I was having a browse round the Xbox Live Marketplace the other day and I succumbed to my temptation to download the full version of the Rez HD for Xbox 360 game and give it a try. I missed it the first time around, complete with its special vibrating pad which you could use with the rhythms and bleeps of the game for certain…solo pursuits.
I always wanted to give it a go – the game, not the vibrating pad – and now I can because it’s come to Xbox 360 in HD glory. Created by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Xbox 360 Rez HD is a remake of the shoot ‘em up which saw you taking control of a little wire-frame man as you fly into computer mainframes so you can hack them. As you go you shoot all manner of oddly-shaped enemies that try to stop you and of course, at the end of each level, you face off against an end of level boss which you must destroy or just survive its attacks.
May I recommend you turn the lights down and the volume up when you play this one to get the full atmosphere. It’s actually such a visual and aural treat it should be played on a cinema screen with a nightclub sound system. That would be the ultimate way to play it. Although simple in design, each level is incredibly trippy and the dance tracks which evolve as you make your way through the levels are superb.
OK, so your character moves along a fixed path and you are in effect just playing through a very simple but very good-looking version of Space Harrier but this is about more than the simple gameplay, it’s about the look and sound of it which comes together perfectly. Oh, and if you missed the original game the first time around like I did, that’s thrown in there too for good measure. Not quite sure why you’d want to play it though – you’d think you forgot to put on your glasses when compared to the HD version. Rez HD gets a whopping 9 out of 10.
