Rez

Rez is a stylish blend of the film Tron and the arcade classic Space Harrier. Your character continually flies forward while being attacked by a barrage of enemies that can be despatched by targeting them and unleashing guided laser beams. Each explosion triggers a sound--destroy a chain of up to eight and the resulting notes blend seamlessly with the background music. The sedate pace soon picks up, making the game a constant riot of light and sound.

Graphically, Rez is gorgeous. Wire-frame cities, valleys and pyramids rise up as you pass and colours melt all over the screen as you dispose of your opponents. End of level bosses are ingeniously designed and jaw-dropping. Blue power-ups can help evolve your character from the simple humanoid you begin with to various more sophisticated forms--too many hits though and you regress to a basic spheroid shape. Red power ups fill up your overdrive gauge (smart-bomb to you and me), which will eliminate everything on screen. Another nice touch is added by the synchronisation of the thumping techno beats of the soundtrack with the rumbling of the controller.

Rez isn't going to be to everyone's taste: it may be too abstract and the action may be too relaxed for some. There are only five levels but you can unlock a myriad of different modes, views and colours to enhance a game that despite being short is certainly not short of replay value. It is as superb to watch as it is to play. --Jonathan Winter

Rez, the action shooter brought to you by Tetsuya Mizuguchi (the talent behind Space Channel 5 and Sega Rally), is a fast-moving, wire-frame adventure backed by industrial beats. The story of Rez takes you deep into the world's computer network, which has recently been updated to handle the overload of information brought by the rapid expansion of the information age. The core of the new network is known as Eden, an extremely advanced artificial intelligence. But problems begin when Eden becomes self-aware and suffers a breakdown. You must take control of the network while you maniacally search for Eden to bring it back online. The network was built to keep intruders out at all costs, so you'll have to fight off enemies from all sides. To reach the system's core, you'll need to shoot your way through each area and take out its specific firewall (boss) to wipe out that part of the system. By hacking the system, you'll alter the visual output and even take over the music, creating your own rhythms and eye-candy as you dig deeper into the dream-like cyber world.

Rez is the first game of its kind, a unique shooting title that blends exhilarating quickfire gameplay with mesmerising graphics and the most inventive use of sound in a video game ever. Fly through cyberspace and become hypnotised by an intoxicating mix of shooting action, musical creation and spellbinding graphics, as you venture to the core of Eden, a vast computer system with a conscience. Destroy the viruses and firewalls that inhabit the sub-systems to discover the truth behind the birth of humanity. Witness the evolution of your character as you progress deeper into the complex mainframe, in an unforgettable and entrancing experience from Sega.