The best XBLA game so far this year.
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 is by far one of the best Arcade titles to be released this year on the Xbox 360. Retro Evolved 2 brings the same frenetic action and flashing strobe light graphics as the original, but now has even more variety with multiple game modes and 4-person local multiplayer. There are six different modes to choose from, which can all be unlocked through regular play. The Evolved gametype is still included, now with new enemies (which are also in the other modes) as well as the old ones you remember. One of my favorite new modes is Pacifism, where you cannot shoot but instead are given exploding gates to pass through. Another one of my favorite gametypes is King. In King, multiple circles spawn on the field and you can only shoot when you are inside one of the circles. The only difficult part is the circles begin to shrink over time so strategy and planning are key.
There are a few things I wish were included. Online play and the ability to choose a different ship in singleplayer would have been nice, but the amount of fun I had while playing this game made up for that. One annoyance is the camera in singleplayer is push in a bit too close. In some gametypes, like Waves, not being able to see all the incoming enemies will easily lead to death. Retro Evolved 2 is 800 points ($10.00) on Marketplace, twice as much as the Retro Evolved, but considering you get the original Evolved gametype as well as five new modes as 4-person multiplayer, the price seems reasonable. I really enjoy Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 and definitely recommend that everyone try this games at least once.
