Games You've Never Played: Rez

In the first of what may or may not be a long running feature, I take a look at some of the best games that you may never have heard of, let alone played. Which is a great shame, as these are some of the most revered and sought-after games out there. Although by no means a complete list, each of the games here is worth playing. Some defy convention and classification, others break down an established formula to its purest level, and some build on something familiar and put so much love and care into it that the end result is

So, without any further ado, here is todays pick of the most undeservedly ignored games..

Rez
Dreamcast, 2001
PS2, 2002

The first impression of Rez is usually something along the lines of "trippy". To say Rez is abstract would be like saying Monet did a couple of paintings. Perfectly true, but missing the point entirely and a huge understatement. It is usually categorised as a shooter, and sometimes as a music game, but it strips away many of the conventions you may be used to and creates a game based around pure sensation.

Anyone who's played the Panzer Dragoon games will be familiar with the basic setup - your character flies along a predetermined path, you hold down a button while targeting enemies, release to fire. There is some semblance of a story to the game, something about you being a hacker and going around a computer system to free some naked chick, but it's all secondary to the experience. The aim of the game is the good old-fashioned high score, something that has been sadly forgotten in many recent titles. Also worthy of mention are the boss fights, where the player is pitched against massive entities in prolonged battles of endurance.

Graphically the game is unlike anything else, using a palette of bright and vibrant colours instead of fancy textures, and with simple, blocky models for enemies and wireframes for backgrounds. This overly simplistic approach is hugely effective, however, as it causes the player to focus less on what they're looking at and more on what's going on.

Holding the package together is a great dance-style soundtrack that adapts to what's happening on screen, and gets increasingly intense as the player progresses through the level. Sounds play whenever the player fires at enemies, and whenever something is destroyed, but they come over in such a way as they are not truly noticed, again to help absorb the player into the whole experience.

Rez really is one of those things you have to see for yourself. One of those games that was developed to explore the possibilities of the medium, instead of to simply turn a profit. The director, Testuya Mizaguchi, has worked on a number of classic Sega titles, including Sega Rally and Space Channel 5. Citing his inspiration for Rez as Kandinsky, Mizaguchi-san's aim was snyaesthesia - a unifcation of the senses. As such, Rez interacts with as many senses as possible - you see it, you hear it and you feel it - and becomes almost hypnotic. It all comes together in a magnificent fusion of sight, sound and feeling.

Sadly, Rez did not do well commercially, as is often the case with such games that break the mould in such a manner. This undoubtably is because the game was just too "weird" for the average consumer (or because it wasn't based on a movie, wasn't a sports title and didnt have a famous face on the box - but that's entirely another rant for another time). It is also, in part, down to the fact that the Dreamcast version was released in only Japan and Europe, . The PS2 release did not fare much better, despite also being released in the US. Proof, if ever it were needed, that the truly innovative titles will always slip under the radar of most buyers.

It has now developed something of a cult status, and earned the title "sleeper hit". Those that did pick it up were impressed enough to keep a hold of it, making it quite hard to find. Even rarer is the PS2 version released in Japan with the trance vibrator included, a device that plugs into the USB port and vibrates to the music, which can have some unusal applications. If you do happen to see a copy, snap it up. You're not gonna see another game like this for a while.