Geometry Wars: Galaxies

Published on: 11th May, 2009

Geometry Wars: Galaxies  | read this item

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At its core, Geometry Wars: Galaxies is pretty much the same as Retro Evolved on the 360, and that’s a good thing. You still pilot the same old claw-shaped ship and must survive never-ending waves of hostile shapes that attack you from every angle for as long as possible. Dodging death by mere pixels, while blasting your way through swarms of enemies amidst the colorful chaos is still mesmerizing on the Wii, but does Galaxies have enough meat to warrant the price of a full game? After all, part of what made Retro Evolved so sweet on the 360 was that it was a steal, costing only $5.00/£3.40 on Xbox LIVE.

Fortunately, developer Kuju Entertainment has fattened up Galaxies significantly, with extra treats and smart tweaks that makes for a Geometry Wars experience that’s less frustrating, more engaging and really, really, hard.

The long list of new maps helps Galaxies break free from the one-level world of Retro Evolved. These new areas add loads of replay value with lots of unusual twists that change things up enough to keep the game fresh with warp points, Pac-Man-esque mazes, moving walls, or (our favorite) a black hole that spins objects on the screen like a washing machine. Flying with – and then against – the invisible current as it pushes and pulls you around while enemies swirl past you haphazardly feels great and looks awesome.
Drones that aid you in battle also add flavor to each round. Some guard your back with a spray of bullets, while others circle your ship and shield you from danger. As you fight more battles these companions gain XP and become more powerful.

The scoring system has also been tweaked. Fallen foes now drop Geoms that increase your score multiplier and help you unlock new levels and more types of Drones. Geoms don’t hang around on the screen for long, and you’ll have to get close to enemies to grab them. This new element of risk and reward works well in Galaxies, and you’ll find yourself trying to take down crowds of enemies at point blank range instead of from the other side of the screen.

Fans will notice a significant drop in the amount of cursing and angry restarts that follow deaths. After you die, extra Geoms to unlock new levels or Drones are waiting for you in the menu, and leveling up your collection of Drones or testing your skills in some of the more challenging levels breaks through the monotony of its predecessors one-level grind.

Multiplayer modes are also available for two players via Wi-fi, and some of them are quite inventive. Although Co-op mode, which teams you up with another player with shared lives, bombs, and score on the Retro Evolved map seems a little bland, the DS’ Versus and Simultaneous modes more than make up for it.

In Versus mode, one player gets to play as a sort of geometric dungeon master who selects and places enemy shapes on his opponent’s screen. As your enemy shoots more shapes, it’ll refill your stock of bad guys to throw at him. The back and forth between the shape shooter and shape planter works quite well.

Simultaneous puts both players in private stages. As you kill more enemies, you’ll build up your stock of enemy shapes which you can toss to your enemies screen at any time.
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