A Bloody Good Time

REZ HD
(Q Entertainment; Xbox 360; Everyone)

It's one of the most vexing mysteries in videogame history: why, in the name of Pong, wasn't Rez a mainstream hit when it came out six years ago? This psychedelic shooter seemed to have it all: Retro-cool, vector-based (think Battle Zone) graphics. A mesmerizing, eardrum-thumping trance soundtrack. Simple, straightforward controls. A sensible learning curve. None of this mattered — the game pretty much disappeared without a ripple and took on cult-classic status.

So here's your chance right a wrong and restore order in the universe. This hypnotic interactive rave-meets-shooter is back for an encore — available on Xbox Live Marketplace for a measly 800 points (about 10 bucks)! And get this: the second coming of Rez is not only cheaper than the original, but — thanks to its new widescreen HD and 5.1 surround sound presentation — has never looked or sounded better Otherwise, it plays exactly the same as the game not nearly enough people bought in '02. Which is fine by us, since even by today's next-gen standards, Rez still rules. A — Gary Eng Walk

OMEGA FIVE
(Hudson Entertainment; Xbox 360; Everyone 10+)

Old-fashioned side-scrolling shoot-'em-ups are staging a comeback that would do John McCain proud, thanks, in no small part, to Xbox Live Arcade. Unlike many other shooters available on Microsoft's flourishing bazaar of budget-priced downloadable games, O-5 is not a spiffy update of a beloved game from yesteryear (see Rez HD, above). Sure, it boasts pretty graphics that rival ''real'' full-priced Xbox 360 games, and requires manic action in which you must fire increasingly-lethal weapons with reckless abandon. But those old games had reasonable learning curves — getting through Omega Five is, well, painfully difficult. Your character is way too large of a target and those death rays come at you from all directions, including places you never noticed until was too late. The game is also way too stingy with extra lives: it's one-and-done after you die, and you can continue where you left off only twice. We hear you get unlimited continues after logging five hours in O-5 — we just didn't have the skills and patience to find out if this is true. C — GEW