Geometry Wars 2 triumphs over its predecessor in every way that matters.
The developers nailed that formula with the first Geometry Wars and they've [somehow] managed to build on it as well as take it in a new direction with these little green seeds called Geoms. When you shoot an enemy shape they'll release Geoms which you can pick up just by flying near them. As you collect Geoms your score multiplier will go up. Let's say that shooting a blue triangle would normally give you 50 points; if you collect enough Geoms so that your multiplier is x10 then the blue triangles will now be worth 500 points. Your multiplier can reach into the thousands if you're good enough.
The reason why Geoms take the series in a new direction is because of how they'll change your playing style in comparison to the last Geometry Wars. A common tactic in the old one was to always fly forward and shoot in front of you. Geoms make it so that you'll want to backtrack every now and then so that you can get your multiplier up. There are six game-types and you can collect Geoms in each one. There's the standard Evolved mode where you play until you die, as well as five new ones. (King, Pacifism, Deadline, Waves and Sequence)
You can play the modes alone or with up to three others locally. Unfortunately, you can't play online. You can play with a competitive or co-op twist. Playing against someone requires you to out score them but this gets old very fast. If you're a good player then it's unlikely that you'll have someone to play with who's similarly skilled. There's also a twist that has two players playing as the same ship. One player moves the ship and the other one shoots. It's kind of similar to what the old Katamari games had for the equivalent of co-op. Communication is important because essentially you have to work as one.
Waves and Deadline are uninspired compared to the other modes. Deadline is the same as Evolved but with a three minute time limit and Waves has patterns of enemies coming every few seconds. The waves of enemies will continue until you either shoot them all or you die. For example, if a group of yellow arrows appear in the bottom left corner they could potentially stay there for a long time if you aren't careful. It's a good idea to take things down as fast as possible so that you don't get overwhelmed. Waves has the kind of difficulty that constantly kicks your face into the ground and laughs as you wipe the mud off of yourself. You'll rarely last longer than a minute in Waves.
Sequence has a set of increasingly hard levels each with time limits. In each level the enemies, number of enemies and the enemy placement is pre-determined. This allows for some very creative experiences and it keeps you on your toes. There's one level that'll have dozens of green squares coming at you from all angles. In the other modes [except Pacifism] the enemy placement is random and therefore they don't allow for the creativity that Sequence has when it comes to enemies.
In the Pacifism mode you can't shoot at all. There are these blue and yellow gates that you have to move through. If any enemy is nearby when you go through then the enemy will be destroyed and they'll leave behind Geoms. Basically you just have to lure everything close to you and go through a gate when the opportunity presents itself. It's the least intense mode but it's still plenty fun.
King is perhaps the most creative mode. There are large blue circles scattered around the level and when you go into the circle it starts to shrink. You can only shoot when you're inside of a circle, and enemies can't go into the circle when you are occupying it. You can't defend yourself at all if you're outside of a circle so this leads to many frantic moments.
These frantic moments are made even more intense because of the music and sound effects. Every enemy has its signature sound that's played when it appears on screen. Each mode has its own electronic themed song to accompany it and every song fits nicely with whatever mode it accompanies. Even if you're not a fan of electronic music it's likely that you will be after you spend some time with Geometry Wars 2. There's mellow sounding music in Pacifism, harsh keyboard melodies in Waves, and more. There are even some cool music cues like the last ten second build-up in Deadline and the fading effect that plays when you die in Evolved. This is the kind of game where electronic music is welcomed; the developers of Pure should take note. (Pure has terrible use of electronic music)
Geometry Wars 2 looks even better than it sounds; it's one of the most impressive looking Xbox Live Arcade games to date. The screen is often filled with dozens of shapes and it's a treat to watch them explode, behave differently and chase after you. It's a very vibrant looking game when all hell breaks loose. My only suggestion is that Geometry Wars 2 should not be played by someone who's epileptic. If there's any game that'll trigger seizures it's this one. There are so many intense graphical effects and it'll probably be a nightmare for anyone with Epilepsy.
Geometry wars 2 costs 800 Microsoft points which is roughly the equivalent of $10. I'd say that it's definitely worth it. Lack of online play is disappointing but there are leaderboards for each mode, and that helps ease the pain a little bit. Thanks for reading.