Happy birthday Rez!

Five years ago Sega brought the psychedelic rhythm shooter to the PS2 in North America. Little did they know Rez would become a temporary rarity, a source of profit for Game Quest Direct and retain status as a cult hit. What made Rez so great was it was an “experience” more than it was a game. Rez seamlessly blended on rails shooting with music, every enemy shot down added a sound to the background beat. Rez also had an original concept going for it, you were an entity trying to hack into a computer known as Eden to prevent its meltdown. The scenario perfectly fit the Tron-like visuals and simulated code at the top left hand corner of the screen. Rez reaches its peak when you make it to level five. You surf through an evolving world while listening to breakbeat artist Adam Freeland’s track “fear”. While Rez is a great game to play, it’s terribly short. There are only five levels and they’re not difficult to beat. Short, but sweet Rez is totally worth the $40 cost for a reprinted copy. Don’t let me convince you to try it out, look at this commercial below where the game is summed up with two people knocking on bathroom walls.

Also past the break is an awesome video of the fifth level completed with 100% of the enemies shot down. Watch it to see what the game is like or to reminisce about Rez.