Rez is a musical on-rail shooter produced by Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Space Channel 5). The game was originally released for the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 in 2001 and made a pretty big impact on players worldwide. Rez creates melodies as you target and shoot down surrounding enemies. You get to play as a hacker that must stop an AI named Eden as it becomes self aware and begins to shut down.
I’ve had the pleasure of playing through this game multiple times, so after hearing that REZ was making the enormous leap to PlayStation 4, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it again. However, there was another announcement; REZ Infinite will have a PlayStation VR mode. I wanted to wait to play it in virtual reality myself before I decided if this whole thing was a gimmick or not.
I got my wish at this year’s GDC with some hands on time with the VR build of the game. Immediately I was transported back to 2001; It was like I was booting up my Dreamcast and hacking into a network of amazing music and visuals. But then it hit me, I wasn’t just sitting on my couch in my Pokemon PJs playing as a hacker, I am the hacker! Here I can look everywhere in this virtual world and be ready for anything Eden throws my way. The music and the scenery flow all around me as I blast polygons out of the sky. All this put any doubts I had to rest as 15 years later REZ has truly received its definitive edition. I honestly can’t wait to jump in and play again.
REZ is currently available for Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360. REZ Infinite will be headed to the PlayStation 4 later this year.
