61 Frames Per Second : geometry wars

My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2

Bob Mackey — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:00:00 GMT

It's the end of another year, and that can only mean one thing: it's list season. Inevitably, you're going to see top ten lists by the thousands; and, as an official member of the enthusiast press, I'm afraid I can't violate my directive. But, to make things a little more interesting, I've decided to assemble my 10 favorite games of this year in non-hierarchical form because--let's face facts--it's hard to pick a favorite. And unlike other top 10 lists, this one will be doled out to you in piecemeal over the next several excruciating days! Please enjoy.

Since I jumped on the current-gen bandwagon so late, the modern twin-stick shooter was an unfamiliar concept to me. I'd played a few of the old-school predecessors like Robotron and Smash TV, but, before picking up a 360, I didn't really understand how such limited gameplay could possibly hold my attention in our futuristic age of bells and whistles. Obviously, I hadn't yet experienced any of the Geometry Wars games at that point in time--otherwise, I would have been aware of my complete and utter wrongness. Geometry Wars 2's lack of superficial complexity is almost a necessity--with its insanely twitchy, adrenaline-pumping close calls, I don't think my brain could have handled much more than move, shoot, and bomb. And in applying these few concepts to six completely different game modes, developer Bizarre Creations makes developing stratgies a requirement for success--kind of unexpected from a game that, at first glance, looks like a screen saver gone horribly wrong.

My best memories of Geometry Wars 2 involve how it fostered in me a hatred for my fellow man. Displaying your friends' top ten scores before you start any game mode was an evil stroke of Genius on Bizarre Creations' part; never before in my life had I felt such a strong desire to destroy people I didn't even know. Every time my dinky little score would move its way up the chart, I would feel a sense of accomplishment that didn't even come when I graduated from college. And yet, there were constant reminders of my inferiority by those jerks (who I assume were cheating) that had scores I could never reach in my wildest dreams. It's true that I haven't picked up the game in a few months, but that's only because I've been training in secret. One day, history books will speak of my amazing score in Waves. Or not.

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Watcha Playing: Geometry Wars Galaxies

Amber Ahlborn — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:00:00 GMT

When I was a kid and had all the time in the world to play games I had no money to buy them. Now I'm an adult with a halfway decent paycheck I can afford to buy any game I want. Unfortunately that paycheck is attached to a full time job so I have little time to play. That is cruel irony. I have always loved beefy games; full blown action adventures, platformers, and the biggest time sinks of all, RPGs. However, it is only relatively recently that I've come to fully appreciate quick fix games; games like Geometry Wars Galaxies that I can play for hours or minutes and still get the full experience.

In celebration of the Large Hadron Collider going into operation today, I present to you: Particle Accelerator the Video Game.

There is a diner in my home town with an ancient arcade cabinet sitting in one corner. The cabinet houses an original Asteroids game in all its vector graphics glory. Geometry Wars takes the basic idea of Asteroids and runs with it, creating a game that manages to be intense and relaxing all at the same time. Anyone who's gotten into “the zone” while playing it knows what I'm talking about. It's easy to just get absorbed in the light show.

Geometry Wars sports no life-like CG models, no fancy texture maps or overblown motion capture. It breaks the visuals down to the most basic shapes and dazzles with cascades of particle effects and streams of light. It's a beautiful game with a look that will never age poorly like yesterday's cutting edge 3-D. The color and motion blend together in a fluid work of interactive art. Don't get too mesmerized by the digital fireworks though, or you'll never see the deadly rotating square that annihilates your ship!

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OST: Everyday Shooter

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One Crazy Summer of Arcade

Bob Mackey — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Today's LIVE Arcade release of Castle Crashers and the recent trend of incoming college freshmen gathering in front of me to learn writing can only mean one thing: summer is over. But man, what a summer it was. So many memories made while only moving slightly to avoid bedsores.

Of course, I speak of Microsoft's five-week-long "Summer of Arcade," an event that saw the back-to-back release of five awesome Xbox Live Arcade titles: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, Braid, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Galaga Legions, and Castle Crashers. Sure, it started a little late, and it neglected to include a few of the more recent remakes (Commando 3 and 1942: Joint Strike got just a little bit screwed by the timing), but I can't remember a time that so much multi-genre awesomeness was packed into such an affordable month.

More importantly, though, I think it's a look at things to come for the future of gaming.

I'll admit that I haven't gotten around to getting Galaga and Castle Crashers yet--blame the deviousness of both Braid and Bionic Commando for this. But the thing is, I plan on eventually getting all of the Summer of Arcade titles because they're perfect for my life right now. It's not that I'm exceptionally busy--I'm just suffering epic-induced burnout that might have been brought on by playing Grand Theft Auto IV far past the point of enjoyment. Really, the thought of any game taking up more than 10 hours of my time makes me long for the simple joys that XBox LIVE has brought me over the past month. April was the last time I bought a full-priced 360 game, and I really can't see myself doing it again until the holidays.

All of this has made me ponder the following discussion-worthy question: is XBox LIVE Arcade making us rethink the current philosophy of bank-breaking, world-destroying, blockbuster games? I'm content to live in a world where a new (ostensibly) NES Mega Man is a celebrated certainty, rather than the dream of a ROM-hacking madman.

Related Links:

Yahtzee Says, Support Your Local Independent Developer (He's Right).
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Mega Man 9 Goes Back To Your Roots. Way Back.