Be prepared to be blown away, Rez is one of the most groundbreaking titles around...

<p>REZ has been a title that has excited me since it was known only as Project-K. Specific details about the game were scarce except for the fact it was coming from United Game Artists, headed by Sega Rally creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi, and was something to do with music. <br> <br /> <br> <br /> Well REZ more then lives up to my ultimate expectations, playing unlike anything that’s ever come before it. When certain other developers are trying to innovate by mixing different genres into one and calling it a new genre, cough <br /> <i> Dark Summit</i> cough… leave it to Sega to truly show the world what the word means.<br> <br /> <br> <br /> Essentially REZ is an on-rails shoot-em-up, however if you play it like that then you’re going to be missing out on the whole point of REZ. In fact it’s probably doing the game a great injustice to call it a videogame, perhaps it’s best to explain it as a title merging visuals and sound into one supremely crafted interactive experience, nah sounds a bit weeny, suffice to say it’s easier just to say have a go then try to explain REZ in mere words, but here goes…<br> <br /> </p> <br /> <div align=right> <br /> <table border=0 width=20 bgcolor=#CCCCCC align=right cellpadding=2> <br /> <tr> <br /> <td width=100%> <br /> <p align=center><a href=http://www.totalvideogames.com/tvg.php?gallary=true&all=false&newsid=270&img_name=270-0.jpg><img height=100 hspace=2 src=http://www.totalvideogames.com/webconsole/data/news/images/s_270-0.jpg width=135 vspace=2 border=1><br> <br /> </a><font size=1>One of the best Sega titles, period.</font></td> <br /> </tr> <br /> </table> <br /> </div> <br /> <p>If you’ve followed or read any previews for this, you’ll realise that each time you shoot an enemy a musical note emits, stringing together combos produces a rhythm. It’s actually a lot more complicated then this, but if you begin to think about it whilst playing you’ll fail dismally, instead I’ve found it better to just immerse yourself in the experience and be one with the music.<br> <br /> <br> <br /> It’s not only destroying enemies that emits a note, targeting them emits a sound as well, so you get a little rhythm between targeting them and destroying them, making the order that you target enemies crucial to the sounds you create. Whilst using your lock-on creates more elaborate music, i.e locking on to the maximum number of targets (8) lets out a quick snippet and then a vocal cry, whilst targeting four enemies produces an escalating scale, still with me?<br> <br /> <br> <br /> Play like this, targeting the enemies on screen with your lock-on still isn’t the right way to play REZ, as it’s <br /> <b> NOT</b> a shoot-em-up. Frequently you’ll have gaps when there’s no enemies and thus it begins to sound a little… lacking, the trick is to keep hammering away at the X or A button <br /> which produces hand claps/beats throughout the entire level/track, trying to keep in tone with the music, the beat, and then string in the music that emits when you target and <br /> destroy enemies into this.   During your first few goes the music that you’ll produce sounds a bit naff, but as you come back to the levels and earn 100% in the ‘analyisation’ ranking, the music becomes more elaborate, with later levels sounding like acoustic heaven. <br> <br /> <br> <br /> Along the way you’ll collect different power-up’s, blue power-up’s level up your character, which again allows you to produce more elaborate music, whilst red power-up’s give you an overdrive that works like a special weapon destroying all enemies on screen, and creating a big break-beat kind of effect. <br> <br /> <br> <br /> Throughout the levels you’ll see little cubes, hitting these start a countdown that pushes you onto the next stage in the level and pumps up the tempo and beat of the sound, by the last stage the music is really going for it with heavy bass, vocals and some stunning samples.<br> <br /> Initially I was worried that it wasn’t all going to come together, that the sound may have just been a novelty feature and at heart all we had was a simple shoot-em-up. However after extended play I can honestly say that U-GA has done it, REZ works if you’re willing to give it a go and <br /> <i> not</i> play it like you think you should.<br> <br /> </p> <br /> <div align=right> <br /> <table border=0 width=20 bgcolor=#CCCCCC align=right cellpadding=2> <br /> <tr> <br /> <td width=100%> <br /> <p align=center><a href=http://www.totalvideogames.com/tvg.php?gallary=true&all=false&newsid=667&img_name=667-6.jpg><img height=100 hspace=2 src=http://www.totalvideogames.com/webconsole/data/news/images/s_667-6.jpg width=135 vspace=2 border=1><br> <br /> </a><font size=1>REZ will amaze you, give it a chance.</font></td> <br /> </tr> <br /> </table> <br /> </div> <br /> <p>There are only five main levels within the game, however like Nights there is immense replay value built into coming back to the levels. Not only do they look and sound better the more you play, the game is built upon the timeless score based approach. Coming back and trying to beat the scores is a key component, older gamers out there should recognise the joy of this old school gaming approach.<br> <br /> <br> <br /> Completing the game opens up the Beyond mode, which works like the Pandora’s Box in Panzer Dragoon Zwei. New levels including a wacked out Trance level and a subliminal chilled out level; new characters including a Morolien the alien from Space Channel 5, and various other options are all opened by going back to the levels and beating the top scores.<br> <br /> </p> <br /> <div align=right> <br /> <table border=0 width=20 bgcolor=#CCCCCC align=right cellpadding=2> <br /> <tr> <br /> <td width=100%> <br /> <p align=center><a href=http://www.totalvideogames.com/tvg.php?gallary=true&all=false&newsid=270&img_name=270-2.jpg><img height=100 hspace=2 src=http://www.totalvideogames.com/webconsole/data/news/images/s_270-2.jpg width=135 vspace=2 border=1><br> <br /> </a><font size=1>I\'m in love with this title.</font></td> <br /> </tr> <br /> </table> <br /> </div> <br /> <p>REZ’ visuals are the most distinctive I have ever seen in a videogame, wireframe objects are combined with all manner of lighting and particle effects, to create a truly unique looking title. The kind of look that we thought we’d be playing in the future, back in the 80’s, Tron merged with a Japanese direction, simply magnificent. <br> <br /> <br> <br /> Sega has drawn in some great artists to provide the backing tracks to each level, including the likes of dj Shadow, ColdCut and Tim Bran. Simply put the music is fantastic throughout with a range of different styles, it\'s not to everybody\'s taste, but European and Japanese clubbers should enjoy it whilst I hear House music is beginning to catch on in the US, better late then never.<br> <br /> <br> <br /> <br> <br /> </p>