The first review! Wow. Well there haven't been any expectations or guidelines set down for this section yet so I'll just babble for a bit and then we can talk about it
Well, as you know, I went and
bought this game a short while ago.
I mainly bought the game because it was made by the creators of Lumines and
this website. A girl talking about the benefits of masturbating with a psychedelic videogame? Sign me up!
It's strange that the game masquerades as a shooter...it's definitely a puzzle game. You sweep the cursor over targets whilst holding X, and you let go to make them explode. With different graphics and the same gameplay, I can imagine blocks falling and getting zapped, for example. It actually works out to be really intuitive, using the analog stick for control was awkward at first and I was worried about lack of sensitivity control, but for the most part the controls are smooth and easy to use.
The graphics are excellent for PS2. I have it hooked up via component, and though the graphics are mostly wireframe, they are beautiful. The game doesn't support 16:9 but it stretches nicely and looks natural at that aspect ratio.
I need to get this out of the way right now...the Trance Vibrator kicks ass. Yeah, I admit it. But beyond your devious thoughts, it's actually really cool. I usually keep it on my thigh, not quite on my stomach but not quite on my leg. It comes with a suede bag so it sticks to your clothes and won't slide off. This thing is STRONG...holy crap, it really vibrates. If you've ever been to a club or a show where the bass was so strong that it was shaking your entire body...yeah, it's like that feeling. The way I have it set up, it really shakes my whole lower body, it's crazy. Another interesting thing about it is that it can be used for beats...it kind of simulates the bass effect, in a way. Because of that, the game is awesome on headphones.
I really love the fact that this game requires your full participation. This isn't a game to play while you're having a conversation with your friends or at a casual glance. You really sit down, crank the tunes, get into the visuals, and feel what's going on. And best of all...gawdamn this game is really fun. It has a "Travelling[sic]" mode that lets you play without taking damage...that mode is great, it lets you really concentrate on the experience, rather than worrying if you're zapping every single tiny bad guy and rocket in the vicinity.
This game actually isn't a bad deal when you think about it. I got it brand new (Rez was even still sealed) for $62 shipped. And when you consider you can get 360 and PS3 games for $70...hmm. Well, this game was released in American and Europe, but I have no idea if the Trance Vibrator works on those because that was only released in Japan AFAIK. If anyone can get the TV working with non-Japanese games, let me know. In case anyone is wondering, the game's manual and packing is all in Japanese, but the game itself is all in English, interestingly enough. If you like music or psychedelic games, I highly recommend this.