Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s weird vision of trippy music and techno visuals helped Rez become a cult favorite for the Dreamcast and PS2 in the early 2000s. And now he’s back with Rez Infinite, a remastered version of the original game for the PS4. But Mizuguchi also plans to add several new features to Infinite, including PlayStation VR support and the mysterious “Area X.”
Earlier today, the developer tried to explain the thought process behind “Area X” to the PlayStation Blog, while also unveiling a new trailer for the game…
Area X is a new level we’ve added just for Rez Infinite.
Area X is an experiment.
Area X is Rez, but it’s also not Rez… it’s something new.Like classic Rez, Area X is a designed to be a focused, replayable experience, that uses simple shooting mechanics as a means to induce “synesthesia,” an effect where perceiving something with one sense triggers another sense – like you can “see sounds,” or “hear colors” (as pioneered by influential Russian artist and art theorist Wassily Kandinsky).
But other than that basic foundation, the team and I decided to throw away the rest of the formula and start fresh, both in terms of aesthetics and gameplay, building Area X through experimentation and iteration – try something, keep what worked, throw out what didn’t, try again – much in the same way United Game Artists and I created the original Rez so many years ago. Our goal was to create something that evoked the same excitement as Rez, but at the same time, something that felt unique. Something new. Something special all its own.
Rez Infinite will be released exclusively for the PS4 on October 13.
