Rez is unlike any other game I tried with PlayStation VR2. I didn’t realize what I was getting into when I booted up the game. I haven’t heard of anything to do with the series in a long time either, it’s been 14 years since the game was on a PlayStation system. Rez Infinite is a remaster of the original game and is integrated with VR.
Rez-olve
The pulsating and hypnotic gameplay of Rez works well both with and without VR. The game comes to life in different ways, but, VR is definitely the best way to experience this deep and impressive game. The simplicity of the controls and the way the gameplay unfolds turns the game into something else.
The story of Rez is purposely vague, it isn’t the focus of the game. It’s the environment, the gameplay, and the music that takes the stage in what feels like a riff on Tron. It’s a world within a supercomputer that Rez takes part in and it’s the only way something like this can work I think.
Your job is to create music by tagging enemies and with the left stick and hitting the X button marking them for missiles, these attacks bring about the brilliant soundscape of the Rez.
The experience this brings is perfectly synced to the controller, headphones, and display of the VR headset. This is easily the reason I learned to love the game as I progressed through new bosses and levels. As I said, the VR brings this game to an entirely new setting.
Utilizing the eye-tracking technology included with PSVR2, for the first time ever, you can use it to track your enemies and aim at them. I found the feature works well and while I will always prefer a classic controller, the fact I can eye and shoot lasers out of my eyes is reason enough for everyone to at least try the control scheme.
I’d even say that once you can overcome the learning curve of eye-tracking, it becomes the essential way to experience Rez Infinite. I say this because of how accurate the eye-tracking is and it feels far more intuitive than I thought the hardware would offer this early in its lifespan. Thankfully, I was off-kilter as I looked at the targets in front of me before pressing the corresponding button to fire at the target.
Derezzed
Being a port of an older title, I was a bit concerned about how well DualSense implementation would be but I came away pleasantly surprised. The haptics from the DualSense and Sense controller make the experience far more tactile. Everything from locking on to enemies or accelerating, the subtle vibrations continue to impress me as a wonderful companion to the gameplay.
Rez Infinite also uses the headset vibration feature the PSVR2 has. You can enable it in the settings so you can feel subtle haptics. I ended up leaving the feature on, not because it added a level of immersion but because it felt great.
The best part of this remaster is an entirely new mode called Area X, this allows free reign on controlling your character instead of following the story ‘path,’ and, allows for a much more interesting experience with Rez. Even years later after experiencing Area X, it leaves me disappointed we never got a full-fledged sequel. Given that this section is no more than 20 minutes, it also gives you an idea of how the series could evolve on new hardware. Sadly, this is about as close as we’ll get to seeing anything coming to fruition.
Verdict
If you’ve played Rez at some point, you need to do yourself the favour and play it again; this is the best and definitive version of a 20-year-old game. You won’t spend more than a few hours playing through Rez Infinite but the entire time you’ll be mesmerized but what’s happening in front of you.
[A copy of the game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: PSVR2
