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Geometry Wars: Galaxies
Has Geometry Wars made the transition to Wii as well as you hoped?
December 13, 2007 | 8:33 PM PSTAMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game's About
Back with Project Gotham Racing 2, Bizarre Creations stumbled upon success where it probably didn't expect it. The developer included an Easter egg in the racer – a game called Geometry Wars. The top-down old-school shooter quickly became popular amongst gamers, and Bizarre produced a sequel just in time for the Xbox 360 launch, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. Although the original Geometry Wars was a respectable, fun game, Evolved was far and away a better version, thanks to its awesome theme song, gorgeous HD visuals and fine-tuned design. Indeed, for a while, many hailed the old-school shooter as the best Xbox 360 launch title – quite ironic for a $5 downloadable game on what Microsoft touted as the premiere high-def next-gen gaming platform.
Fast forward to today, and we have Geometry Wars: Galaxies for Wii. As you might expect, the core gameplay in Galaxies is fundamentally unchanged from either of the other two Geometry Wars games. However, Kuju Entertainment – the developer of the game – has made some noticeable additions to the mix. While the proceeding Geometry Wars games featured just one level, Galaxies features over 64. These levels are split into different galaxies, which you'll unlock by earning geoms, the game's currency. What's more, there are new enemy types, a new drone system and new multiplayer modes to master. This is by far the biggest of the Geometry Wars games. It's just not up for debate.
What's Hot
As any Geometry Wars fan will tell you, the Geometry Wars formula is simple but remarkably fun. For the most part, Galaxies plays just like past games in the franchise. The goal is to survive an endless onslaught of enemies, which will increase in volume every time you kill an enemy. You control a claw-shaped ship and use either laser-based fire or bombs while you try to maneuver your way around the map without being touched by anything. Everything takes place from a top-down perspective, and while the premise sounds simple enough and appears simple enough in the beginning, before long your screen will be littered in a variety of different enemies. Like in the other Wars games, the formula is rather addicting. When you first start playing, you'll probably only last a couple of minutes before you die and get a game over. The next round, you'll last a little longer. And the next, even longer. Eventually, you'll find that you can't put the controller down because you'll want to try "just one more round." Indeed, like the other Geometry Wars games, Galaxies is nearly impossible to stop playing once you get going.
There are two main things that Kuju has done with Galaxies that sets it apart from its predecessors. First, the dev has expanded upon the primitive one level that's in the other games. Galaxies features 64 different levels, each shaped and colored differently from the last. It's hard not to appreciate the huge number of levels, and we hope future installments in the series will adopt this improvement. Second, the developer has introduced a new mechanic to the franchise, the drone. While in past Geometry Wars you played by yourself on-screen, now you have a sidekick – a drone – that can be upgraded over time. What's particularly cool about the drone is that you can change its behavior with these upgrades. For example, you can switch between having an offensive drone or a defensive one. The addition of the drone adds some appreciated depth to the experience. In addition to both the huge number of levels and the drone, there are plenty of new enemies to get to know, too. Each of these features its own unique behavior style and brings new challenges to the table.
More levels and new enemies are not the only thing Geometry Wars: Galaxies does differently, though. The game introduces something new to the franchise: multiplayer. It supports both versus play, in which you compete against a friend for the highest score, and co-op play, in which you and a friend team-up to get the highest score possible. Both multiplayer modes make great additions to the Geometry Wars franchise, allowing multiple people to get in on the fun at the same time.
Geometry Wars: Galaxies
What's Not
As a game developer, the advantage of using the Wii as your platform is supposed to be the system's unique controls. However, as we're learning with the platform, not all games and genres are improved by the Wii-mote. While we wouldn't say Geometry Wars is one of those games that's ruined by the Wii controller, we won't say it's revolutionized by it, either. In truth, the pointing controls actually work decently. It's unfortunate, though, because they just don't work as well as an analog stick does for the franchise. Pointing feels good, initially, but in the hectic mess of enemies on-screen, it's easy to lose track of where your laser-sight reticule is. This can result in more than a few unwanted (and unneeded, not to mention) deaths. Thankfully, you can plug in the Classic Controller and play with it if you don't like the Wii controls.
Gameplay-wise, this is the most developed Geometry Wars yet, so we can't complain about much as far as that goes. However, when it comes to graphics, Galaxies is a serious step backwards. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved supported high-def resolutions, which meant things looked crisper, sharper and just better overall. In contrast, Galaxies looks blurrier and lacks detail. What made Evolved such a dazzling experience was its graphics. Unfortunately, that part of the experience is lost with Galaxies.
Last but not least, the worst part about Galaxies is its price point. At $39.99, it's overpriced. Sure, this version of Geometry Wars is the most advanced yet, but it's not quite worth that much money.
Final Word
Geometry Wars: Galaxies is definitely the biggest and most-developed Geometry Wars yet. With 64 different levels, new enemies, the new drone buddy system, multiplayer modes and online leader boards, it's hard not to like Galaxies – especially if you're a Geometry Wars fans. Unfortunately, the Wii IR controls don't work as well as the original dual analog controls. Are the controls bad? Far from it. But they're not revolutionary, either. The bigger problem, though, is the $39.99 price of admission. If you're an absolute Geometry Wars fan – like we are – then you'll undoubtedly enjoy this Wii title. However, if you can rent the game, we recommend that over purchasing it. It's a lot of fun, but it's too expensive for us. Give it a rent and decide for yourself if you're fan enough to drop $40 on it.
