Rez Infinite
While it technically debuted as a PS4/PSVR game in 2016, it did have its PC debut this year, almost completely out of the blue, complete with VR support.
Rez Infinite is a remake/remaster of the Dreamcast classic, Rez, a rhythm-based rail shooter in which every player action contributes to the rhythm and beat of the stage. It’s got a vague cyberpunk story to sort of provide some context to curious players, but it’s made to generally look like a complex wireframe music visualizer, with abstract geometric shapes coming together to create everything within the game.
VR support is NOT needed to enjoy the game, but it certainly helps if you have access to that tech, as it adds a whole new level of depth to the game’s endearing abstract visuals, and kind of puts the player even closer to the music, which is the driving force of the game. It’s hard for me to justify, but the scant lyrics in the variety of electronic tracks throughout the game seem to all address existential themes, and the game seems to revolve around a notion of existence and purpose that feels a bit more enlightened that a standard arcade-esque game.
Once the game is completed on its normal, arcadey, 5-stage track, it unlocks a “Travelling” mode that allows players to replay the game with essentially God Mode enabled — the player cannot die in Travelling mode. This is what brings me back all the time, to just cyber-trip my way through Rez again and again and again, enjoying its music, its weird cyberpunky theme, its sublime audiovisual interconnection. I have a PSVR that makes that even more immersive and relaxing now, though again I must stress that the game was originally conceived as a 2D game and Infinite still operates in that fashion just fine.
I didn’t play the original Rez until its HD rerelease on Xbox Live Arcade for the 360, but I fell so in love with the game then that I’ve rebought it on every platform it’s appeared on since. It’s something of an all-time favorite of mine now, and Infinite not only adds VR support, but also introduces Area X, the first new Rez content since the game’s original release, and it sort of gives Rez a new “all-range” mode that was intended a bit more for VR play, but again works just fine without VR. Area X ups the visual quality as well, and rather than having it focus on a single musical track like the original stages, it jumps through a long-form medley mixed together from a few different songs. As a result, Area X feels almost like a complete and separate experience in itself, something of a Rez sequel prototype.
It’s the greatest package of Rez to date, and it comes highly recommended by me, especially if you want to just dive in and relax. It’s available on Steam, with a Fall Sale price of $14.99 (40% off its regular $24.99), and will likely be on sale again for the upcoming Winter Sale in December. It can be completed in one 2-hour sitting, but I feel like it has good replay value and provides several ways to replay through its content, such as the aforementioned Travelling Mode, but it also provides Score Attack Modes, Boss Rush Modes, leaderboards, etc… if that sort of approach is your dig.
