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[CtrlAltDestroy]

Geometry Wars: Galaxies
System: Wii
Developer: Kuju Entertainment
Publisher: Sierra
Genre: Arcade action shooter
Players: 2
Year: 2007
Price: $40

Overview:
"It's the last of the triangle wars. You must pilot your ship and kill the deadly square empire in the midnight skies and bring victory to the geometry kingdom."

Okay, maybe not. In fact, Geometry Wars: Galaxies is one of the only action games I've ever played that literally has no plot whatsoever. Not even a trace. Not even the usual blurb of backstory that you'd normally see in the first page of the instruction manual for games like these. But story is clearly not the point at all - this game is simple, uninterrupted, unblemished gameplay boiled down to its purest form. In fact, the title on the box is pretty much what you get in the game: It's about a bunch of shapes in an all-out war to destroy each other. Yes, shapes.

Specifically, it's about two shapes - you, and a friendly invulnerable AI-controlled drone (or a friend, if you're playing co-op) - single-handedly up against an onslaught of evil diamonds, circles, snakes made of squares, pinwheels, and twenty other types of enemies all out to destroy you. And we're not just talking about a simple asteroids experience. Within seconds, the chamber you're trapped in will fill up with hundreds of these. Hundreds and hundreds. Make no mistake - as it says on the box, this is a war.

Now, I know this type of gameplay is not for everyone. Those of you who like games where you can take things slowly and strategically, you can probably turn away now and you won't miss much. But if you like frantic, twitchy, adrenaline-pumping, instinct-driven, I-can't-even-tell-what's-going-on-half-the-time action, then read on. This game might just be for you.

Gameplay:
A conversation I had with my sister as we played co-op mode speaks for itself:

Sister: This game is total madness!!
Me: Madness?! THIS! IS! SPARTA!!
Sister: This game is worse than Sparta. I don't think the people who lived in Sparta would even be able to play this game.

Frantic. Insane. Merciless and completely unfair. All these words to well to describe the gameplay of Geometry Wars. When you're fighting for your life in the grid, you can't blink. There isn't even any time to stop and think about what you will do next - everything is instinctual. Your only thought will be to blast a path through the hordes of diamonds in order to escape to the other side of the map, or destroy the back hole before it goes supernova and releases a bunch of deadly circles. If this is how you like your gameplay, Geometry Wars: Galaxies is tailored just for you.

The concept of Geometry Wars is very simple. You control a tiny ship trapped in a torture chamber "grid". Like asteroids, you can move the ship around in any direction and fire an endless stream of laser pellets. Within seconds, massive amounts of enemy shapes will begin to invade your grid. Your job is to blast them all down to stay alive - just one touch from a wandering blue diamond or spinning purple box, and you're history. Your job is to stay alive for as long as possible and achieve a high score.

...And that's basically it.

...Well, at least this was the concept for Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, the blockbuster hit that swept Xbox Live Arcade and the game on which this is based. For fans, Retro Evolved is also included in Galaxies both on the Wii console and as downloadable software you can beam to your DS anytime you want. But Galaxies is not just some port or remake. No, the developers made sure you'd get your $40 worth for this one.

In Galaxies, there are over 60 different grids to play in 10 solar systems. In each grid, your job is to survive long enough to achieve a high enough score to earn the bronze, silver, and gold medals for that grid. The score thresholds are different for each grid, and so are the styles. Collecting the gold medal in any given grid is a monumental task.

And you're sure to find quite a variety of gameplay: Grids range from big boxes that quickly fill up with enemies, to mazes constantly bombarded with deadly asteroid fields, to diamond-shaped chambers that spawn large enemies which split into many smaller versions of themselves when shot, to circular arenas where all the enemies orbit around a central black hole, to chambers with machines that continually drop mines everywhere which you can use to trigger chain reaction explosions to destroy your enemies for massive points. The variety of grids do well to mix up the gameplay style and make for a different experience each time.

Also, when most enemies die, they drop yellow pickups called "geoms". Geoms are vital to gameplay: They increase your score multiplier up to x150, making it actually possible to earn the medals. But watch out: Lose a life, and your multiplier drops back down to x1. Don't worry, though: With the sheer amount of enemies this game throws at you, you'll be back to up to par in no time. Geoms also double as the game's currency: You can use them to unlock new levels as well as behaviors for your drone.

