Xbox 360
Say goodbye to your irises: the original Xbox Live Arcade dual-stick shoot-‘em-up/acid-freak-out has returned.
Geometry Wars was a hidden Easter Egg in the original Xbox’s Project Gotham Racing 2, before the updated Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved inspired the plague of mediocre ‘one stick to move, one stick to shoot’ imitators which haunt Xbox Live Arcade today. Whatever the form, few series have been as good at raising the heart rate and leaving your controller all sweaty and horrible, and Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 aims to make the most of this migraine-inducing potential.
With more exploding neon than the Scissor Sisters attacking Tokyo, the Geometry Wars trademark look of angular abstract shapes and searing colour is as exciting as ever. Impossibly, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 takes the experience to new levels of psychotropic wonder: using the 1080p resolution to its full advantage. The overall effect is of a lurid, swirling and often difficult to follow phantasmagoria which, combined with the pumping techno music, feels like an early 80's supercomputer trying to simulate an early 90's rave. Androids may well dream of electric sheep, but they trip balls to Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2.
Moreover, whilst the visuals have been improved, the major changes have been to the basic structure of the game. In addition to the original’s arcade-style ‘highest score in 3 lives’ system, there are a number of new game modes. These introduce rules which fundamentally alter how the game is played, and span from time attacks to more complicated affairs which disable your weapons and force you to dodge from one safe haven to the next. These new modes show how remarkably versatile the franchise’s dual-stick control scheme really is, with each requiring a very different play-style in order to succeed. While some are weaker than others, they all have their own merits, and feel finely tuned to extract the most bullet-hell fun possible.
Also added are a series of multiplayer modes, allowing you to either compete against or cooperate with your friends. The stand-out multiplayer mode is one in which control of a ship is split between two players, with one steering and the other firing the weapons: encouraging friendship-ruining arguments of the like not seen since Mario Kart: Double Dash for the Nintendo Gamecube. The lack of an online extension to this vitriol-fuelled multiplayer is the game’s one major failing.
Despite this, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 is an exceptionally fun, exceptionally pretty game that is destined to replace your life in the outside world with warped gridlines and fizzing neon. It is not just one of the best games available on Xbox Live Arcade: it is one of the best games available for the Xbox 360. Not bad for a series which began as a hidden extra five years ago.