First Impressions: Geometry Wars Galaxies (DS version)

Written by Kevin Alexander

Thursday, 10 January 2008 07:00

This is what it will look like when you go to the store to buy this awesome game. Booya!

Bizarre Creations stumbled upon something special when they put a couple of arcade machines in the garage of Project Gotham Racing 2 on the original Xbox. Like I do so many times while playing a game, I wanted to see how far the game would let me go and made my way over to said machines. Imagine my surprise when it prompted me to play the original Geometry Wars. As good as PGR 2 was this little gem made the whole package something extraordinary.

Fast forward to the release of the Xbox 360 with its ramped-up Xbox Live Arcade feature. What became the big, break-out hit? Geometry Wars Retro Evolved. A simple, dual-stick shooter that didn't do much to show off the power of the 360 but it did solidify Xbox Live Arcade as a new force to be reckoned with.

Luckily, they've managed to find a way to keep the franchise alive in Geometry Wars Galaxies on the Wii and DS. Earlier this week I picked up a DS copy and went to town. Does it live up to its predecessors? Hit the jump and read up on my impressions on what it has to offer.

Here's the big thing that's going to make or break this game for you: will you like the control scheme? For the DS there's a couple of options so it could be a matter of finding what works for you. The one consistent is that it's going to be a combination of the stylus and d-pad (or XYBA buttons for you lefties...ugh). You determine whether the stylus controls where and when you fire (the default) or your ship movement. Which ever you choose the d-pad will do the opposite. The shoulder pads always control your bombs that clear everything out on the screen. You also have the option of switching the game screen to the top or bottom of the DS. For me, using the stylus to fire and having the game screen on the top seems to work the best. I tired switching the screens but found that my fat fingers and the stylus itself got too much in the way. It took me about an hour to get used to it, but I've found that this works pretty darn well, maybe even better than the dual stick set up you'd usually use.

This might be what it looks like when you see the game on your DS

Retro Evolved is available directly from the main menu screen, if that's what you fancy, otherwise it's off to explore different galaxies and planets that are all set up as different challenges. Depending on your score you're striving to get the bronze, silver or gold medals, which are vital to advancing in the game as well as to how many bonus "geoms" you receive. Geoms are sort of like the game's currency used to unlock new galaxies and different drones, the biggest addition to the Geometry Wars gameplay. The drones are essentially a "mini me" version of your ship but with specific abilities that you can assign and purchase such as attack, defend, turret or sniper, to name a few. I've found that they help out immensely but they also add to the visual carnage once you get further into a level and the enemies are spawning like crazy. The drones can also grow stronger, leveling-up as you go along.

Since I've started playing I find the game to grow more and more addictive. They've done a great job mixing up the different levels in terms of how the board is shaped, what enemies spawn (and how quickly) and your different objectives (sometimes you'll only have one starting life and no bombs). I feel safe saying that the game is definitely worth picking up but be warned about the control scheme, but be patient also.

Comments (1) Add Comment

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written by Bojy, January 10, 2008

I was playing this quite alot over christmas, but then i let my g/f have a go and it's now hers apparently! I've really enjoyed what i've seen, although the slowdown in some of the levels was a bit upsetting, considering how much is going on i'm not surprised my poor little DS had a little hiccup.

Only thing i can't really decide is wether i like the little ships. On the one hand, it's a nice incentive to level them, and it's quite cool to have something go off and collect things for you, but the flipside is that it almost feels like cheating, like you're relying less on your own skill. Also, i still can't workout the difference many of them have....

Balst to play though!