I was always better at real geometry
Not so good at Geometry Wars. Although I’m much better so far at Geometry Wars 2 than I ever was at the original game. I’m pretty sure it’s those geoms that keep me going. I’m a sucker for collecting things.
The internet’s been afire with talk of this new Geometry-based war over the last couple of weeks. Most of it from Mitch Krpata. I thought I’d fan the flames a little.
Most critics have been praising the hell out of the integrated leaderboards. I can see the potential value in this carrot-and-stick feature to entice players to keep at it even when they don’t want to, but I don’t have enough friends to make effective use of it. Until more friends buy the game, I’m left to chase Steve’s scores.
The 5 new modes each add an interesting layer to the gameplay and force you to into unique styles of play you may have never used before. In the original, the strategy was to hug the walls of the grid and go round and round, always shooting behind you. The score multiplier “geoms” force you out of that routine. If you want to oust folks from your leaderboard, you’ll have to put yourself in danger to gather the geoms. The highest multiplier I’ve attained yet in Deadline mode was about 600, and well over 1000 in Pacifism mode.
The multiplayer modes are clutch. This gives us another arcade/party game to play at my house aside from Rock Band. You can play 4-player Vs. mode with any permutation of players and sides, co-op mode, or “co-pilots” mode, where one player drives, the other shoots. We haven’t popped in with more than 2 players (I only have 2 controllers), but I’m eager to try out 3 or 4 on the 47″ TV. It’d probably be utter insanity in Deadline mode.
This franchise is ripe for some DLC. Instead of waiting years between major releases, I want Bizarre to create like a $5 downloadable pack with new modes and options. Maybe some options like different upgradeable weapons or levels of different shapes (like they’ve already done in Geometry Wars: Galaxies). They could probably even do some kind of level creator. They’ve already done more than the traditional “two-stick shooter,” so hopefully they’ll take the ball even further.
If you’re chasing high scores and need some assistance, try out Tom Chick’s GW2 hardware mod. It helps. And for fantastic footage of GW2 in all it’s bloomful glory, check this out.
Update: Steve’s beaten my scores since I wrote the above. The bastard.
Tags: geometry wars 2, high score
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