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Just download it and play, he's simply perfect
(tested on NullDC, all is 100% ok)
Review from honestgamers:
Quote:
Review by David Williams
September 14, 2008
I can distinctly recall my enthusiasm for games like Lumines Live and Every Extend Extra Extreme. They wouldn’t be quite like Rez, I recall telling myself, but they would be just as colorful and sonorous. After months of eagerly awaiting these games to arrive on the market, seeing as how I do not own a PSP and couldn’t play the available versions, I could equate my disappointment to a sobering smack to the face. No game, despite how colorful or resonant its portrayal, will ever surpass Rez in aesthetical wit. Rez is a brilliant game crafted by brilliant minds. I own its XBLA incarnation on my 360, as an imported original on the Dreamcast, and as a bargain bin steal on the PS2. Few games have left such an impression with me.
It’s interesting to note that Rez wasn’t a game that grabbed my interest right away when it first made it to North American shores. As the pundits had described its surreal atmosphere, it was an overly simple game with lots of color, bells, and whistles. If you dislike techno, you may as well skip this title, they would say. I didn’t care for techno. I bought the game anyway.
Years later, after having reviewed the PS2 version, I now come to the game’s original platform. As a Dreamcast title, Rez is all the more impressive. It looks just as good on the weaker DC hardware, and it sounds just as raucous as its PS2 counterpart. In fact, the two versions are virtually the same. As a railshooter, it will never hold up to the likes of Star Fox 64 or Panzer Dragoon Zwei, which are two magnificent, if older, railshooters. But as commandingly as those two games defeat Rez in terms of explicit gameplay, Rez is the most capable of staying in your mind for years to come.
By now we know about its incredible lack of challenge. Pilot a cursor across the screen, locking onto a maximum of eight enemies at a time, scoring as many points as possible, and, finally, tackle a fiendish end-of-level guardian. It’s no secret that Rez would be less than mediocre without its groovy soundtrack and vector graphics. Art like this wouldn’t translate well in most any other game. Here it’s as important as any railshooting segment, as it takes on playability unto itself.
This playability is implicit. You don’t control the layering of music or the evolution of the worlds you traverse by tapping buttons and accomplishing objectives. Sure, there is a node at the end of every stage that, upon destruction, takes you to the next area with expanded tunes and brighter wireframes, but that isn’t what I’m referring to. After playing through any of the levels a number of times, you actually begin to see how your surroundings act as more than mere backgrounds.
Level 2’s onion-domed towers pulsate to the beat as you fly past their malleable presence over solid blue skies. Level 4’s Great Wall of China folds onto itself during the transition point from one stage segment to the next. We see minarets twist and turn, canyons collapse into flat ground, areas invert, and corridors fill to the brim with graphical complexity. These places are constantly evolving and changing, just like in the real world. We see radiant structures stand across the horizon, only to then see them get replaced with something far stranger. Whether we’re enveloped in the reds and oranges of the first world or the gloomy grays of the final level, every single segment is a pulsating piece of art. The simplistic combat becomes more complex as we gawk in every direction. These tantalizing visuals are a distraction from what’s really going on, and they do an excellent job in taking the emphasis away from the railshooting by completely enveloping the player in a grand world of synesthesia.
The same applies for the music. These songs are replete with bombastic beats and booms. They’re redundant, droning, and even a little cacophonous at times. We hear the audio and we think that we’re on the verge of reaching the most inner circle of Hell. But we do not. We come to the often enjoyed phrased of “fear is the mind-killer.” Level 5’s epic presentation greets us with quotable choruses, samples from California Soul, and enough bass to rattle our brains. It perfectly parallels what we see, which, in the final level’s case, is an entire look at the history of earth up until the day we leave it.
Imagery like this is key for Rez. You can find all sorts of interesting little inclusions. Our avatar, which begins as a layered human, will evolve into a Buddha before finally abandoning his body to become a perfectly efficient sphere. It’s weird stuff, but it goes in line with the sort of evolution we see taking place in each level. Remember, as the buildings of our civilization come crashing down, we continue to advance as a species. Right before battling the final boss, who happens to be a viral computer program possessing a computer mainframe called EDEN, the avatar we’re playing as turns into a baby. Fans of 2001: A Space Odyssey will recognize Star Child and grasp the meaning behind what appears to be a random inclusion. Others who may not be in the know will take delight in seeing just how weird full progression has become.
Rez probably won’t make much sense to someone who refuses to look at it from outside the box. To view it at its most fundamental level, it’s just a colorful railshooter. But to possess knowledge and see how all the elements fit in, it becomes something far more special. It’s infinitesimally replayable, as it only lasts an hour from start to finish, making it perfect to play in one sitting. There are many unlockables to acquire, too, from different modes of play to different level color schemes.
Those who are unwilling to look past the game’s lack of challenge will probably scoff at what Rez has to offer. I’ve always been of the opinion that it’s trying to be more than a game by offering an indelible experience. Rez will always remain a favorite of mine for that one reason alone. Everything else just adds neon colored icing to the pulsating cake. Bunky.
Rating: 9 Outstanding
The majority of games simply aren't this good. It stands aside from the crowd and you'd be crazy to miss it.
11-24-2008, 08:26 PM
Linear Mode
