Rez

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Rez
System(s): Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360
Publisher: Sega, Sony Computer Entertainment (PS2 Version (europe)), Microsoft Game Studios (Xbox 360 Version)
Developer: United Game Artists (DC & PS2 Version), Q Entertainment (Xbox 360)
Genre: Rail Shooter, Music game

Rez, developed under the codename K-Project, Project Eden, and Vibes, is a rail shooter video game released by Sega in Japan in 2001 for the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, with a European Dreamcast release and United States PlayStation 2 release in 2002. The game was developed by Sega's United Game Artists division, which contained several former members of the disbanded Team Andromeda, the Sega development team behind the Panzer Dragoon series. It was conceptualized and produced by Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Mizuguchi is now well-known for more his more recent games, including Lumines, Every Extend Extra and Meteos. His company, Q Entertainment released a high definition version, Rez HD to the Xbox Live Arcade in 2008.

The game is notable for replacing the typical sound effects found in most rail shooter games with electronic music, with sounds and melodies created by the player as they target and destroy foes in the game, leading to a form of synesthesia, enhanced by an optional Trance Vibrator peripheral. Although Rez was critically acclaimed, it did not get much commercial attention in the United States.

Story

The game is set in futuristic computer "supernetwork" called the K-project where much of the data flow is controlled by an AI named Eden. Eden has become overwhelmed with the amount of knowledge gathered on the network, causing her to doubt her existence and enter a shutdown sequence, which would create catastrophic problems everywhere should she be able to complete this. The player plays the protagonist hacker, logging into the K-project system to reboot Eden while destroying any viruses or firewalls that happen to inhibit progress, and analyzing other sub-areas of the network to gain access to Eden's location. The K-Project name and much of the game's visual and synesthesia inspiration comes from the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, whose name is mentioned at the very end of the game credits, whereas the Rez name was inspired by the Underworld track of the same name.

Gameplay

Rez is a rail shooter in which the player takes control of an onscreen avatar traveling along a predetermined path through the computer network. The player cannot affect his or her movement in any way. The player targets foes by holding a "lock-on" button while moving an aiming reticule over up to 8 enemies. Once the "lock-on" button is released, the avatar fires shots that home in on each target. Failure to hit an enemy or projectile in time may cause a collision, which reduces the player's current evolution level by one and changes the avatar's form. The game is over if the avatar is hit while at its lowest possible level. At higher evolution levels, the avatar appears as a humanoid figure, while it appears as a simple sphere at the lowest level.

Rez in-game screenshotSome enemies drop power-up items when destroyed. Two different items enhance the player's avatar by increasing his/her "evolution bar" by one and three points respectively. Another item enables the player to trigger an "Overdrive", which releases a continuous shower of shots at all enemies on the screen for a short period of time. In some game modes, score bonus items also appear periodically.

The game consists of five main areas. The first four are divided into ten sub-sections and conclude with a boss battle. The final area contains a larger number of sections and a boss rush, in which the player must fight variations of the bosses from the first four areas. The player then goes on to the network's core to restart Eden in a final boss battle.

The final area features a variable difficulty scale, depending on the player's performance in the first four areas. According to Sega, this system was employed to make the game more accessible to casual players, while also making it more challenging for experienced players, thus potentially increasing its replay value. In addition, completing all five levels unlocks alternate gameplay modes, color schemes and secret areas.

Unlike most games, Rez contains almost no sound effects or spoken dialogue. Instead, the game is set to trance music, which plays in the background and gradually evolves as the player moves among sections. The music is enhanced by musical effects (such as trills and drums) generated by the player's actions, enemies and surroundings. Player actions are usually locked to the rhythm of the music, such that shots and hits against enemies occur exactly on each beat (as opposed to occurring in real time). Graphical elements such as the polygons that make up the player's avatar, as well as background elements, also "beat" in time with the music. In reference to these coordinated effects, Sega focused its marketing of Rez primarily on the game's qualities of "synesthesia", the association of different senses and stimuli with one another.

Production Credits

Producer: Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Director: Jun Kobayashi (Mem)
Art Director & Lead Artist: Katsumi Yokota
Programming Director: Mitsuru Takahashi
Game Designers: Hiroyuki Abe, Katsuhiko Yamada
Graphic Artists: Yasuhiko Matsuzaki (Mem), Noboru Hotta (Mem), Hideaki Takamura, Jake Kazdal, Haruka Yoshida
Programmers: Osamu Kodera, Kyosei Yukimoto, Keiichi Noda
Assistant Producer: Mineko Okamura
Assistant Director: Yu Ohmura

Sound And Music: Wave Master Inc.
Sound Producer: Yuifumi Makino
Sound Director: Tatsuya Kosaki
License Coordination: Fumitaka Shibata
Artist Coordination: Masakazu Hiroishi
Sound Creator: Keiichi Sugiyama
Assistant Sound Creator: Tomonori Sawada, Koji Sakurai (Cubisme), Masafumi Ogata (Ams Co. Ltd.)
Sound Design & Supervising: Edizoo Tanuma

Game Tuning Support: Sarugakucho Inc, Ryosuke Oishi, Koji Nojiri, Hiroshi Sato, Toru Hashimoto, Noboru Matsumoto, Rtsushi Miyake, Miyuki Sato
Technical Director: Osamu Hori
Technical Producer: Ryichi Hattori
Special Thanks: All UGA Members And Thier Families, Toru Mita, Takashi Okamura, Kojiu Kaifu, Shigeru Araki, Michio Yokomizo, Ryutaro Sugiyama, Yoshiyuki Okaitsu, Toshihide Ozeki, Takao Esaka
Producer's Special Thanks: Masatsuka Saki, Megumi Hosoya, Sei Ishii, Hisakazu Hirabayashi, Mitsuhiro Takemura, The Soul Of Kasumba Buore (1955-2001), Simon Jeffery, Jason Kuo

Sega Of America Inc.

Vice President of Product Development: Jin Shimazaki
Localization Manager: Osamu Shibamiya
Localization Producer: Klayton Vorlick
Lead Tester: Jordan Romaidis
Assistant Lead Testers: Beejey Enriquez, Chester Lee
Director of Marketing: Mike Fischer
Senior Product Manager: Rob Alvarez
Associate Product Manager: Cord Smith
Director of Creative Services: Robert Schonfisch
Project Manager: Angela Santos
CS Project Coordinator: Arianne Pitts
Director of Publishing: Kathy Schoback
Senior Strategic Relations Manager: Roxana Nui
Public Relations: Yasushi Nagumo, Tomoe Akama, Junji Yamazaki, Mineko Okamura, Gwen Marker, Kirsten Merit
Promotion Art Director: Masahiro "Magic" Kobyashi
Executive Producer: Tetsu Kayama
Created By: United Game Artists
Presented By: Sega