I loved the first Geometry Wars (Retro Evolved to give it it’s full title) which has been out for ages on XBLA. The sequel came out on Wednesday and it easily surpasses the original. Geoms are now dropped by each shot enemy which changes the gameplay ever so slightly. Collect geoms to increase your multiplier. There are also a couple of new enemies. Rockets fire both horizontally and vertically across the playfield which I’m sure is added to stop you rolling clockwise through the game racking up points. Local multi-player has been added but the biggest addition is there are now six different game modes.
- Deadline: Score as many points in three minutes. You get unlimited lives but if you want a decent score don’t die.
- King:One life and no bombs. Safety zones appear randomly which enemies cannot enter while the player can only fire and cannot collect Geoms while inside a zone. The zone shrinks and disappears a short time after it is entered, forcing you to move zone to zone. Think strategic chicken.
- Evolved: Similar in style to Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, score as many points as possible with no time limit. The old classic but with more enemies on screen than before. I think.
- Pacifism: One life and cannot shoot. Fly through gates to destroy nearby enemies, and earn extra bonus points by flying through gates in rapid succession.
- Waves: You have one life and must avoid and destroy waves of rockets that fly horizontally and vertically from the edges of the playfield.
- Sequence: Twenty levels, each with a predetermined pattern of enemies. You have thirty seconds to destroy all of the enemies in each level. If the player loses a life, they are taken directly to the next level, but the game ends if the player loses all of their lives.
Each of these is pretty unique and add’s a depth and variety that the first game didn’t have. Also polished is the graphics and sound. Screenshots are pretty pointless as they don’t show the game in motion. When the screen is busy the game looks amazing. So colourful, no slowdown, all in HD. Sound has also stepped up from the original - each mode has it’s own soundtrack which fit so well, especially deadline.
However Geometry Wars claim to fame was it’s gameplay and that’s been retained…in spades. Even more so with the new modes which only add to it’s charms. There’s also some subtle little touches that add to the game. It supports online scoreboards which can be accessed as usual but while playing each of the modes your friends highest scores, not yours, alongside their name is displayed at the top right of the screen. Just to niggle you that bit more as you try and better them. Genius.
This game is like a drug. Each and every time you have just one more go, each and every time thinking you can better that score. For me it’s as pure a game as you can get. Simple, addictive and great to play. Remember that this only costs 800 gamerpoints…£6 or so. Unmissable.
Why has the games industry compressed a year long sales window into three months? Take the 360 for example. From January to end of August the only games I bought were GRAW2, Crackdown and Forza 2 alongside a few Live Arcade titles.
In the September to November months this is the likely list of games I want to buy:
- Bioshock - bought
- Tiger Woods 08 - bought
- Madden 08 - bought
- Halo3
- PGR4
- Orange Box
- Pro Evo 2008
- Call of Duty 4
- Mass Effect
- Assassins Creed
That is just too many in a short space of time and also leaves out games like Skate and Sega Rally which have OK’ish demo’s but are lost in amongst the flurry. I understand it’s holiday time but surely having so many AAA titles launching in the same period can only hurt there sales. Imagine how crowded it would have been if GTA IV was launching in October? It would certainly make more sense to stagger these releases over the year. Well more sense to me as it owuld give me more time to enjoy each game.
However this is shaping up to be a vintage year for games. The game’s over the last few weeks have been excellent. The Call of Duty 4 beta has been a superb taster for the game, Halo 3 is out on a few days and in October alone PGR4 and Pro Evo 8 are both big big titles. Only caveat with Pro Evo is that the demo is a little odd. It plays faster than previous versions and that can end with real pinball sessions in the box. Still, it’s smoother and a lot prettier than previous versions although no doubt online will still have some issues. It also has a dive button. Finally.
