[Game Review] Geometry Wars: Galaxies

Geometry Wars had its humble beginnings as a mini game in Project Gotham Racing 2 for the original Xbox. Since then, it has grown, or rather “evolved”, into many different versions on many different platforms.

I’ve had my Wii since launch day, but my library is still really dry (especially compared my GameCube collection). I’ve only bought 6 retail games in the 3 years I’ve had it. The last game I bought was Super Smash Bros. Brawl on March 9th, 2008. There are two games I wanted to rent this year, MadWorld and The Conduit, but my Blockbuster doesn’t carry either of them (g**d*****). It’s quite imbecilic that they don’t have two of the most popular games on Wii, but they carry Barbie and other games that only kids under the age of five would play. Even though The Conduit is supposed to be really good, I don’t like FPS games, which is why I only want to rent it. But MadWorld is pretty cheap now, so I’m probably going to buy it soon.

Anyway, since no other good Wii games are coming out this year, except for New Super Mario Bros. Wii, I needed some game(s) to hold me over until Tatsunoko vs. Capcom comes stateside in January 2010.

I’ve rented Geometry Wars: Galaxies in the past, and I thought it was a great deal for its price, so I went ahead and bought it. I think the best way to describe Geometry Wars is “Asteroids on crack.” The original version of the game, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, came out on Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 in 2005 (two years after the demo in PGR 2). It was such a hit, that they released it on PC in 2007; but Wii owners were lucky because we got Geometry Wars: Galaxies!

If you want to know what makes this game so much better than the original Geometry Wars: Well, it’s a full retail game! Similar to how Resident Evil 4: Wii edition was the “complete” version of RE4, Geometry Wars: Galaxies is like the “complete” version of Geometry Wars. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, as fun and addictive as it was, was only one single level that you played over and over and over again, trying to get a high score.

Geometry Wars: Galaxies on Wii, just as the tile says, is a whole GALAXY of levels. So take the fun of Retro Evolved and multiply it by 60 LEVELS! Each level is different from the next: some are different shapes, some have obstacles in the way, some have different conditions (like no bombs or only 1 life), but most of all, they have different enemies! That’s right, while Retro Evolved only had 8 different enemy types, Galaxies has 24! So you’re getting 60 times more levels and 3 times more enemies. Also in Galaxies, a drone will assist you in battle. Before the level starts, you can set it on a certain mode such as Attack, Defend, Snipe, Collect, Bait etc. The more the drone uses a certain ability, the more experience it will gain, and it will eventually level up and becoming increasingly efficient at its task. As you defeat enemies, they will drop Geoms that you must collect. Not only will it increase your multiplier to gain more points, but this is the game’s currency and how you unlock more levels (or “planets”). Add to this that ALL 60 levels have their own online LEADERBOARD, and this game is sure to keep you busy for a long time.

The only drawback this game has is that it can get repetitive after awhile. Essentially you’re doing the same thing, destroying enemies and going for the high score, but the variation of levels, enemies, collecting Geoms to unlock planets, and leveling up your drone makes the game much more entertaining than its predecessor. If by chance you want take a break from single-player mode and you have two controllers, then you and a buddy can play either cooperatively or competitively.

Also, did I mention that Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved (the original Xbox 360 version) is included with this game?

Score: 85%