I Feel Like I'm Melting!

Rez HD

(360; 800 MS Points- approx. $10; Rated E; thatgamecalledrez.com)


Hey kids: ever wonder what it would be like to trip out on Ecstasy in a German discothèque all night long, come home, and design a video game before majorly crashing? Well now you have the opportunity, and all without ever leaving the comforts of your own couch.

“Rez HD” is an updated version of the classic PlayStation 2 release from Tetsuya Mizuguchi, who’s company “Q Entertainment” has been blurring the lines between gaming and music-making since 2001. With games like “Lumines” and “Meteos” and “Every Extend Extra,” Mizguchi has carved out a trippy niche for himself in terms of gameplay and design- all of which can be traced back to “Rez.”

Now available for download over the Xbox Live Arcade, “Rez HD” is an updated version of a game that was way ahead of its time when it was originally released. Now with 16:9 aspect ratio, full HD graphics, and 5.1 digital surround sound, “Rez HD” is probably a truer form of the game that Mizguchi wanted to make, but was limited by the technology of the times.
Players enter into a “supernetwork” akin to the settings of “Tron,” and float through a cyberspace in an attempt to hack deeper and deeper into the mainframe. Players float through the mainframe on a predetermined path and have to shoot down enemies that try to stop player’s progress.

What would seem to be a very basic “on rails” shooter, turns out to be a sensory-overload experience- each shot fired and each enemy hit contributes to a beat or effect of music that adds a melody to the trance music that forms the backbone of the trip through the mainframe. Soon, as more action takes place on screen, and more enemies are being shot down, the music evolves and intensifies- leading to a very effectively enveloping soundtrack. Music swirls all around you, and the vector-based graphics feel like they are pulling you into the television.

Sights and sounds aren’t enough, “Rez HD” also pulses the controller in your hands to the beat, and up to three other Xbox 360 controllers can be synced to also pulse with the beat. Where those controllers are placed to feel the full effect of the “trance vibration” are completely up to you.


“Rez HD” is a short game and easy to get through in one sitting. There are only four levels, but the experience of “Rez” is what will get gamers coming back for more. Maybe this isn’t the type of game that you play constantly, but it is the type of title that you will return to periodically, if nothing more than to remember how video games have the ability to create an experience unlike any other medium.