This is totally different from anything else you may have the chance to play.
Truth to be told, my copy is the Japanese Import version. This means no understanding of the manual whatsoever, and thus, no knowing the storyline. But fear not: even though the manual is japanese, the game appears to be totally in English. And not only that. I'm Italian, and when I popped the CD in for the first time, the words on the screen were Italian words. I guess the game adapts its language to the system version. Not that there are many words in the game, but it's nice to understand the menus in an import, once in a while. Explained my position about the story, I can safely say that gameplay-wise it's a winner. The genre is the one and only true genre, vertical shooter. I mean, some of the best old games were about destroying alien ships in little areas that scroll vertically (memories of Tyrian come to mind)... a shooter is just as good a game as any other. And what a game is this one in particular. Everywhere you look, you see colorful landscapes, polygonal and wireframed structures, lights and particles effects. Your job is to make your way through a series of "layers" - yeah, I forgot to mention the only thing I know about the storyline, and it is that it has something to do with computers - possibly destroying everything you see (because points are important, and way too much neglected in today's games), and getting somewhere in the end. Without dying. Of course there is the factor of Leveling-up (which just gives you more lives) and Overloading (let's simplycall it Destroy-Everything-On-Screen), but they are there just to make the game look a little bit less basic than it is. What matters is the way it plays the way it plays... the control in themselves are not special, just press a button to fire and keep holding the same button to lock more targets and destroy them altogether. Analogies with Panzer Dragoon are definitely here, although sometimes the visual is restricted to one direction - what changes from any other game is the way you change the soundtrack by going forward. Yeah, if you say it like this, it doesn't sound too impressive, but you really should try it to understand. It's as if every time you shoot, the beat of the tunes goes to match your fire accordingly. And destroyed ships too, they take the score to a different tune. Every time you interact with the game, the music reflects what you decided to do. I really can't explain it better than this. But it's generally a great sensation. To listen to the soundtrack get a different beat just for the press of a button, is more fun than you can think of. I'll admit I was skeptic about this game the first time, because I didn't believe music was so important in a videoludic experience. Now I must bow to the guys at UGA and say I'm sorry. It IS important a lot more than graphics, and not even JSRF in all its awesomeness could make me understand that. Speaking of graphics, of course you must remember that this game came out in 2001, originally for the Dreamcast. But in this case, the technologic and colorful design triumphs over a poligonal rendition that is admittedly bland - ships however do look neat. The whole game, aside from the enemies (that does not include you) is made of wireframe vision, except for some areas. It is a nice choice to make things look different, and it fit the theme of the game perfectly. The sound department is great too, what with the long explanation above... I'll just add that the themes are catchy and interesting, and generally very good. Effects are almost absent, but the "one-beat" music more than makes up for it. Of course this one doesn't come without flaws. It's unbelievably short although not as much as Panzer Dragoon, but pathetically easier. Bosses aren't as hard as you's want them, and there are just five stages in all. There is plenty of bonus to unlock though.
In sum, what we have here is a game that for once tries relying on something different - music - and manages to do it greatly. Everything in this game, or should I say experience, comes up together in a way that impresses the player and keeps him near the screen. The psychedelic and computeristic theme isn't new, but the implementation is. The words appearing on the top-left corner reporting every action you do in a programming-like fashion (""Fire x2" when you fire at two targets, "Downloading Process" when you get a bonus, just two examples) are pure gold. If you are willing to overlook an extreme simplicity , and a low length, which anyway makes up for itself by having you go through the stages a lot more than once (and by the fact that now the import game is very cheap), you owe it to yourselves to give Rez a try. It could become your greatest shooter ever, although you may also want to play the original Panzer Dragoon to help on the decision.