Geometry Wars 2

[Moriya]

Really, no one playing this? I just got it tonight. It's fantastic.

[Moriya]

Yeah, it's really awesome. Huge improvement over the first and I'd argue the first was the best XBLA game. It has six game modes, I've unlocked 3. So far I really like King mode. And I also like how it shows your friend's list high scores prominently as you're playing. It shows you who's score you're about to beat and in the mode menu it shows everyone's scores.
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[post updated]
Oh and the game has a major style change from the first. Here the enemies drop little balls when you kill them. Picking them up adds to your multiplier. Your multiplier does not go away when you die. So where as GW1 was passive and essentially controlling chaos, GW2 is much more aggressive. They compliment this with new enemy type that are also aggressive. Good stuff!

[Moriya]

This game kicks ass! This game is very much a "just one more time--oh shit it's 4am!!" kinda game. Pacifism is incredible. I still have two modes to unlock but pacifism is so much fun I don't want to unlock them yet.

[DarthArcturus]

I played co-op with my brothers a few days ago. its def very good though I have trouble keeping track where I'm at once shit gets nuts so many colors and lights :(

[Moriya]

Pacifism is the best one IMO. I wil definitely be playing that for hours on end, very addicting.

[Advocate]

I love Geometry Wars Galaxies for the DS. Its a mix of Wars and where they went with GW2.

[Conjoshus]

Yeah, I picked it up the day it came out :)... Love the game... I'm just stuck on a Lumines Live kick for some reason (and my highest score ever got lost because my ISP decided to kill my connectin for a few hours, thus, not connected to XBL which means no Leaderboards).

I think your score should be held until you connect online... it doesn't make sense /end irrelevant rant.

My only complaint about Geometry Wars 2 is the fact it isn't online multiplayer. Everyting else is great!

[jp]

I'll check this out at some point. Did not care much for Geometry Wars Evolved or whatever. I think I liked it for a day and then never played it again.

But I hear this one is MUCH better. :)

[Conjoshus]

Well.. this one has the same mode that was the entire first game... but includes another 5 modes for good measure :)

[Moriya]

And of the other 5 modes, it seems everyone is latching onto one as their absolute favorite. I prefer Pacifism, my friend is all about King, and other people I know love Restricted (er whatever the first mode is called). I think I could play Pacifism all day, and when I get a chance, that's what I plan to do :)

[Conjoshus]

I think Pacifism and King are equally cool... but then I also like the remixed version of the retro evolved too... soo many choices :)

[Conjoshus]

Geometry Wars 2 3d camera trick:


Courtesy of ModiusX11 from the official Geometry Wars 2 forums (http://bizarrecreations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=16719), we have a cool in-game Geometry Wars 2 (http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/tag/geometry-wars-2) trick for you to try the next time you play the game. At anytime during any of the six GeoWars2 single player modes, simply press the RB + Back buttons at the same time. What does it do? It insta-freezes the action and enables a really nifty (albeit hard to control) detached camera mode that allows you to roam around the Geometry Wars universe in 3D space. This little 3D freezing trick is actually a development tool (http://bizarrecreations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=16719#p290234) that was used to help debug the game's graphics and was accidentally left in the final build. Doh! It's pretty useless in context of racking up a high score, but its screenshot and "WOW!" factor applications are nothing to scoff at.

[KANG the Crybaby]

For some reason I suck at Geometry Wars, I can't even break 1 million.

But I own at Super Stardust HD, go figure.

[Hunter]

Yeah, I suck at GW too. I don't think I've ever broken 200k.

[KANG the Crybaby]

Yeah, I suck at GW too. I don't think I've ever broken 200k.

my high game was like 490k, no matter what I did I couldn't top that score, so after awhile I just gave up playing. Seeing the leaderboards and people having like 12 million is just insane.

[Moriya]

There are videos and websites out there that show the techniques for getting good at GW. Which, incidently, won't work for GW2.

The basic idea in GW is you end up with a giant swarm of enemies chasing you and you shoot backwards at them as you continually go in a circle.

