What I thought would be a dry 24 hours of not playing games was enriched in the final minutes, early this morning, with the pleasant discovery that the new twin-stick shooter "Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2" was available for download over Xbox Live Arcade.
This was great news for me not just because the first "Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved" was my favorite game of the Xbox 360's launch, but because the unheralded "Geometry Wars: Galaxies" on the Wii (classic controller is a must!) was one of my top 10 games of last year.
The new game offers six modes of play, each unlocked after investing putting time in the previous one. I only played three this morning: 1) the three-minute-timed Deadline, 2) a mode called King in which you can only shoot from safety zones that appear and disappear anywhere on the game board -- echoes of dark-world safe zones in "Metroid Prime 2: Echoes" -- and 3) Evolved, which plays similarly to the main mode of "GWRE."
I often start playing sequels in a skeptical and grumpy mood. "GWRE2" suffered from that. My favorite addition from the Wii's "Geometry Wars: Galaxies" was a player's choice of one of several upgradeable partner characters that would orbit you for protection or shoot in the opposite direction, for example. They do not appear to be in "GWRE2." The game did inherit the mechanic of forcing the player to collect score multiplier objects dropped by destroyed enemies, a collection mechanic I'm not sure benefits the game. And the re-mixed and new techno didn't excite me into a twin-stick zapping frenzy as effectively as the simple, thumping soundtrack of "GWRE." So, yeah, that kept me grumpy a little.
Grumpiness can be fleeting, however. The Deadline mode's song is perfectly timed to play out over that segment's three minutes, and there's something aesthetically complete about a shoot-em-up level that is paced to match a song of finite length. See the PS3's "Everyday Shooter" for more proof of that.
A leaderboard change also shows great promise. The first "Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved" was partially my favorite game of the 360 launch because of how effectively it incited leaderboard competition across my friends' list. But I would have to finish a session in the game and then load the leaderboard to see how I was doing, a two-step process that slightly dulled the sting of not topping my friendly rivals. The new game devilishly improves that by putting the name and score of the friend who sits atop my group's leaderboard in the upper right corner of my TV while I'm playing the game. So the whole time I'm battling a swarm of enemies, I'm also seeing that score and the name of the person I need to beat. This small change will likely keep me coming back for more.
I have half of the game to still unlock, including three new modes to sample and assess. Right now, "Geometry Wars: Galaxies" remains my favorite in the series. I like those partner ships too much. And for twin-stick spectacle, I may still be an Endless Mode "Super Stardust HD" man. That game displaced "GWRE" for pure dazzle months ago. The new "Geometry Wars" could, however, be the new focus of my competitive urges. And the three modes I still have to unlock could push this game to the top of the "GW" list. We'll see.
Next: I need more "Siren." Tonight? If "Retro Evolved 2" doesn't pull me back in, sure!
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