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Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 Review - Xbox 360

When Geometry Wars first hit the Xbox LIVE Arcade marketplace, it took the Xbox LIVE audience by storm. The possibilities that the game presented boosted the Xbox LIVE Arcade service in to the blossoming experience that it is today. Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 brings several new game modes, gorgeous graphics, offline multiplayer and a competitive online leader board, and truly upstages the first game in every way possible. Read on to find out why you should spend 800 Microsoft Points on one of the best Xbox Live Arcade releases this year.

Gameplay

For those that have never played a Geometry Wars game before, it’s fairly easy to learn. You use the control sticks, and occasionally the right or left trigger to drop a bomb. The left control stick is to move in whichever direction you push, and the right control stick is to shoot in whichever direction you push. It sounds simple, but with dozens of enemies swarming around you it gets hectic very quickly.  What separates Retro Evolved 2 from previous Geometry Wars games is the new gameplay modes, and Geoms. Geoms spawn whenever you kill an enemy, and you have to collect them all to gain a higher score. Every Geom you collect increases the amount of points you get for each kill, which means that if you can survive long enough, your score will increase at an amazingly exponential rate. This makes the leader boards very interesting, as you can only get a score of few thousand, or hundreds of millions, and it all depends on the Geoms.

Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 features six different gameplay modes, which are all accessible via singleplayer as well as multiplayer. Some of the modes are from previous Geometry Wars games, Project Gotham 4 fans will be glad to see a Waves mode, while fans of the original should be interested to hear the return of Evolved mode, and also a mode called Deadline which is basically Evolved but with a time limit.

The other three game modes are what seperates Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 from any other Geometry Wars game. King mode is the first unique mode that you will come across, where the task of survival becomes even harder. There are circle shields which spawn all around the map and it’s up to you to make it from circle to circle safely, as you can’t shoot when you’re not in one. The circles turn green once you enter, and three seconds later they turn red and then shrink to nothing, so you have to keep on your toes while destroying all the enemies around you to create a safe path to the next circle. Fortunately the enemies can’t enter the circles.

Pacifism is the next game mode that fans would be unfamiliar with. In Pacifism you can’t shoot at all. There aren’t any circle shielded areas where you can shoot, it’s up to you to maneuver around as best as you (continued next page)