[jp]

I bought this. I don't know why. You'd think eventually I'd learn to check out demos before buying stuff. :redface:


It IS a massive improvement over the first game. And for what it is, it is insanely well done. Its just... as someone who plays A LOT of traditional 2D shooters on a competitive level... I just... cannot get into Geometry Wars. Its the analog sticks... I just... can't stand using fucking analog sticks in 2D games... the movement (and aim) just aren't precise enough for me. And I know these games aren't really designed with a need for precision in mind... but I just can't get over flying in a direction, going to shoot something, pushing the analog stick slightly down or something, missing whatever completely, and then crashing into it.

Probably won't play this again. If you dig this kind of thing, yeah, its great. For me... waste of $10. :redface:

Edit:

I did play just enough to unlock all the modes. And they did a real good job with that. I was very impressed. I just... don't like the game style. :lol:

[KANG the Crybaby]

The basic idea in GW is you end up with a giant swarm of enemies chasing you and you shoot backwards at them as you continually go in a circle.

Yeah, I knew that all along, I just die. For some reasn I can't get into it enough to be that good.

[DarthArcturus]

I agree with you JP never really like the whole duel stick thing with shooters. Assault Heroes is a great title on XBLA but always felt aiming was hard too.

[Moriya]

You need to develop your "wiggle", basically it's the technique that compensates for the inaccuracy of the analog stick. And it's just as it sounds, wiggle the stick a bit to send out your bullets in a slight spray.

Yes analog is inprecise, but I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages greatly, you can manuever exceptionally well and take out enemies in ways you can't do in any other type of shooter. Its very satisfying to have half your brain focusing on dodging a ton of enemies and the other half focusing on hitting the ones you are after.

I like that control style so much that my game is a dual analog shooter that gets a lot of inspiration from geometry wars :D
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[post updated]
Oh and there's no shooting on pacifism :D

I've pretty much mastered pacifism though. I think I'm going to crack a billion then never play that mode again. It's probably the most limited mode, due to no firing :)

[jp]

Heh, I actually got hooked to Pacifism just now. That is a lot of fun. :nod:


King is pretty neat too.


The achievements are where its at though. Wax On/Wax Off were insanely fun to get. As was Surf.

[Hunter]

lol, sounds like jp likes it after all :p

[jp]

I like the modes that focus more on dodging and get away from the "not so well done IMO" shooting aspects. :p


But even then, I doubt I'll play it more than 2 or 3 more times.

[koda]

I'll grab this at some point. Not yet. I still fire up the original one every once in awhile... it's a bit frustrating trying to make the transition from the (superior, IMO) Wii version to the original on XBLA. They just went overboard with the effects-- it's tougher to see where your ship is at when shit starts to get hectic, and I really preferred the octagonal 'gate' around the analog sticks on the Classic Controller. I'm used to quickly and easily "locking" my diagonals in.

My high score on Retro Evolved is like 1.5mil on the Wii one, but I haven't been able to get much higher than 900k on XBLA.

[Moriya]

We played 4 player multiplayer all night. Very cool. Wave, King and Sequence get really insane. Pacifism usually boiled down to three people dying then one person playing a single player game. Deadline is a pretty blah mode.

The shooting is not poorly done, it's just not a shmup. It's like expecting Zelda when playing Oblivion.

I think this is the best XBLA game and may even contend with regular games.

[koda]

Well, I was going to wait, but then I didn't.

This is a big step up over the first. It's pretty great. I've nabbed all of the achievements except the last two... I got to the last frame of sequence and then bit the dust. :p The achievements are so much easier to get this time around, though.

What's 'Smile'? I'm assuming you have to either pass, fail, or timeout on the listed sequence frames only and it'll draw a smiley face?

[Moriya]

you have to fail the listed levels and yeah it makes a smiley face. There are lots of videos on youtube showing it now.

[koda]

I just got Game Over, so now all that's left is Smile... I have a feeling that it's going to be a huge pain in the ass.

Can you time out on the non-listed levels? Or do they all have to be green?

[Advocate]

you know what sucks?

having the trial version ... and your score isn't posted. I broke 1.5 mil. Yeah JP has 12 mil, but still ... wth.

[koda]

I managed 11 on Deadline, but it's a far cry from the top of my friends board. Shit's rough-- basically if I'm not 1mil+ after sixty seconds it's a reset.

I'd say it's worth unlocking the full version when you get a chance.