Geometry Wars remains a favorite
Xbox Live Arcade game because it is not only easy to play but it becomes more
challenging with each enemy destroyed. It is this highly addictive gameplay that
makes it perfect for the portable gaming space. Many people may wonder how the
developers can justify the price increase; it is around $5 on Xbox Live but $30
for the Nintendo DS. The answer to that question is the amount of depth that
this game now contains.
In the original game players are in
open space and they must destroy as many enemies as they can without dying. To
aid players they are given a couple of lives, bombs, and a never-ending supply
of bullets to destroy any enemy threat. Galaxies takes a more structured
approach. Instead of one big level to play in, players will go through various
worlds killing off enemy threats, and as each world is beaten the difficulty
level goes up.
Once the game is loaded players will
notice there are several modes to choose from. The first is the single-player
campaign mode called Galaxies. The next mode is entitled Retro Evolved, which is
the exact same game that can be played on Live Arcade. The last mode is
multiplayer, and once a connection has been established, there are several game
modes to choose from. The first game type is a co-op game where two players
battle together sharing the same lives, weapons, and score. In verses mode one
player controls the ship and the other player dishes out enemies trying to
destroy them. The last mode is called simultaneous where each player is given
their own ships with the purpose of seeing who can get the highest score.
There are two features that are
exclusive to the Galaxies mode: Drones and Geoms. The drone is an AI craft that
will help players fight the onslaught of enemies. Drones can be fitted with
various behavior types, and each helps players with a certain task. The initial
behavior is to attack all enemies, but soon players will have the ability to
purchase snipers, act as bait, and other behaviors that will make players wonder
how they ever played the game without using a drone. The more players use a
certain behavior the more powerful it will become.
Geoms act as the in-game currency
that allows players to upgrade their drones or buy access to new solar systems.
In addition, Geoms also act as the score multiplier, which puts a new twist on
the game. In order to get higher scores players need to obtain score
multipliers, but in order to get them, they will have to risk leaving their
location to try to collect them. Sometimes it becomes really challenging as they
end up in the middle of a spawn point, but having change really makes the
gameplay more frantic and addictive.
The biggest adjustment to this game
is getting accustomed to the new control scheme, especially if players have
played on Xbox Live. On the Xbox players use the dual analog to steer the ship
and shoot the enemies on the screen. Since the DS doesn’t have an analog stick
an alternative control system was devised. There are several different control
schemes the developers made for this game, but the best one is to use the d-pad
to move the ship around and the touch screen to shoot the enemies. The main
problem with this setup is after playing the game for a while, players hands
might start to cramp up.
Geometry Wars: Galaxies looks pretty
good on the Nintendo DS. The game does not pop out as much as it does on other
systems, but it still looks really nice. The developers used a good color palate
to make everything standout really well. The game also has very nice particle
effects that help compensate for the lack of HD graphics. The only real issue
with this game is when there are numerous enemies on the screen, players will
encounter slowdown, but it doesn’t happen often enough in the game to become
annoying or too distracting.
The more things change the more they
remain the same. This holds true because just like previous versions of this
game, the soundtrack players will hear is full of generic techno music. While
this music might annoy certain players, it never gets to the point where it is
overly annoying. The sound effects are decent for this game, but ever so often
the audio will seemly “turn off” for a moment when the fighting gets really
hectic. Having the sound effects and music disappear can be distracting, but the
frantic gameplay prevents players from caring about it too much when it does.
Another nice addition to this game
is that it also can connect to the Nintendo Wii. If players own both the Wii
Version and the Nintendo DS version of Geometry Wars: Galaxies, an extra world
will be unlocked in both games for players to enjoy.
Geometry Wars: Galaxies is rated for
everyone.
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Gameplay: 8.0
Geometry Wars: Galaxies is perfect for on-the-go
gamers. The only flaw is that this game is made for a dual analog setup, while
the touch screen works, it just is not as smooth of an experience.
Graphics: 7.6
It is hard to be fair to the graphical section of this game due to the
fact that many players might have already played this game in all of its HD
glory on the Xbox 360. Even though this is the case, it really does a decent job
with the Nintendo DS hardware. The only issue with this game is the slowdown
that will occur when there are numerous enemies on the screen.
Sound: 7.0
The generic techno music that has been in the previous games returns
and provides a decent experience.
Difficulty: Medium
This game is easy to get into, but the further the game goes the more
challenging it becomes.
Concept: 8.0
The game really benefits now that it is in a more structured
environment. The developers also succeeded by adding in loads of bonus features
including the Xbox Live version of the game: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved.
Multiplayer N/A
At the time of this review I was unable to test the multiplayer aspects
of this game.
Overall: 7.8
Geometry Wars is a highly addictive title that has captivated many Xbox
360 gamers for a long time. The Nintendo DS version is even better because it
allows gamers to get their fix anywhere. The only two issues are the control
scheme is not as good and many gamers might not be able to justify the higher
price. All of the new features really justify the price tag.
