Reviews
Originally released as Rez approximately 6 years ago for the PS2 and the Sega Dreamcast, Rez HD brings this classic game to the Xbox Live Arcade in full HD glory. For those unfamiliar with the original, Rez combines an arcade shooter with music synthesis to create a truly unique and compelling gaming experience. It is a game that is just as much about style as it is about substance, and thankfully it has both in spades.
Rez HD sees to you take on the roll of a computer hacker whose job it is to infiltrate an advanced Artificial Intelligence “Supernetwork” and stop it from destroying itself. Futuristic stories aside when you boil the actual gameplay down to its core, Rez is really just a straight forward, on the rails shooter - you can’t actually move your character in the game, you only have control over where they aim. The shooting method itself is quite simple, yet also very effective. You hold down the A button to lock-on to enemies with the crosshair, and then release the A button when you want to fire. You can target up to 8 enemies at once in this fashion, though some enemies have multiple hit points meaning you can lock-on to them more than once.
Seeing as you cannot move your character, you have no way to dodge enemy attacks. The only option left to you is to make sure you shoot down every projectile before it reaches you. Not every enemy on the screen can potentially harm you, so there is a fair bit of strategy involved in determining what enemies you shoot first and which ones are safe to leave alone. Along the way, you can collect power-ups that destroy every enemy on the screen for a short period of time and also body upgrades that allow you to take more hits before dying.
The game itself is actually quite short, with only 5 normal levels that can be completed in either the normal or score attack modes. This isn’t such a big problem for all the perfectionists out there as each level is always the same with the same enemies appearing. It is possible to learn their attack patterns, allowing you to attempt the lofty goal of shooting down 100% of the enemies in each level. Also, body upgrades and power-ups carry through to the next level, so if you get stuck on one of the later levels it is worthwhile heading back a level or two to collect a few power-ups before trying again. There are also a few bonus levels on offer for those willing to do the hard yards and unlock them, but for the average gamer I would suspect the 5 normal levels would be enough for anyone.
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