What would you do if the world around you became hacked and your sensory pathways became a triggered reaction? But imagine the reimagined, where the world you thought you knew allowed you to experience it in new ways. Would you try to find out everything you could or try to embrace your new reality? I for one would embrace it all and experience all that was waiting for me. When you think about it, it would be an interesting choice either way. But does developers, Monstars Inc and Resonair along with publisher, Enhance Games, bring us what we thought we knew and take it to the next level of sight and sound? Let’s find out with Rez Infinite for the PlayStation VR2.
Rez Infinite is the ultimate version of the beloved psychedelic rail-shooter adventure. Experience 360 degrees of mind-blowing synesthesia as you blast your way through waves of enemies and massive transforming bosses, with your every move triggering colors and sounds that sync and blend to the beat of Rez’s legendary techno soundtrack. So before going into the world of Rez because you think you already know everything, there are some things that you should be aware of. First, find your favorite place to sit. You are about to be part of the experience, so might as well be as comfortable as possible. Second, make sure those Sense controllers are charged. You never know when you may beat that high score or come across that boss and you don’t want to miss out on the opportunity for scoring greatness because you forgot to charge them. Third, do some eye stretches. Because this is the PlayStation VR2 you are playing on, the game does use eye-tracking, so you want to make sure your eyes are as good as ever. Fourth, don’t forget the headphones. If you have the Pulse 3D Audio headset, make sure those are charged as well, and get ready to feel the sound. And finally, get ready to have some fun. With all that said…let’s continue…
Rez Infinite is an on-rails musical shooter where you control an avatar to shoot down various viruses that are synchronized to music and destroy data nodes. Once a data node is destroyed, the level will increase until level 10 with the background music changing with each level. If you become damaged, you return to your previous form until it’s game over. It’s a pretty simple idea that works well, but the skills of trying to make it through all the areas are where it can, and probably will become challenging.
Rez originally came out in 2001 and became a newer version of itself over time. But then when Rez Infinite came out for PlayStation 4, it added a new area called Area X that allows players to freely roam, but it brought the best version to the PlayStation VR as playing Rez Infinite in Virtual Reality took things to a new level of being in the game. But since 2016 many have hoped, including myself, that when PlayStation VR2 was announced, that hopefully we would see the game on the platform. And now that we are up to speed, many will wonder if it is worth venturing into the PlayStation VR2 version.
When you first start the game, you have a few choices. Playing Rez, playing Area X, or Options. Within the Options, you have choices for the Game Settings, Controls, Vibration, and Credits. In the Game Settings, make sure the volume is up as you will want to trust me on this. Then you will want to go to Controls. Here you can decide what your Shot Control Type will be, along with your VR Control Type and VR Rez Play Style will be. With the VR Control Type, you have choices such as using the Sense controller to only aim the laser sight, selecting the standard is for those new to VR, selecting to either use head movement or the Sense controller to aim, and even eye-tracking. By default, the option for Vibration is having the Vibration and VR headset turned on. Just play around with the settings as everyone is different. Once I had everything ready, it was time to jump into the game.
I will say that the eye-tracking worked flawlessly and to some, this will be more of a challenge as you first start. But to just be able to look where I wanted to lock on was amazing. But it’s not just the added control option, when you add the haptics to the Sense controllers and the PlayStation VR2 headset with the addition of the Pulse 3D Audio headset, you really do feel the game that really needs to be experienced.
When playing Rez, you have some options of how you would like to play as well. Play is just what it sounds like as you are playing the game as it was made with different areas, enemies, and bosses. If you want to play without having to worry about damage, you can do that in Traveling. If you are one that wants to climb those leaderboards then Score Attack will be for you. If you wanted to be able to play all the areas back to back, fight all the bosses in order, or select things such as deciding if you take damage or not, then you can play Beyond which is playable once certain things become unlocked. So it’s really up to you to decide how you want to play.
And if you want that free-roaming way that feels like the leash has been let go, you have Area X. While short, it is still a blast to play.
Let’s talk about the graphics and sound. Playing on the PlayStation VR2, you will notice improvements. From the brighter images to the color bit depth is all here thanks to HDR. Seeing images fly by, everything is clear and really seems better than I remember and that has to do with the 4K, the frames per second. and that Area levels 1-5 have been fully remastered. With the sound, when you add the surround sound with the music that is different for each level and pair that with the Pulse 3D Audio headset and then add the haptics of the PlayStation VR2 headset and Sense controllers, you are in for a party you didn’t realize you were missing.
There are a few things that I would love to see added. First, I would love the whole Area X free roam to be throughout the game. That’s a big wish, but it would be awesome. Second, more Rez. For some reason, I keep thinking that this is just the welcome stage until we get to the next phase. Will there be a next, I am not sure, but if there is, we will surely welcome it with open arms.
Rez Infinite for the PlayStation VR2 brings the sights and sounds that have to be experienced. while allowing us to be free to become what we see and hear. It takes what works, improves upon it in every way, and presents the ultimate form of itself. We sometimes present ourselves to the world for others to see, but sometimes it takes for us to truly look in the mirror to fully understand what we need to do to become the ultimate forms of ourselves. And couldn’t we all benefit from being the best form of ourselves?
Rez Infinite is out now for Google Daydream, PlayStation VR, PlayStation VR2, Oculus Rift/S, Quest/2, and Steam VR. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Monstars.Inc, please visit their site and like them on Facebook.
To learn more about Resonair, please visit their site.
To learn more about Enhance Games, please visit their site, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, follow them on Instagram, and subscribe to their YouTube channel. Make sure you also follow Tetsuya Mizuguchi on Twitter.
Also, check out the Rez Infinite video review:
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I have some higher scores to get.