You’ll notice there’s no mention of the PS3. A few of the games above are also out on the PS3 but due to Xbox Live and also friends with 360’s it makes sense to get the 360 versions of the non exclusive games. Heavenly Sword was pretty disappointing and Metal Gear Solid, Little Big Planet and GTA IV are delayed until next year. So what’s left for PS3? Killzone 2 does look very nice and Uncharted - Drakes Fortune picked up a lot of buzz at E3 but both would need pretty stellar reviews to make them purchases. There is also a bigger demo version of GT5 that does promise online racing for up to 16. I’d normally be sceptical of those numbers but Warhawk has been a great multiplayer game on the PS3 with 24 and 32 player games. Server support makes all the difference and hopefully it will come to Xbox Live soon, especially as it’s a paid for service unlike PS3 which is free.
So next up is Halo 3. Considering I was playing Halo 2 over two years after release there’s an argument that I should only be picking up one more title this year. I’ll post up some thoughts on Halo next week…if I get time that is.
A guy at work is still trying to source a Wii so I gave CA Games a ring. Phone will not accept incoming calls. Oh - thats strange - they must have changed their number. A quick visit to the website brought the sad news that they have gone out of business.
Most gamers outside Glasgow probably don’t recognise CA Games but for me and a few friends it was THE import games shop in Glasgow. In a time before the internet had taken off it was the place to get import consoles and games at vastly inflated prices. Maybe it was the internet competition that finally did for the shop but there was many an hour spent in CA Games and many (too many) pounds spent in the pursuit of gaming happiness. Thats another local temptation that has been removed. Still, there’s always Loud and Clear if I feel the need for instant gadget gratification. Plus an Apple store coming soon. Saved.
Lot’s of pre-order’s flying around for the PS3 and while I’m a little tempted there are lot’s of reasons why I’m not buying a PS3.
- Cost. It’s £425. Thats a lot of money. Add on HDMI cable, another joypad, couple of games and your at £550. Ouch.
- Games. There’s not much on the first day of release or near horizon that I’m desperate to play. If Wipeout had been a day one title I’d have gladly handed over my cash, but it’s not out until next year. There’s very few exclusives that are bound for PS3 only - even GTA4 will be released on 360/PS3 on the same day.
- Online play looks to be well behind that of Xbox Live. Although it’s free the online service lacks the uniformity of Live. Some games support online play, and only some of those support in game voice. Even then there’s no official headset although USB headsets and most bluetooth headsets work well (allegedly). In certain games voice chat makes all the difference, from lifting the strategy in FPS to making a much more social experience in Tiger Woods or PES6.
- Joypad. The biggest form of interaction with a console and yet Sony have stuck with the trusty dual shock minus the shock. No rumble in the pads removes a fairly important feedback mechanism. Think of the different rumbles in Gran Turismo - how can that be replaced? Shame. The pad is also ergonomically inferior to the 360 pad. It would have been good if Sony had tried to innovate instead of copying the 360 guide button and throwing in some motion detection similar to the Wii. I wonder if the dead zones on the Sony joypads have been removed? Still, at least they are wireless and allegedly lighter than the PS2 pads.
- Competition. 360 has some fine games coming out in the next 3-4 months - Crackdown, GRAW2, Mass Effect, Forza 2 plus Halo 3 beta. More than enough to keep me busy. Also most of my online Live buddies aren’t getting a PS3 and I want to continue gaming with them, hence making the 360 the platform of choice.
The above was written around the start of last week and I never got round to finishing it off and publishing until now. However since writing the above I’ve pre-ordered a PS3 and I’m looking forward to it arriving at the end of March. The call of the new, the gadget envy etc etc was enough for me to buy. Motorstorm does look good, playing on the online service should be interesting, interactivity with the PSP promises much (but will undoubtedly deliver little) and Blu-Ray is a nice addition. Be interesting to see how Linux runs on it and also how it streams data (if at all) from other devices. We might also see a console version of Pro Evo that doesn’t suck online and also doesn’t stutter like Gareth Gates. Thats a bit harsh as my recent online games have been very good - the stutter however is inexcusable.
So there you have it. Lot’s of reasons not to buy a PS3 that I’ve plainly ignored. Still time to cancel though…or cash in on EBay if there is a drought at launch.
Getting over the initial urge is the biggest hurdle on holding off for version 2. Christmas is next followed by official app’s in Feb.
