow through wild visual representations of firewalls,
viral defense mechanisms, and layers of black ice to attack a rogue artificial
intelligence.
Like Jeff Minter's Space
Giraffe, Rez
HD relies
heavily on the disarming effects of psychedelia. But Mizuguchi's touch is
lighter—he aims for "trance" over "tense." And music is woven seamlessly
into the mix. Pulsing techno beats by Cold Cut, Ken Ishii, and Mist aren't just
background noise—they're part of the audiovisual palate that you
manipulate as you play. Every exploding enemy or nabbed power-up adds another
aural element. Some are shimmering chimes, others vocal samples, like a
paraphrasing of the Dune mantra "Fear is the mind-killer."
During the game's
exquisite fifth level, Mizuguchi unfolds a spare but effective retelling of the
creation myth. When a chopped sample of Marlena Shaw's "California Soul" cover
breaks through the IDM clatter and soaring air battles, the sensation is
transcendent.
Beyond the game: Rez was originally released in
2001 on the Dreamcast, then again on the PlayStation 2. This gorgeous HD
re-release as an Xbox 360 download is your third and final chance to jump on
the bandwagon.
Worth playing for: The wise YouTube poster
who uploaded video of the fifth mission calls it "possibly the best level in
gaming history." It's a rare instance of sanity in that site's discourse.
Frustration sets in
when: Rapid-fire
shooting can draw attention away from your third eye and center it on your
aching thumb.
Final judgment: Rez does Tron better than any Tron videogame ever
has.