Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Just plain fun"

The Good:

+ 6 game modes that are all fun
+ Very addictive gameplay
+ Trippy visuals provide great eye candy
+ Music that accompanies each game mode is great
+ Cooperative play is great with friends

The Bad:

- No online multiplayer

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 is the sequel to Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved which came out very early on with the Xbox 360. Although not an exact replica of the original Geometry Wars, Retro Evolved was one of the more successful games to make the crossover to the Xbox Live Arcade. So even as good as Retro Evolved was, Retro Evolved 2 surpasses it in every way.

The big difference between this and the first game is that Geo 2 has six game modes as opposed to one in Geo Wars. Those game modes are Deadline, King, Evolved (the original game type), Pacifism, Waves, and Sequence. All six are very fun, and each provide challenging achievements that you'll actually want to unlock. Another big difference is how multipliers are attained. In Geo Wars you got multipliers by staying alive as long as you could and when you died your multiplier went back to 1. In Geo Wars 2, multipliers are little green "geoms" that float around the board after you have kiled an enemy and picking up these geoms gives you multipliers that you don't lose even when you die. This allows you to get extremely high multipliers which can give you an extremely high score. There are also no weapon upgrades in Geo Wars 2 but weapon you use is better than the default weapon in the first game.

The visuals in this game are crazy. Although I am not a drug addict, I'd assume taking any halucinative drugs would not be recommended unless you want to trip out. There are even more flashy colors than the first game, and they have added new geometry shaped enemies that provide new challenges. The game itself is easier than its predecessor, but that doesn't mean you may still lose site of your ship in the blur of flashing colors.

The game adds new music to accompany the different game mode. They are all techno songs like the one heard in the first game (which is back and included in Evolved mode) and all of the songs are great and go well with the game mode. The addition of co-operative play also adds a new fun element when friends are around.

Overall, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 is an excellent sequel that is well worth the 800 Microsoft Points. If you enjoyed the first game, this is a must have for you, and if you are looking for a great arcade game to buy, this is the one to get.