Video games; typically viewed by voyeurs as merely a form of entertainment acting as mental stimuli to free us, gamers, from the pressures and strains of everyday life. Every once in a while, though, a game breaks the mould and is something more than a simple distraction. This was the case of Rez upon its initial release six years ago. Critically acclaim branded Rez as an outstanding achievement in media and art.

Sadly, though, Rez drifted below the radar and became a lost gem appreciated by too few. Time went by, and copies of it became increasingly rare (and costly). Thankfully, Rez gets a rebirth in high-definition on the Xbox Live Arcade; where the time is seemingly right for Rez HD to be appreciated truly as it was intended - as the art form it is.

While the story isn't served up to you on a platter, rest assured, it's tucked away in there somewhere. Rez HD takes place inside a futuristic super network, named the K-Project. The incoming data is controlled by an arbitrary AI that goes by the name Eden. Having become increasingly overwhelmed by the vast knowledge the data has entailed, she begins to question her own state of existence and goes into a systematic shutdown sequence. It's your job, as a computer hacker, to eliminate viruses and firewalls in an attempt to reach Eden and prevent what would be a catastrophic disaster. The super network consists of five areas; which can be seen as levels by the common gamer. These areas are then further broken down into ten sub-sections, finally concluding with a boss battle.

Rez plays much like Panzer Dragoon; which is hardly surprising, considering it was initially by the same developers. It's undoubted that the golden ticket of Rez HD is its minimalistic gameplay; it's like any other rail shooter, however it replaces the expected sound effects with trance music. This is incidental with the targeting and destroying of your targets within the K-Project. This leads to a form of synesthesia. You take control of the on-screen avatar as you travel on a pre-determined course throughout the area. Your job is simple: you can hold down a 'lock-on' button and then move your reticule over up to eight on-screen foes. Once you release the lock-on button, your avatar will fire a weapon that homes in to destroy the target. While a health bar isn't exactly visible as, well let's face it, the HUD is anything but straight-forward; your health can be determined by the appearance of your avatar as it goes through several stages of evolution.

You'll begin an area as a humanoid formed up of squares (or your level one form) floating down your designated path; however, collision with an enemy drone causes your level to decrease. In your lowest form, you appear as a sphere (level zero) where one more point of impact will terminate your 'mission'. You can counter this by ascending in level, to do so you must fill up your 'evolution bar' which is in the bottom left of the screen. For this to gradually fill, you need to fire at the blue-orbs dropped by some enemies during an area. Another pick-up enemies will drop is an orb that will grant you 'over drive', which unleashes a continuous stream of fire onto whatever is currently on-screen. It's very cool, although, you should only use it in those dire stages where you're in serious trouble!

Aside from the standard game and it's spruced up high-definition counterpart, there is Direct Assault, Lost Mode, a free play mode, and there's even a mode where you can consecutively take on the game bosses, entitled Boss Rush. So for an arcade title, there's surely enough bang for buck to keep you amused. In its retail days, Rez was criticized for its length, having only five areas for gamers to deal with. Even at the small ask of 800 points, Rez HD could be seen as too short, and not nearly deep enough. I, personally, found it to be a sufficient length - while it may be short, I feel as though any novelty could begin to wear off if the game were to go any longer.

While a mixing desk posing as a rail shooter sounds basic at best; rest assured knowing that, oddly, engagement with Rez isn't exactly found amidst the gameplay. It's more likely to be discovered in all of those pretty colours and sounds. It's not hard to see that Rez looks like Tron on some form of steroids. It's hard to describe with words, but it's very easy to see why Rez is regarded as one of those special achievements that deserves all the accolades it receives. Its vector-style art direction finally has a home in this day and age, however on first-impression; it may be dismissed as a mess by lesser-minded gamers. Naturally, the style can't please everyone, however there'll be the lucky selection that understand and appreciate what Rez has done to break the mold of video gaming.

As mentioned earlier, what sets Rez apart from other rail-shooters is its attention to the music. While this is not a Bemani title in any sense, the player does maintain a certain amount of control over the timing and frequency of the musical accents the gameplay provides. Not everyone is a fan of electronic and techno music, I am living proof myself. But Rez could not be played any other way. And the tracks are a fine selection as far as the genre goes, and knowing through your fingertips that you're contributing to music - it just adds a little reward to investing time in a game like Rez, which is clearly different.