"What could bring Has it Leaked to post its first video game related post? The best video game, ever, of course. The one game that made me understand that video games could push beyond the confounds of its predecessors and become art. That game has had its full soundtrack ripped and shared. While you might not agree with me […]"
THE REZ SOUNDTRACK RIPPED
What could bring Has it Leaked to post its first video game related post? The best video game, ever, of course. The one game that made me understand that video games could push beyond the confounds of its predecessors and become art. That game has had its full soundtrack ripped and shared. While you might not agree with me that it’s the best, it has certainly made its cultural impact since its original release back in 2001. Originally released for the Dreamcast, Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Rez was groundbreaking since it combined rhythm, visuals and game mechanics. Inspired by Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, Mizuguchi set out to explore synesthesia and the way in which visuals and music communicates.
Rez has a simple game mechanic, shooting enemies on-rails in a 3D world. But having every action you make produce sound which is both in key and in sync rhythmically, pulls you into the world like no other game. Add simple yet artistic renderings of an emulated computer world and you’ve got something very special.
But the game is nothing without the music and just like Wipeout had done for the Playstation One, or the orchestral sounds of The Last of Us did not too long ago, Rez had great producers on board (fun fact, The Chemical Brothers turned down the opportunity to be included). And while the game got re-released in a beautiful HD remake on the Xbox 360 years later, and a CD with its soundtrack was released – There was one important track missing.
The final stage of Rez, Area 5, has Adam Freeland’s track pushing the visuals to its limits with his composition “Fear”. However, due to the track sampling Marlena Shawn’s California Soul from 1969, the original video game edit never made it to the soundtrack. But thanks to GO-GO-GST, a video game soundtrack enthusiast, we finally have it. GO-GO-GST ripped the original stems (the track being separated into layers) and put the song together in what he calls, FEAR (GO-GO-GST REZ VERSION) and has made it available to download on his Tumblr.
If you haven’t played the game, I encourage you to dust of your Dreamcast, Playstation 2 or your Xbox 360 and hit eBay. And even if you’re not a video game enthusiast, view the video embedded above and remember that video games is a powerful, often under utilized media in which you have to dig deep to find the real artistic value and hidden gems – Kind of like music videos.
Oh yeah, Rez! Not only did the Chemical Brothers pass on their music being included, but so did Underworld (for whom their song of the same name was an inspiration) and Aphex Twin! An officially unreleased beta, or unfinished early version (most of us know what a beta is, right?), leaked a few years ago with different music and other features for the Dreamcast, the system Rez was originally designed for.
As noted above, this is an utterly essential game, especially for electronic music lovers. The XBOX 360 HD version is about as close to perfect as you can get, though any version you can play is worth your time, including the aforementioned beta. It’s great to turn off all the lights and crank the volume or put on a great pair of headphones and zone out to Rez. There was even a special edition package that vibrated with the game, which of course was only released in Japan and got a lot of attention for assumed potential alternative uses.
So yeah, great music, great game, definitely worth your time! There was even a sequel of sorts developed for the 360 named Child Of Eden which could be played with a controller or the Kinect. So go get a copy and zone out!
Absolutely love this game and soundtrack. I remember it first being released on Dreamcast in Europe whilst I was at college and I hunted everywhere in the city I lived in for a physical copy, I eventually found one in Forbidden World, they were charging £75 for it. My part-time wages from the supermarket I was working in wouldn’t cover it. I didn’t get to play it till Acclaim ported it over to the PS2 along with Ferrari F355 and Crazy Taxi. I soon snapped it up and yeah, as I said, loved it. I think the HD version is still on my XBox 360’s hard drive, so I may just have to fire that up today!
Great Read