What the Game's About
Back with Project Gotham Racing 2, Bizarre Creations stumbled upon success where it probably didn't expect it. The developer included an Easter egg in the racer – a game called Geometry Wars. The top-down old-school shooter quickly became popular amongst gamers, and Bizarre produced a sequel just in time for the Xbox 360 launch, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. Although the original Geometry Wars was a respectable, fun game, Evolved was far and away a better version, thanks to its awesome theme song, gorgeous HD visuals and fine-tuned design. Indeed, for a while, many hailed the old-school shooter as the best Xbox 360 launch title – quite ironic for a $5 downloadable game on what Microsoft touted as the premiere high-def next-gen gaming platform.
Fast forward to today, and we have Geometry Wars: Galaxies for Wii. As you might expect, the core gameplay in Galaxies is fundamentally unchanged from either of the other two Geometry Wars games. However, Kuju Entertainment – the developer of the game – has made some noticeable additions to the mix. While the proceeding Geometry Wars games featured just one level, Galaxies features over 64. These levels are split into different galaxies, which you'll unlock by earning geoms, the game's currency. What's more, there are new enemy types, a new drone system and new multiplayer modes to master. This is by far the biggest of the Geometry Wars games. It's just not up for debate.
What's Hot
As any Geometry Wars fan will tell you, the Geometry Wars formula is simple but remarkably fun. For the most part, Galaxies plays just like past games in the franchise. The goal is to survive an endless onslaught of enemies, which will increase in volume every time you kill an enemy. You control a claw-shaped ship and use either laser-based fire or bombs while you try to maneuver your way around the map without being touched by anything. Everything takes place from a top-down perspective, and while the premise sounds simple enough and appears simple enough in the beginning, before long your screen will be littered in a variety of different enemies. Like in the other Wars games, the formula is rather addicting. When you first start playing, you'll probably only last a couple of minutes before you die and get a game over. The next round, you'll last a little longer. And the next, even longer. Eventually, you'll find that you can't put the controller down because you'll want to try "just one more round." Indeed, like the other Geometry Wars games, Galaxies is nearly impossible to stop playing once you get going.
There are two main things that Kuju has done with Galaxies that sets it apart from its predecessors. First, the dev has expanded upon the primitive one level that's in the other games. Galaxies features 64 different levels, each shaped and colored differently from the last. It's hard not to appreciate the huge number of levels, and we hope future installments in the series will adopt this improvement. Second, the developer has introduced a new mechanic to the franchise, the drone. While in past Geometry Wars you played by yourself on-screen, now you have a sidekick – a drone – that can be upgraded over time. What's particularly cool about the drone is that you can change its behavior with these upgrades. For example, you can switch between having an offensive drone or a defensive one. The addition of the drone adds some appreciated depth to the experience. In addition to both the huge number of levels and the drone, there are plenty of new enemies to get to know, too. Each of these features its own unique behavior style and brings new challenges to the table.
More levels and new enemies are not the only thing Geometry Wars: Galaxies does differently, though. The game introduces something new to the franchise: multiplayer. It supports both versus play, in which you compete against a friend for the highest score, and co-op play, in which you and a friend team-up to get the highest score possible. Both multiplayer modes make great additions to the Geometry Wars franchise, allowing multiple people to get in on the fun at the same time.
Geometry Wars: Galaxies
What's Not
As a game developer, the advantage of using the Wii as your platform is supposed to be the system's unique controls. However, as we're learning with the platform, not all games and genres are improved by the Wii-mote. While we wouldn't say Geometry Wars is one of those games that's ruined by the Wii controller, we won't say it's revolutionized by it, either. In truth, the pointing controls actually work decently. It's unfortunate, though, because they just don't work as well as an analog stick does for the franchise. Pointing feels good, initially, but in the hectic mess of enemies on-screen, it's easy to lose track of where your laser-sight reticule is. This can result in more than a few unwanted (and unneeded, not to mention) deaths. Thankfully, you can plug in the Classic Controller and play with it if you don't like the Wii controls.
Gameplay-wise, this is the most developed Geometry Wars yet, so we can't complain about much as far as that goes. However, when it comes to graphics, Galaxies is a serious step backwards. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved supported high-def resolutions, which meant things looked crisper, sharper and just better overall. In contrast, Galaxies looks blurrier and lacks detail. What made Evolved such a dazzling experience was its graphics. Unfortunately, that part of the experience is lost with Galaxies.
Last but not least, the worst part about Galaxies is its price point. At $39.99, it's overpriced. Sure, this version of Geometry Wars is the most advanced yet, but it's not quite worth that much money.
Final Word
Geometry Wars: Galaxies is definitely the biggest and most-developed Geometry Wars yet. With 64 different levels, new enemies, the new drone buddy system, multiplayer modes and online leader boards, it's hard not to like Galaxies – especially if you're a Geometry Wars fans. Unfortunately, the Wii IR controls don't work as well as the original dual analog controls. Are the controls bad? Far from it. But they're not revolutionary, either. The bigger problem, though, is the $39.99 price of admission. If you're an absolute Geometry Wars fan – like we are – then you'll undoubtedly enjoy this Wii title. However, if you can rent the game, we recommend that over purchasing it. It's a lot of fun, but it's too expensive for us. Give it a rent and decide for yourself if you're fan enough to drop $40 on it.
February 8, 2010
