Still a simple and addicting game like the original, but adds a lot of depth to keep you coming back for more.
With Geometry Wars, the presentation plays a big role in the adding to the very hectic nature of the game. The graphics in the game are purpously basic, having very basic looking enemies, represented by different kinds of shapes (hence the "geometry" part of the title). So in that respect the graphics are not comparable to any of today's graphics. That isn't to say that they are bad though. In fact, behind the simplicity, there is a lot of very impressive effects, that use the modern technology in order to present what seems like a fire works display with all the explosions of the enemy ship, the constant gun fire, and even a rippling effect on the grid based on everything that happens while you're playing. There are different style grids, which each have a different kind of rippling effect, sometimes much more noticable, but sometimes much more subtle. And the Wii is able to handle all of the effects, and all the enemies on the screen (which can be a lot) without any slowdown in the gameplay, which is very important to the feeling of the game. The game has techno music, which fits very well with the retro gameplay of Geometry Wars, and adds a lot to the fast, frantic feeling that the game tries to convey. The music often is based on the kind of level that you're playing in. For example, the slower levels have slower music, but the much faster levels have a much faster pace, fitting in with their respective levels.
Since the game was originally on the Xbox, and remade for the Xbox 360, it was played by moving the ship with the left analog stick, while shooting by aiming the right stick in the direction you want to shoot. On the Wii, there are two different control schemes. The first is with the Wii remote and Nunchuck attachment. With this, you move using the Nunchuck attachment, and aim by pointing your Wii remote at the screen. There is a line coming from your ship showing the direction that you are aiming. The people who have played the original game may find this hard to get used to, but that is more because of the differences between the pointer or the remote and the analog stick. For those who are new to the game, it will take much less time to get used to, and works very well for the fast-baced gameplay. For the people who are used to the older way of playing the game, you have the option to play with the Classic Controller if you have it, allowing you to play the way that you're used to.
The main draw in this game is Galaxies mode. This is a pretty large mode, which contains 64 new grids for you to play through. These grids are divided up into several different galaxies, each containing a different number of "worlds," or grids. At first, there are only 3 grids available to play on, with the rest unlockable after a while. The grids are basically the equivalent to a sequel of the original game, with the same never-ending gameplay, and the same basic idea of destorying the different enemies. However, the developers have done a great job at mixing things up for the different grids. The developers put more thought into the kinds of things they did with the levels. The grids are shaped pretty much perfectly to accomplish something unique. Some of the grids are wide open, for more manuverability while trying to avoid the enemies. But then there are also some levels which give you much less space to move, sometimes having small corridors for you to navigate through in order to avoid the enemies. Also, the enemies are used in a much smarter way than the original game. The original game seemed to have very little thought in terms of when the enemies should appear. It did have an increasing number of enemies over time, as well as introducing the harder enemies after having introduced the more basic enemies, but it still felt somewhat random, especially when compared to the enemy placement within Galaxies. For example, there are some levels where the enemies all come from one side of the grid, so that you have to stay on the other side of the grid, and try to kill the enemies from there. It is very similar to a faster paced version of Space Invaders. There are some levels that give you one life, and no bombs, forcing you to use your manuverability skills and shooting skills, while shooting enemies that follow you around the grid. Then there are levels which have a black hole in the middle, which changes the gravity within the level, and at first this can seem a bit disorienting, making you get killed a few times, but then after getting used to it, the player can actually use it to their advantage. There are also levels which have enemies that lay down mines which you can activate yourself, which set off a chain reaction that can kill a number of enemies if used correctly. Pretty much every level forces you to change your strategy in some way. However, there are unfortunately a few which just use variations of themes used in other levels. Sometimes these variations are enough to make these levels feel worth playing, but sometimes these levels just seem too much like the same level, with not much to keep your interest. These levels are in the minority though, and are made up for by the other more unique ideas within the game.
Each of the levels have 3 trophies to unlock by getting a certain amount of points. In some cases, these aren't that hard to get. However, in some cases, it does take a while in order to get the gold trophie for that level. But once you do, there is still a lot of reason to come back, to try improve your high score. The game also allows you to connect to the Wi-Fi connection to see where you rank on a leaderboard, giving you more incentive to go back, in order to try to climb the leaderboard.
Outside of adding new maps, the developers have added a lot of depth into the game that wasn't there in the original game. One of the big additions is something called geoms. These will now be familiar to people who have played Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2. They are little green dots that are left behind by enemies you kill. Within the grids, they serve as a new way of adding to your multipier. Instead of having to kill a certain amount of enemies before adding to the score multiplier, for every 1 geom you get, you add 1x to the multiplier, until you reach the max of 150x. But the collecting of the geoms helps to change the way that the verteran Geometry Wars players will approach the game. In the first, you just try to shoot and avoid the enemies. However, in order to collect the geoms, you have to shoot the enemy, and then go back to the area where the enemy was killed. But you can't be too reckless about it, because there could be other enemies around that area that you want to avoid as well. In addition to adding to the score multiplier, the geoms are used as a kind of currency within the game, allowing you to unlock different things. You can use them to unlock galaxies, and the worlds within the galaxies, and you can use them in order to buy different abilities for your partner drone.
The drone is a new addition to the game as well. It has a number of different abilities that you can choose from. It can collect geoms while you are taking care of the enemies. It can snipe enemies that are a danger to you. It can attack (shooting at the same place that you're shooting), or defend (shooting in the opposite direction). It can act as bait for those enemies that follow you. And there are others as well. Choosing which one you want it to do adds to the strategy of the game, because different grids would benefit from some abilities more than others. Also, once you have one of the abilities unlocked, if you use that ability and do well, it will help to level that ability up. At first, the drone with that ability is not too smart. The sniping drone snipes very slowly, the collecting drone collects the geoms at a slow pace as well, and the bait drone isn't that effective either. However, after leveling the drones up, they are very effective at doing their different jobs.
In addition to the Galaxies mode, you can play the original Geometry Wars game. This is pretty much left alone from the original. It's a very nice addition, especially for those who have never played the original game. There are also three different multiplayer modes included. The first is versus mode, where you play on separate grids while trying to get a higher score. The second is co-op, where you play on the same grid, and share the same number of lives, bombs, and score, and try to last as long as possible. Finally, there's a smaller version of Galaxies mode, which is basically just one galaxy and several grids to play on, while again playing through cooperatively. These are a pretty good addition, although not amazing. There is no online gameplay, with the multiplayer modes being offline only. Some may not like the omission, but it might have been hard to keep up the fast-paced action online without any kind of slowdown, which would have killed tense feeling that the game is meant to have.
Sierra Entertainment has turned the original, simple idea into a much bigger experience, with much more depth, but have managed to maintain the simplicity of the basic gameplay. Because it is based on such a simple idea, some people might not feel like the extra cost over the $5 original game is worth it, because despite having some very interesting twists to the original idea, there's only so much that they can do with it. All I can really say is that if you're interested in a much more expanded experience as opposed to the single grid game, they do add enough content to warrant the purchase. However, for those who don't think it would be worth it, then it might be better to stick to the original. But either way, Geometry Wars Galaxies is a great experience that you'll come back to again and again, and is among the best 3rd party Wii games that I've played.