The drone is another interesting aspect of Galaxies which adds depth and strategy. It has 8 different behaviors ranging from helping you attack, to collecting stray geoms for you, to even luring enemies away from your ship. You choose which drone behavior you want at the start of each grid. But each drone behavior starts at level 1, and needs to be leveled up in order to become truly effective. At level 10, the drone becomes a total killing machine and your best friend who will save your life 10 times in one second.

Graphics:
The graphics in this game are as simplistic as the gameplay: All of the game objects are shapes. But they're all awesome-looking, neon-glowing shapes that explode in a brilliant display of fireworks (and they actually are fireworks) when destroyed. For a game that knew it doesn't have to push polygon limits or draw distances, they did a beautiful job with the 2D graphics. Everything in this game is pure eye candy. Even the grid, which forms the backdrop of every level, moves and flows like water to complement explosions or illustrate changes in gravitational pull. I'd give the graphics a 10/10 for being exactly what they needed to be and being good at it. I honestly can't imagine this game looking any better.

My only gripe with the graphics is that they sometimes get too overboard. It takes a while to even get used to the game - at first, you simply can't see anything or tell what's even going on. You will shoot at your drone because you think it's an enemy, or you will curse because you didn't see that stray diamond that killed you underneath all the superfluous fireworks. But this all just takes some getting used to, and you'll probably be fine. Still, even when you get good, there will be those times when you will jump up and shout "what the heck killed me?!"

Control:
The controls are beautifully responsive and simple, and that's a very fortunate thing considering the type of game this is. However, control could be a slight issue for people.

You have 2 possible control schemes, both with their strengths and weaknesses: The classic controller, or the Wiimote and nunchuck.

If you use the classic controller, you will have a similar experience to playing the original Retro Evolved on the Xbox. The left analog stick moves your ship, the right one shoots (And unlike asteroids, you can shoot in any direction regardless of which way your ship is faced). However, the classic controller has those 8 grooves that cause the stick to slide into one of the 8 cardinal or diagonal directions... if you're not careful, this could throw off your aim in a moment of need.

But if you have a good sensor bar setup, the Wiimote scheme is the way to go. The nunchuck moves the ship, while the Wiimote controls a targeting reticule on the screen, making the game feel much like playing a first person shooter. But if your Wiimote has a history of being jumpy and letting you down, or you just couldn't get that sensor bar set up in the right place for some reason, use the classic controller.

Sound and Music:
The sound effects are not that bad, and that's a good thing because of the sheer amount of time you'll be listening to them. Some of the sound effects you'll recognize from the Stock Bin, while others are new and interesting. There's not really much to say about them... they're nothing special, but not irritating in the slightest.

The music is an action-oriented mixture of trance and techno with some undertones of metal at some points. It's uncatchy and quite forgettable, but complements the gameplay well. If you get tired of the music, or just hate it, you're in luck: you can turn down the music volume and crank your own stuff to boost your fighting spirit.

Extras and Gimmicks:
Aside from the main adventure, there are a few things you can do. You can play the original Retro Evolved or upload it to your DS for on-the-go stylus-controlled play. You can post and view online leaderboards for each grid via Wifi. For multiplayer, you can play 10 extra grids specifically for co-op or survival matches, or you can play Retro Evolved together. I think there's even an option that lets one person play on the Wii and the other on the DS. Finally, you can link with the DS version to unlock the final solar system with the last 10 or so levels.

Conclusion:
Geometry Wars: Galaxies is not for everybody, especially those prone to heart attacks or seizures. Also, if you aren't particularly a fan of especially fast-paced or challenging games, stray away from this one for sure.

But, if your idea of a good time is feeling the constant thrill of total peril and the satisfaction of winning against insurmountable odds, go out and buy this game right now. You won't regret it.

Pros:
+ A nirvana of action-oriented gameplay
+ Tons of varied levels and drone behaviors to add length and depth
+ Nifty 2D graphics which explode (literally) in neon color
+ Beam Retro Evolved to your DS to play anytime
+ Real difficulty, for those who crave it

Cons:
- Control schemes have some small flaws if you can't overcome them
- Visuals can get overly crowded and confusing
- Incredibly boring to watch and impossible to comprehend if you're not playing.
- You need to buy Geometry Wars: Galaxies for DS to unlock the last cluster of levels, always a bummer

Score: 9.6/10

[CtrlAltDestroy]

Geometry Wars: Galaxies
System: Wii
Developer: Kuju Entertainment
Publisher: Sierra
Genre: Arcade action shooter
Players: 2
Year: 2007
Price: $40

Overview:
"It's the last of the triangle wars. You must pilot your ship and kill the deadly square empire in the midnight skies and bring victory to the geometry kingdom."

