Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved

"The Halo of Xbox Live Arcade"

If you own an Xbox, it's probably because of Halo 2. If you own a 360, it's probably because of the promise of Halo 3. If you buy Points, it's probably because of Geometry Wars. You see, Geometry Wars is the game that all of the other Xbox Live Arcade games try to emulate; everyone bought Geometry Wars, and so came Crystal Quest, Mutant Storm, and the additions of Smash TV and Robotron.

Story - 10/10
As a fearless little white ship, you are tasked with saving the world from thousands of multicolored shapes. The ending made me cry.

Graphics - 8/10
Obviously I can't rank the graphics on the same scale as other 360 games, seeing how this is a $5 two-dimensional arcade title. But the graphics here are as good as they could be. Sparks fly, neon bullets blow enemies to pieces, and the background ripples with every shot. It looks mesmerizing. The game uses flashy-yet-simple vector graphics much like a Kenta Cho game would use (Google it).

Sound - 6/10
The sound is decent. All of the necessary explosion and gunfire sounds are here, although the music always follows the same beat and only slightly ever changes. The music won't change until you're a little further into the game, and by the time you notice you'll already be dead.

Gameplay - 9/10
For a 400-point ($5) game, Geometry Wars offers some of the best gameplay around. There's really no contest here; other 400-point games include Galaga and Pac-Man, which you can probably find in a compilation along with other games for $4 at Gamestop/EB. Basically the idea of Geometry Wars is to shoot all of the shapes until they overtake you and you die. There are plenty of "Oh ****!!" moments, as enemies will often spawn rapidly from the corners of the stage or, worse, appear in a circle right around your ship. Some ships will charge for you, others will evade your shots, snakes are ships that must be shot in the head, and then there are black holes (red-colored actually) that repel shots and attract ships. Then there are tiny blue ones that are more numerous and quicker than your bullets. All of these together make for an extremely cool and challenging game.

Replay - 8/10
Competing with your friends for high scores is the only reason you'll want to replay this. There are a few achievements, and all but two of them are pretty difficult to unlock. Of course, there are only two modes: Retro and Evolved. Retro is the original Geometry Wars game while Evolved is the one you'll actually play. So really, this game is fun in short bursts, easily replayable, and not very demanding time-wise; the perfect Xbox Live Arcade game.

So in conclusion, Geometry Wars Evolved is probably the best Xbox Live Arcade game out there. I have three (Marble Blast Ultra, UNO, and this) and I've tried most of the demos, and GWE beats all of them pretty easily. And at 400 points, there's nothing stopping you.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/13/06