Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 – Review

August 2, 2008 at 5:06 pm | Posted in Reviews | 1 Comment
Tags: addictive, Arcade, daily, daily joystick, fun, game, gamers, gaming, geometry, geometry wars, Geometry Wars 2, GeoWars, joystick, review, XBLA, Xbox, Xbox 360

by Jacob Corbin

Whoever thought a game where flying around and shooting tiny geometric shapes could be so fun? Living in a realism-heavy and FPS-laden gaming world, one would think that Geometry Wars would get over-looked or perhaps get old. However, if there is one thing this beaut proves, it’s that the old-school style of gaming can still kick-ass.

Now Geometry Wars has had an interesting life cycle, to say the least. It started out as a little mini-game for the Project Gotham Racing series. It was fun to play and a great way to take a break from all the racing, but who likes having to walk into an in-game car garage to play something? That’s when Bizarre Creations and designer Stephen Cakebread (*giggle*) smartened up and started working on a separate and updated release titled, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, for Xbox Live Arcade. When it released on November 21, 2005, it received critical praise and was downloaded by pretty much everyone. However and with respect, it was the type of game you picked up for 5 or 10 minutes, got close to dying all the time, and then sooner or later you would die and decide to turn it off.

Now fast-forward almost 3 years and we have Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2, a game that is far-more complete than it’s predecessor and something I simply cannot stop playing. 

Right off the bat, everything seems fairly similar to the first GeoWars on XBLA. The vibrant and beautiful colors are still there, the controls have not changed, the spacey and techno-like music is present, but it is a much deeper and challenging game. First off, there are 6 modes to play. Everyone is going to have their favorite, but in reality they are all balanced, entertaining and unique. This isn’t something where 6 modes were added so developers could then tell the press that “6 modes are included” and thus sound like it’s just packed full of features when in most cases it’s not as advertised. No, the modes are up to snuff and definitely add replay-value.

• Deadline: You have unlimited lives and 3 minutes to kill as much as you can. Don’t blink. 
• King: This is very unique and pretty fucking hard to get high-scores in if you ask me. You have one life and no bombs. Safety zones appear throughout the field. You can only fire from inside these zones, you cannot collect “geoms” (tiny, diamond-like score multipliers that are left from dead enemies) and enemies cannot enter the zones. These zones will shrink and disappear thus forcing you to find the next closest zone to stay alive. It’s pretty intense.
• Evolved:  The mode most comparable to the style of play in the first XBLA Geometry Wars. Simply put, you’re challenged to score as many points as possible with no time limit. The player earns extra lives and bombs at set intervals. It’s the mode we all know and love.
• Pacifism (my favorite): You have one life and cannot shoot. The only way to kill nearby enemies is by passing through gates. The more gates you go through, the more points and the more dead geometric shapes. It’s a frenzy of racing around to find a gate and survive and one that I love. 
• Waves: This mode debuted on Project Gotham Racing 4 and I didn’t give it much attention. This time around I have and it warrants the attention. You have one life and must fly around and destroy rockets that come in various waves both horizontally and vertically throughout the field.
• Sequence: In this there is twenty levels where you have to destroy the enemies in 30 seconds, if you die you are immediately sent to the next level, but the mode will end once all your lives are gone. This mode is damn near impossible. All attempts for me to clear the twenty levels have gone unsuccessful. Don’t try and impress anyone playing Sequence.

All these modes add-up to an excellent package and trying to master each mode is one of the reasons you’ll keep coming back for more. Not to mention the achievements, which I feel are great.

Now there is two gripes for me with GeoWars Deux. First off, there isn’t any different weapons to fire like in Geometry Wars Retro Evolved. In this, you fire your shots in one way and one way only. Maybe the developers thought those weapons were a crutch, and maybe in a way they were, but it was a nice means of changing up the pace. Bizarre Creations could have at least included the weapons in the Evolved mode, but oh well. However, this gripe means nothing compared to my next one. There is no online multiplayer. Sure there is local multiplayer which is nice, but having no online multiplayer just plain sucks. I can’t imagine how much more longevity and entertainment value this would have had if online multiplayer was included. Shame on you, Steve Cakebread.

Still, in many ways Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 is better than anything you’ll find currently on the Xbox Live Arcade. It’s predecessor pales in comparison; and with its addictive and simple gameplay, it’s… well, pretty goddamn sweet. For 10 dollars, I see no reason for any 360 gamer out there not to buy this.

9/10