Okay, maybe not. In fact, Geometry Wars: Galaxies is one of the only action games I've ever played that literally has no plot whatsoever. Not even a trace. Not even the usual blurb of backstory that you'd normally see in the first page of the instruction manual for games like these. But story is clearly not the point at all - this game is simple, uninterrupted, unblemished gameplay boiled down to its purest form. In fact, the title on the box is pretty much what you get in the game: It's about a bunch of shapes in an all-out war to destroy each other. Yes, shapes.

Specifically, it's about two shapes - you, and a friendly invulnerable AI-controlled drone (or a friend, if you're playing co-op) - single-handedly up against an onslaught of evil diamonds, circles, snakes made of squares, pinwheels, and twenty other types of enemies all out to destroy you. And we're not just talking about a simple asteroids experience. Within seconds, the chamber you're trapped in will fill up with hundreds of these. Hundreds and hundreds. Make no mistake - as it says on the box, this is a war.

Now, I know this type of gameplay is not for everyone. Those of you who like games where you can take things slowly and strategically, you can probably turn away now and you won't miss much. But if you like frantic, twitchy, adrenaline-pumping, instinct-driven, I-can't-even-tell-what's-going-on-half-the-time action, then read on. This game might just be for you.

Gameplay:
A conversation I had with my sister as we played co-op mode speaks for itself:

Sister: This game is total madness!!
Me: Madness?! THIS! IS! SPARTA!!
Sister: This game is worse than Sparta. I don't think the people who lived in Sparta would even be able to play this game.

Frantic. Insane. Merciless and completely unfair. All these words to well to describe the gameplay of Geometry Wars. When you're fighting for your life in the grid, you can't blink. There isn't even any time to stop and think about what you will do next - everything is instinctual. Your only thought will be to blast a path through the hordes of diamonds in order to escape to the other side of the map, or destroy the back hole before it goes supernova and releases a bunch of deadly circles. If this is how you like your gameplay, Geometry Wars: Galaxies is tailored just for you.

The concept of Geometry Wars is very simple. You control a tiny ship trapped in a torture chamber "grid". Like asteroids, you can move the ship around in any direction and fire an endless stream of laser pellets. Within seconds, massive amounts of enemy shapes will begin to invade your grid. Your job is to blast them all down to stay alive - just one touch from a wandering blue diamond or spinning purple box, and you're history. Your job is to stay alive for as long as possible and achieve a high score.

...And that's basically it.

...Well, at least this was the concept for Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, the blockbuster hit that swept Xbox Live Arcade and the game on which this is based. For fans, Retro Evolved is also included in Galaxies both on the Wii console and as downloadable software you can beam to your DS anytime you want. But Galaxies is not just some port or remake. No, the developers made sure you'd get your $40 worth for this one.

In Galaxies, there are over 60 different grids to play in 10 solar systems. In each grid, your job is to survive long enough to achieve a high enough score to earn the bronze, silver, and gold medals for that grid. The score thresholds are different for each grid, and so are the styles. Collecting the gold medal in any given grid is a monumental task.

And you're sure to find quite a variety of gameplay: Grids range from big boxes that quickly fill up with enemies, to mazes constantly bombarded with deadly asteroid fields, to diamond-shaped chambers that spawn large enemies which split into many smaller versions of themselves when shot, to circular arenas where all the enemies orbit around a central black hole, to chambers with machines that continually drop mines everywhere which you can use to trigger chain reaction explosions to destroy your enemies for massive points. The variety of grids do well to mix up the gameplay style and make for a different experience each time.

Also, when most enemies die, they drop yellow pickups called "geoms". Geoms are vital to gameplay: They increase your score multiplier up to x150, making it actually possible to earn the medals. But watch out: Lose a life, and your multiplier drops back down to x1. Don't worry, though: With the sheer amount of enemies this game throws at you, you'll be back to up to par in no time. Geoms also double as the game's currency: You can use them to unlock new levels as well as behaviors for your drone.

