It all started when Geometry Wars was originally created to test the analog sensitivity in Project Gotham Racing 2 and was playable in the garage in-game. More of an evolution than a sequel, Geometry Wars Retro Evolved was released for the XBLA in 2005 and was a visual masterpiece of high resolution space-time fireworks. Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 has now arrived out of nowhere and is blowing my mind.
GWRE2 has crept up on me and shown me its awesomazingness. No longer am I limited to simply shooting shapes (which each having their own sound) and getting a multiplier based on some calculus. A new multiplier system consisting of picking up Geoms is a new challenge in game play, multiple game modes consisting of situations that will require different tactics, music that is more a part of the game this time around, a multiplayer mode, and leaderboards specific to each of the 6 different game types round out a fuller experience than the previous iterations. All that and new Shapes, too!
I’ve always appreciated the ease of playability in GWRE and things are even more accessible this time around. I have seen some of my XBL friends bag respectable scores on this sequel that did not do as good on the 1st. The system of collecting Geoms from destroyed Shapes makes for a higher score faster than in the olden days, but you’ve gotta catch those little buggers first. Imagine yourself with a 1,217 multiplier in real life. Imagining it? Now imagine you still have it when you die. That is Heaven x1,217 (or Nothing x1,217 depending on your -ism, -ist, or -ity).
The music score is a little different for each game type as well as context sensitive. The multiplayer mode is wasted on me since it can only be played on the same Xbox, not via Live, and I have no real friends. The different game modes offer timed bouts of fury with unlimited lives, a king of the hill type mode, evolved mode (which is the truest sequel of the modes), a pacifistic mode, waves (which was playable in the garage in PGR4), and a sequence of 20 thirty-second challenges of clearing the enemies and moving on. I have included an Ultra Super Low Resolution Video or USLRV to help demonstrate the game modes without the use of words or science. Geometry Wars Devolved
And the Shapes! I almost forgot about the new Shapes! Blue diamonds, purple horseshoes, red balloons, wait, perhaps that was my favorite cereal. With new Shapes come new sounds and new behaviors. No two Shapes act alike and you may be surprised how some react to you being there. I must say I am deeply disturbed by the sound and erratic movements of those snake things that you can only shoot in the head. There are some Shapes you simply cannot trust, due to the angles and curves they consist of.
Frankly, this game was worth the points equivalent to about 5 bucks.
VERDICT: I say Buy it, but download the demo and play it for yourself.
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