As you may well know Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 came out on XBLA this morning. Will it be an retro rehash of the original or a fully evolved sequel?
Find out after the jump.
Bits that made me 
- Sexy, sexy graphics
- 6 different game modes
- Achievement progress meters
- Classic Geometry Wars hectic gameplay
- Leaderboards are addictive
- Jeff Minter wasn’t involved (sorry Jeff, but I want my 400 points back)
Bits that made me 
- No online mutliplayer
- Graphics may bit too colorful for their own good, a lesson Jeff Minter learned when Frogger’s weekly sales were higher than Space Giraffe’s all time sales, and, to be honest, I can see why. Sorry Jeff.
- Reused music.
- 800 points not 400 ZOMGWTFROFLMFAOBBQ!!!!!111111
- The very first Geometry Wars from PGR2 wasn’t included.
- Um….
Back in 2005, when the 360 launched, a little game called Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved sneaked its way onto the XBLA service, soon becoming a massive hit and a trend setter for the many omni-directional shooters that were just around the corner. Nearly 3 years later the sequel is out.
For those few people who are unaware of Geometry Wars’s basic premise, it’s a top down shooter where the left analogue stick controls your ship’s movement, and the right analogue stick controls the direction of shooting. There’s no ammo, no reloading and no overheating. As you fly around the rectangular level, enemies, of various different types, spawn. Your aim: survive as long as possible in order to get a good high score.
In Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, not a lot has changed. The controls are identical, and you’re still always aiming for that coveted high score, however, there are some small differences. For starters the score multiplier is no longer limited at 10, nor is it boosted by merely destroying enemies. Now, every enemy that you kill will drop a small yellow object called a Geom which, upon collection, will up your multiplier by 1. Simple. You also now only have 1 gun type, who’s power is roughly equivalent to the rapid firing gun of the first game.
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I very quickly brandished some money when I saw this pop up on my inside XBOX this morning, rushed out to game, £17.50 and boom, I start to get 6 million maybe 12 million points in some games. 9 achievements out of 12 unlocked, don’t know what the Smile achievement is, but my guess is on the 6th mode you have to only win those modes?