3. Controls and Pick-ups.

Learn the controls and pick-up items in Rez Infinite! Master shooting, Overdrive, and item collection for higher scores and success.

Hey there! So, you're diving into Rez Infinite and want to get a handle on how to play? Awesome! The game's pretty good about explaining things as you go, but let's break down the controls and those handy pick-ups so you can really start racking up those points.

First off, you can tweak the controls in the menus, but here's the rundown:

• X button: Shoot. This is your bread and butter. Just move your laser sight over an enemy and press X. The cool part? You can hold down X to lock onto multiple enemies, up to 8 at once. Then, release to unleash! When you're aiming for a high score, it's way better to get as many lock-ons as possible before firing. The score you get for each enemy is multiplied by how many you locked onto. You might not always hit the max, but always try to grab as many as you can without letting any enemies slip past you.
• O button: Overdrive. See that meter in the bottom right? That's your Overdrive gauge. Picking up special Overdrive items fills it up, one segment at a time. When you unleash an Overdrive, it wipes out everything on screen or at least keeps them under constant attack for a bit. I usually save these for emergencies, but sometimes you'll need one just to clear out enough enemies to hit that 100% shot-down goal.
• Right analogue stick or D-pad: Move Laser Sight. These control your laser sight (that little box you see on screen). You're on a set path, so you can't exactly dodge, but you *can* turn yourself around to shoot down incoming missiles or line up your next targets. Keep in mind, you've got a 150-degree view in the regular 'Infiltration' stages, but that opens up to a full 360 degrees when you're in a Boss fight.
• Start button: Pause. Pretty standard stuff here – hit Start to pause the action. In menus, X confirms your choice, and O backs out or cancels.

Now, about those items you'll be shooting to grab:

• Progress Items (Blue): These are key for powering up. Shooting them fills your 'progress gauge,' which eventually leads to a higher form. They look like these weird, connected X-shaped things made of pyramids. There are also '3x Progress Nodes' which are more spherical and boost your gauge by 3!
• Overdrive Items (Red): These are usually shaped like triangular prisms stuck together. Grab them to increase your Overdrive count, up to a max of 4.
• Point Items (Green): You'll see these most often in Score Attack and Direct Assault modes. They're green cylinders (or octagonal prisms with cupolas, if you want to be precise!) and they just boost your score directly.

Remember, you pick up items by shooting them. You can even lock onto them with your laser sight, which can help keep your score multiplier going strong. Happy blasting!