Skip to main content

Lose your senses to 'Rez Infinite' in VR this October

PlayStation Experience 2015: Rez Infinite - Live Debut | PS VR
Abstract polygons will be flying over your head as you shoot your way through psychedelic tunnels this fall. Rez Infinite, the remastered version of the cult rail-shooter 
Recommended Videos
Rez, which originally debuted back in 2001 for Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, will be released this year on October 13, the same date as PlayStation VR.

Rez Infinite was first introduced at PlayStation Experience in December 2015, together with a slew of other games coming to the headset. Development is in progress at Q Entertainment, the studio behind titles like puzzle games Lumines and Every Extend Extra. Under the supervision of director Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the studio has become well-known for games that combine gameplay with music to create a sense of synesthesia.

In Lumines you combined squares of two different colors to form one-colored squares. Every action taken by the player produced a sound of some kind, and events like disappearing squares and special effects also synchronized with the music in the game. Features like these were first introduced with Rez — nothing like it had been seen before its release, and it’s often referred to as the first time people thought of a game as a piece of art. Discussions on gaming and art still use it as an example today.

Upgraded graphics and support for PlayStation VR are two of the major features with this remaster (an earlier remaster was released to the Xbox 360 in 2008, which also featured improved visuals). This latest version is being called “the ultimate version of Sega’s classic psychedelic rail-shooter adventure Rez, fully remastered and evolved, including VR support and additional new content, all by members of the original development team.” Further details regarding added features haven’t been announced, but fans around the world are looking forward to the release. Two decades worth of generations have passed, so the fact that the game is still being remastered speaks for its value as a historical landmark in the industry.

Rez Infinite will launch on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR on October 13, 2016.

Dan Isacsson
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Being a gamer since the age of three, Dan took an interest in mobile gaming back in 2009. Since then he's been digging ever…
One year later, my PlayStation VR2 is collecting dust
The PlayStation VR2 sits on a table next to Sense controllers.

One year ago, I took my first step into virtual reality with the PlayStation VR2. One year later, I haven't walked much further.

I spent a long time watching the VR sect of the gaming medium from the sidelines, curious about this new form of interaction, but never taking the full plunge. Impressed with the PSVR2’s specs and confident in Sony’s first-party capabilities, I bought it at launch in February 2022. After a week of use, I wrote that I “anticipate it’ll be a very supplemental gaming style for me in the future, not something I’ll want to do for hours every day.”

Read more
VR gaming lost me in 2023, and then totally won me back
A character slashes enemies in Asgard's Wrath 2.

If you'd asked me where I stood on VR gaming back in early May of this year, it would have been a dire conversation.

A little over a month into the PlayStation VR2's life span, I was feeling entirely disillusioned with the tech. Headsets liked the Meta Quest 2 had stopped delivering fresh experiences that felt like they could transcend the technical gimmick and PSVR2 felt dead in the water on day one. Despite being a firm supporter of VR for a decade, I felt like the train was about to leave the station for me.

Read more
PlayStation VR2 just got 2 fun shooters, but I’m still waiting to be wowed
Key art for Firewall Ultra.

For the past six months, PlayStation VR2 players like myself have been yearning for new reasons to boot up our headsets. And after a long wait, the VR platform is getting a much-needed infusion with two brand-new titles. It’s a cause for celebration, but a mild one; neither of PSVR2's latest titles does much to revitalize my shock and awe for the platform six months into its life span.

The two games in question are the exclusive, Sony-published Firewall Ultra from First Contact Entertainment and Crossfire Sierra Squad from Smilegate. Both are realistic-looking military shooters, although they are different in execution. Firewall Ultra is a Rainbow Six Siege-style, squad-based multiplayer game, while Crossfire Sierra Squad taps more into the genre’s arcade roots to create VR shooting galleries.

Read more