Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
Finally, after several years of waiting Geometry Wars 2 has been released. The original was awesome, especially at the price it was sold, it had to be the best value game ever. Evolved 2 has been worth the wait and should offer enough addicting fun to last until my embargo on full games ends (when ever that is).
The new modes, in are Deadline, King, Pacifism, Waves, and Sequence; and the classic Evolved mode is still there.
Each of the new modes features a various form of gameplay or rules imposed on the player. Deadline is gives the player an unlimited number of lives but you only have three minutes to earn as many points as you can.
King restricts the player to one life and no bombs and can only shoot while inside bubbles that popup randomly on the stage. Enemies can’t enter the bubbles but eventually they start to collapse.
Pacifism also gives the player one life and no bombs but the only way to destroy enemies is to pass through a gate – a new enemy, who has two end points that can kill you but can explode and take out nearby enemies when you pass through the line between them, but they don’t take out other gates.
Waves gives you one life and no bombs and involves lines of rockets – another new enemy who flies in a straight line and turns around and flies back and repeats, constantly appearing along the walls in different directions; other random enemies also appear around the stage.
Sequence has 20, thirty second long levels that the player must make their way through, starting off with several lives and bombs. The player either has to let time run out or destroy all the enemies before the thirty seconds are up; if you are killed you move on to the next level. Each level features a small starting set of enemies which once destroyed causes the rest of the enemies to appear, each level feature a different set or pattern of enemies to deal with.
Evolved is the (now) classic gameplay from the first (or second) game giving you four lives and three bombs, trying to get as high a score as long as you last.
High scores is the new mandate, because of two big gameplay changes: your multiplier isn’t lost when you die, and your multiplier isn’t determined by enemies destroyed directly, but by geoms they leave behind. High scores are bigger then before and because you need to collect the geoms you’ll have to fly differently than before. Some of the modes seem to let the geoms stick around for slightly longer than in other modes.
Also changed is the weapon upgrades – they’re gone.
It seems that only one enemy hasn’t returned, the blue jacks but enemies have been added.
There is now multiplayer mode which involves either a Versus or Cooperative style of the same single player gametypes. Players can also choose to be on teams and whether or not to share control of a single ship with one player flying and the other shooting.
Versus mode ends when one player is out of lives while in Cooperative players can continue to play even if one runs out of lives. Neither mode gives the players bombs, however Versus features powerups that offer cause certain effects on your ship or can act as a bomb.
Multiplayer mode also reveals the whole stage, unlike in single player.
The graphics in Evolved 2 have improved greatly, going back to try Evolved you can see the improvements – brighter, clearer, and more beautiful. One of the Sequence levels involves the gravity wells that really show off the improved graphics.
In addition to the graphics every mode features a different song, some of which seem to move with the action. Sequence has to have my favorite and I plan to turn the effects sounds off to do a little recording.
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 is differently worth the increased price compared to the first and is a worthy buy for anyone looking to have an addicting, fun and fast paced game. The best part of the new game is the fact that even when you die all you do is double hit ‘A’ and you’re back in ready to go.
August 17, 2008
Tags: XboxFiled under: Gaming — August 17th, 2008 - By Yillb Comments (0)
