Geometry Wars now has six game modes. Deadline, King, Evolved, Pacificism, Waves and Sequence. All of the modes save Deadline are locked at the beginning of the game, but are unlockable as the game progresses. As before, players are controlling a small vectored starship with a death wish, but the game mechanic's been tweaked a little. In the original Geometry Wars game, players destroyed ships to score points, multipliers, and enhanced weapons. In the new game destroyed enemy ships are worth a set number of points in yield small, gem-like geoms, which players then scoop up to land ever-larger point multipliers, which they do not lose when they die. Many of the familiar shape ships from the earlier games have returned, as have the shape-devouring black holes but there are also plenty of new surprises. Common new obstacles are "gates", which players slalom through to trigger mini-explosions and yield even more points.
The big additions are the new modes. Geometry Wars 2 offers a familiar "Evolved" mode the survive-as-long-as-you-can style play from the original game, but the new variants provide a wealth of other objectives. In "Deadline", players try score as many points as possible in three minutes. In "King", they get a single life, and can only destroy enemies while keeping station inside a soon-to-be-destroyed force field-like circle. "Pacificism" challenges players to stay alive without firing a shot, while "Sequences" has players try to survive a gauntlet of 30 screens by memorizing the sequence of attacks each one uses.
Geometry Was 2 offers local multiplayer (but not online) versions each of these modes. Players can battle each other competitively, work competitively, and even link up as a single ship with one player controlling its direction and the other firing its weapons.
REVIEW
The first Geometry Wars succeeded because it offered the perfect mix of nostalgia and twitchy game play. It evoked countless hours shattering space rocks in Asteroids and blasting apart alien invaders in Defender while at providing instant adrenaline-surging, neon-drenched game play.
Some purists may be disappointed at the shift away from the original's survivalist mode, but the new modes add a lot of diversity to the game. The modes are easily unlocked after less than an hour play, and it's nice to be able to be able to mix-up objectives from time to time. Each mode tends to play quickly, making Geometry Wars a great game to jump in and out of (though obviously more experience players will find their games lasting considerably longer).
Of the modes, "King" is perhaps the hardest, as players have to balance blasting their enemies from safe zones versus making a mad dash across the battlefield to find a new safe haven before the old one evaporates. "Waves" is consistent challenge - players have to defeat sequential waves of attackers, and any enemies not defeated in the initial attack join the subsequent ones. It's like a super-accelerated Galaga and its all too easy to make a mistake. "Sequence" is also tough; like "Evolved" it requires recognizing the patterns of each level in order to survive, but it's far less forgiving as one death instantly locks the players out of that level, and forces them on to the next.
Visually, Geometry Wars 2 is even more impressive than before, with crisper graphics that pop off the screen despite the fact that they're entirely two-dimensional. The pulsating techno music reinforces the visual excitement of the eye candy while at the same time evoking the arcades of yesteryear.
The lack of online multiplayer is disappointing, but the local multiplayer options somewhat make up for it as players can now work together to fight their way through the various game scenarios. The combined option, in which one person pilots while the other shoots, is reminiscent of the classic Blasteroids arcade game from the late 1980s. The local multiplayer modes make Geometry Wars 2 into something of a party game as even casual gamers should have fun detonating black holes alongside their friends.
As someone who spent his Saturdays feeding far too many quarters into arcade games, Geometry Wars 2 felt like coming home to visit an old friend.
-Ken Newquist
