Geometry Wars Evolved 2

posted by Jaitu at 11:43

I remember playing the original Geometry Wars when it was an arcade
machine in the Project Gotham Racing virtual garage. Back then it was a
simple, though visually arresting, twin-stick shooter that went on for
as long as you could survive.
I played the trial version of the XBLA Geometry Wars Evolved but never
felt compelled to purchase the full game. I had already bought Mutant
Storm from PomPom Software which uses the same twin stick mechanic and
has proven to be inexplicably hard when I'm in control.
Geometry Wars Evolved 2 is now out and I have heard nothing but high
praise for it so yesterday I decided to just go ahead and buy it.
The game has kept the same neon vectors, fragments and particles aesthetic and ramped up the on screen business to a dizzying degree. Building on the original simple mechanic the game has been expanded and
now contains 6 distinct game modes.

Deadline: Played against a strict time limit and with infinite lives.
Just keep going and score as much as possible.

King: There are three circular safe zones randomly positioned on screen.
The enemy shapes cannot enter these zones and you can only fire when
you're inside one. The trouble is that as soon as you enter a safe zone
you have only a few seconds before it diminishes to nothing leaving you
defenceless until you get to the next. As one disappears a new one
spawns elsewhere on screen.

Evolve: Score points to earn extra lives and bombs. Each successive life
requires ten times the points of the previous.

Pacifism: You can move but you cannot fire. As time passes slowly
spinning gates will appear on screen. When you fly through a gate any
enemy shapes nearby will be destroyed.

Waves: Lines of enemy shapes will appear and sweep backwards and
forwards across or up and down the screen. You have to shoot gaps in the
waves as they approach.

Sequence: Twenty timed challenges with thirty seconds to clear each
screen. Success or failure will move you to the next challenge until you
have either completed them all or run out of lives.

Each successive mode is unlocked by playing the previous one three or
four times (your progress towards the next is shown at the game select
screen). The achievements are based around particular challenges within
the game modes. For instance the Wax On achievement requires you to rub
along each wall of the screen during one game of Pacifism. Once you have
rubbed a certain amount the edge begins to light up in segments so you
can see where you need to go and your percentage progress is displayed
at the foot of the screen. The Wax Off achievement requires you to do
this twice in one game. There are also achievements for simply unlocking
all the six game modes and another for scoring at least 1,000,000 points
in each.
I managed to get five of the twelve achievements in a couple of hours
playing. It's an incredibly addictive game with at least the last half
hour of my play session taken up by successive one-more-goes. I'm not
sure how often I'm likely to return to it once all the achievements have
been attained but as a quick blast of fun it will be hard to beat.