The drone is another interesting aspect of Galaxies which adds depth and strategy. It has 8 different behaviors ranging from helping you attack, to collecting stray geoms for you, to even luring enemies away from your ship. You choose which drone behavior you want at the start of each grid. But each drone behavior starts at level 1, and needs to be leveled up in order to become truly effective. At level 10, the drone becomes a total killing machine and your best friend who will save your life 10 times in one second.

Graphics:
The graphics in this game are as simplistic as the gameplay: All of the game objects are shapes. But they're all awesome-looking, neon-glowing shapes that explode in a brilliant display of fireworks (and they actually are fireworks) when destroyed. For a game that knew it doesn't have to push polygon limits or draw distances, they did a beautiful job with the 2D graphics. Everything in this game is pure eye candy. Even the grid, which forms the backdrop of every level, moves and flows like water to complement explosions or illustrate changes in gravitational pull. I'd give the graphics a 10/10 for being exactly what they needed to be and being good at it. I honestly can't imagine this game looking any better.

My only gripe with the graphics is that they sometimes get too overboard. It takes a while to even get used to the game - at first, you simply can't see anything or tell what's even going on. You will shoot at your drone because you think it's an enemy, or you will curse because you didn't see that stray diamond that killed you underneath all the superfluous fireworks. But this all just takes some getting used to, and you'll probably be fine. Still, even when you get good, there will be those times when you will jump up and shout "what the heck killed me?!"

Control:
The controls are beautifully responsive and simple, and that's a very fortunate thing considering the type of game this is. However, control could be a slight issue for people.

You have 2 possible control schemes, both with their strengths and weaknesses: The classic controller, or the Wiimote and nunchuck.

If you use the classic controller, you will have a similar experience to playing the original Retro Evolved on the Xbox. The left analog stick moves your ship, the right one shoots (And unlike asteroids, you can shoot in any direction regardless of which way your ship is faced). However, the classic controller has those 8 grooves that cause the stick to slide into one of the 8 cardinal or diagonal directions... if you're not careful, this could throw off your aim in a moment of need.

But if you have a good sensor bar setup, the Wiimote scheme is the way to go. The nunchuck moves the ship, while the Wiimote controls a targeting reticule on the screen, making the game feel much like playing a first person shooter. But if your Wiimote has a history of being jumpy and letting you down, or you just couldn't get that sensor bar set up in the right place for some reason, use the classic controller.

Sound and Music:
The sound effects are not that bad, and that's a good thing because of the sheer amount of time you'll be listening to them. Some of the sound effects you'll recognize from the Stock Bin, while others are new and interesting. There's not really much to say about them... they're nothing special, but not irritating in the slightest.

The music is an action-oriented mixture of trance and techno with some undertones of metal at some points. It's uncatchy and quite forgettable, but complements the gameplay well. If you get tired of the music, or just hate it, you're in luck: you can turn down the music volume and crank your own stuff to boost your fighting spirit.

Extras and Gimmicks:
Aside from the main adventure, there are a few things you can do. You can play the original Retro Evolved or upload it to your DS for on-the-go stylus-controlled play. You can post and view online leaderboards for each grid via Wifi. For multiplayer, you can play 10 extra grids specifically for co-op or survival matches, or you can play Retro Evolved together. I think there's even an option that lets one person play on the Wii and the other on the DS. Finally, you can link with the DS version to unlock the final solar system with the last 10 or so levels.

Conclusion:
Geometry Wars: Galaxies is not for everybody, especially those prone to heart attacks or seizures. Also, if you aren't particularly a fan of especially fast-paced or challenging games, stray away from this one for sure.

But, if your idea of a good time is feeling the constant thrill of total peril and the satisfaction of winning against insurmountable odds, go out and buy this game right now. You won't regret it.

Pros:
+ A nirvana of action-oriented gameplay
+ Tons of varied levels and drone behaviors to add length and depth
+ Nifty 2D graphics which explode (literally) in neon color
+ Beam Retro Evolved to your DS to play anytime
+ Real difficulty, for those who crave it

Cons:
- Control schemes have some small flaws if you can't overcome them
- Visuals can get overly crowded and confusing
- Incredibly boring to watch and impossible to comprehend if you're not playing.
- You need to buy Geometry Wars: Galaxies for DS to unlock the last cluster of levels, always a bummer

Score: 9.6/10

[Dr. Gate]

NO! YOU REVIEWED IT FIRST! AAAAAAARGH :(