Geometry Wars: Galaxies Review

Starting off as a one-man's addition to Xbox's Project Gotham Racing 2, the Geometry Wars series has managed to evolve through the subsequent iterations of Bizarre Creations' kudos racer, and has gone on to become one the most popular titles on Xbox Live Arcade since the launch of Xbox 360 in 2005. Taking the top-down shooter to other formats was perhaps something of an inevitability, especially with the gift of hindsight, which is where Geometry Wars: Galaxies comes in. Developed for Wii and Nintendo DS by UK-based Kuju and published by Sierra Entertainment, the game has been expanded to broader levels than the PGR/XBLA-based titles of the past. Even so, there remains one very important question: does Galaxies provide enough substance to warrant a full-blown release?

Shooting Stars

So what's there to say about Geometry Wars? In the same mould as innumerable top-down Asteroids/Space Invaders clones that have emerged since the time man first walked alongside woolly mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers, Geometry Wars sets players the straightforward task of blowing away waves of enemy ships in ever-increasing numbers. And that's about it.

It's the simple frenetic gameplay, coupled with a wide variety of enemy behaviours and intuitive control system, which propelled Geometry Wars as a quick-fix hardcore title. So how has Kuju expanded it beyond just a delightfully simple (yet deceptively addictive) shooter? The 'Galaxies' part of the title comes from the brands new single-player mode, split into several star systems, which are themselves broken up into a range of different planets totalling around fifty. Enabling Kuju to develop a variety of various starfields and enemy tactics, from diamond shapes to levels with moving blocks and everything in between, making it quite different to the bog standard rectangle of the original!

Traversing the game's star systems naturally makes the Geometry Wars experience much more structured than it has been in the past, with an edge of non-linearity added by the ability to unlock any of the systems and their planets in any order - if there's enough moolah in the bank, of course. Building up a sizeable fund is far too easy however, and within a couple of hours half of the systems can be unlocked - along with their planets.

It's not that Galaxies isn't fun, because it is - it just doesn't quite feel as pure as Retro Evolved, and far from being as engaging. The reasons for why the game doesn't match up to its predecessor has more to do with some of the subtle changes Kuju has made to the gameplay than anything else. Adding the notion of Geons - collectable remnants of destroyed enemy ships - to rapidly build up combos of x150 within minutes cheapens what should be an aggressively fiendish experience, one where even getting a x5 multiplayer is challenging enough. As it is, high scores in the millions are fairly straightforward to achieve, even in some of the more wacky arenas that have their own obstacles to contend with. Kuju may have added a risk/reward system thanks to the Geons, enticing players to collect them even when surrounded by other enemies, but they're not the best substitute to have.

It doesn't take any time to see that overall both versions are very similar, although the Wii version at least gets a simplistic re-imagining of the Xbox Live Arcade edition's physics-driven starfield. A static starfield of course remains in the DS version, despite the handheld containing two processors (though obviously without enough grunt required), ensuring that it loses much of the dynamism of the Wii and XBLA releases.

The simple control system of the original game proved to be one of the key hooks, and with the somewhat unique input devices in place on both Wii and Nintendo DS, retaining that system has to have been at the top of Kuju's 'To Do' list. As it turns out, both versions have multiple control systems, though there's only one per format that's any real use - why players would switch to the ones away from the Standard system (which at best can be described as cack-handed), is anyone's guess. At least players do have the option of playing both left and right-handed systems...guess Kuju takes the point of view of equality for all!

Beyond the Galaxies

Kuju has also worked to develop Galaxies away from the new single-player campaign. Two-player multiplayer has been added, taking a new slant at Retro Evolved, together with the rather cheeky measure of one extra galaxy (made up of seven levels) that can only be unlocked when the Wii and DS versions connect to each other. Additionally, there's the bonus of having Retro Evolved built into both DS and Wii editions, which at least shows where Galaxies came from, even if the DS version of RE feels rather unfulfilling. Part of what seems to be an exercise in repositioning the Geometry Wars brand as a standalone title, they're largely gimmicky however, and don't really add anything to the overall release.

In short, Galaxies is Geometry Wars for the masses, though whether the 'masses' will be happy to part with their cold hard cash for what is essentially a bulked up game released for seven quid two years ago, remains questionable. Galaxies could have been the cornerstone to the Wii's Wiiware applications, which are due to begin later in the year. Instead, it's difficult to shake the feeling that it's doomed to obscurity pretty quickly.