20. Rez

(Dreamcast/PS2/Xbox360, United Game Artists, 2001)
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand." - Albert Einstein.

Occasionally, someone uses the medium of videogames to try something that they see more as a vision than anything else. I'm not referring to experiments such as Laserdisc games or motion sensor controls, I mean examples of games where the player's interactivity is secondary to the overall audio/visual result of the player's reactions.
There have been various games, for example Vib-Ribbon, that use the idea of music and vectored imagery to create a playing experience like none other, where game playing goes beyond a hand-to-eye coordination challenge and more of an attempt to create a flowing dynamic of sound and art.

Rez is an excellent example of this. In Rez, The player controls a pulsing avatar as it travels along a linear path. This avatar represents a hacker attempting to infiltrate an all encompassing supercomputer named EDEN. EDEN's incredible A.I level has caused it to become self-aware and it is entering into a status of shutdown that will have far reaching consequences should it be completed. The hacker must reach the very base level of EDEN's program and re-boot the system whilst analysing any extra data to facilitate the task.

The avatar flies through an incredibly detailed, vibrant and colourful world, "painting" enemies with a lock on target to destroy them. As the player makes their way through EDEN's network, they will come across various viruses, firewalls and boss battles that attempt to impede their progress.
Rez is incredibly simple in concept, but that concept is only the base for the game's real vision. Playing along to a futuristic electronica soundtrack, drum fills, sound effects and various synthesised samples are added by the player's actions, such as locking on to enemies, firing weapons, collecting power-ups or activating special attacks. The key to Rez is to play the game with a style and grace that allows the music to mix with these user generated effects to create a beautifully flowing soundtrack. Whilst there most certainly is a "game" there, with levels, boss battles and an ending, the idea isn't so much about finishing levels as it is to get there while creating wonderful musical compositions that match the artistic visual action.

It is a game that is best played than described and played it was, building a huge cult fanbase and making many people's "Best games ever" list. Nearly ten years later, very few games have matched Rez's vision and accomplishments in the field of interactive sound and music.
Rez is not my type of game, but that does not mean it has no importance to me. If you have read this far into this project, you must be aware of my love of any attempt to experiment with videogames from a different angle, but whereas most of those attempts are "Nice try, but no" from many gamers, Rez truly locked on, fired and hit the mark with style and class.
The HD format was made for Rez and the Xbox360 version is awesome.

Rez is imagination in videogame form, whilst these kinds of games will never set the charts blazing, it is integral to us as gamers that they get made at all.