Xbox 360: Rez Review

I'd like to think that I have played some rare games out there. Granted, some of the rarest games around are so rare that I may never even look at them, but still, there some classics that get released that no one pays attention to until it's too late. Here are two games that were very rare and barely anyone played them, but garnered a lot of praise with their quality gameplay.

First up, Rez. Rez was first released for the Dreamcast in 2001 then released for the PS2 in 2002. The game was developed by a division within Sega that consisted of former team members that created Panzer Dragoon. The game was easily overlooked on the Dreamcast since it was not doing so well in 2001, and then overlooked on the PS2 because of it being such a unique game. This great game went right pass many gamers and became one of those games that gamers talked about hoping to one day play it.

Rez does not have much in regards to storyline. You control and avatar of a hacker that has to get to an AI of a supercomputer going through a variety of firewalls, viruses and other computer systems that get in your way. What makes this game so unique was its fusion of style and gameplay. By style I'm referring to the graphics and sound. The graphics have a very trippy wire frame theme to it. In a way, they look basic but it has a style that works well and in a way, can be impressive. For the sound, the game has a unique way of turning this shooter into a rhythm game. Each time you shoot an enemy, a piece of music is played. When you kill all the enemies in the order that they appear, a complete songs plays out. So in a way, you're in control of the music of the game. The music is a fitting trance music that goes along with the graphics of the game to deliver a very unique audio and visual experience.

As I mentioned earlier, this game is a shooter. To be more exact, it's a rail shooter so there�s no control over the avatar, just the targeting reticule. You can tell the Panzer Dragoon influence with the way the enemies come on screen and the control scheme. Similar to Panzer Dragoon, you can lock on to multiple enemies on screen. By destroying enemies, you can collect a variety of power-ups. The game is split into five areas with the last level being very special in that the difficulty of it depends on how well you did on the previous four levels. So if you suck, it'll take it easy on you, and if you did well, then it'll try to kick your ass. As expected from a game made in Japan, the game came with a unique add-on that was released in Japan only. The device, known as a Trance Vibrator, was a USB device that vibrated along with the music. The vibration was stronger than that of the PS2 controller. While it was thought of as a way to enhance the game experience, it's been widely known as being used as a sex toy for guys to use on their girlfriends while they play the game. Just another way those video games bring everyone together.

With it's one of a kind gaming experience, Rez was a great game that many people never got the chance to play. Thanks to the gaming community, Rez found a second life on Xbox Live Arcade and is now available to download for those that missed out on it the first time.

Score - 8.7/10.0

- O.G.