Hey I never learned any of this stuff in geometry class!
Geometry Wars 2 has five new modes and a revamped Evolved mode; Evolved was the only game mode in the original. It consists of just you, your lasers, a few lives, a handful of screen-clearing bombs and a ton of enemies. Unlike the original, the action heats up real quick, so you won't have to go through a few minutes of weak enemy waves before the chaos rolls in.
Also in the original you could only get high score multipliers if you survived for a long time, but a Geom pick-up system alleviates the frustration in this sequel. Geoms are these little green dots that enemies drop when destroyed; as you pick them you they add to your multiplier. When you die the Geom count doesn't reset to zero, instead it stays as it was. This Geom system is really neat because it's easier to get a high multiplier and it permeates throughout all the game modes, the new ones as well.
The first new mode is called Deadline. You have infinite lives and three minutes to rack up as many points as possible. Be fast, be aggressive and shoot everything.
Next up is King; this is essentially a variant of king-of-the-hill. There are these circular safe zones on the map; enemies can't enter the circles and you can them shoot from inside. But when you enter a circle it starts to disappear and when you're outside a circle you can't shoot. So basically you have to dash from zone to zone all the while killing enemies, this mode has a more strategic edge than the others.
Pacifism mode is my favorite one. You can't shoot and the only way to kill enemies is by using gates. When you pass through a gate it explodes taking out nearby enemies. It involves a lot of dodging skill and fast reflexes, actually so does every mode.
Another mode called Waves is similar to Evolved but it has an emphasis on these new swift orange triangular enemies. These buggers attack in line formations and follow a set path.
Lastly Sequence mode consists of 20 mini levels. The first few are easy, but once you get in the teens the difficulty really picks up. Some of the new enemies are only found in this mode as well. As you can see, all of the modes have a unique twist on the core Geometry Wars experience, which helps keep the game diverse.
Now I absolutely love the audio-visual spectrum of Geometry Wars 2. The psychedelic vibrant graphics and the smooth house beats create an abstract yet classy vibe. Watching Geometry Wars 2 is like witnessing a legion of angry rainbows wage war. Also despite the crazy amounts of enemies on screen, all the lasers going everywhere and some insane special effects the framerate remains rock solid. On the music side there are different tunes for each game mode and the Evolved track is a remixed version and it's better. Also the music doesn't just mindlessly loop, no, it reacts with the action. When you exit a safe zone in King the music gets muffled, when you die in Evolved it stops then quickly ramps back up as you respawn and in Sequence with each level the music gets more intense. Sound effects are nice and crisp and they get the job done. I give map props to Bizarre for achieving such a graphical and audio feat.
You'll do well to know that I don't care about achievements/gamerscore at all. However, Geometry Wars 2 is a great showcase of how to do achievements right. Every achievement is tied into the gameplay so well and it's implemented ingeniously. Not only are they more accessible than the achievements in the first one, they are also very satisfying to get and you'll be compelled to get them. Also as you're working on an achievement a little progress meter will pop up telling you how close you are. One achievement in Deadline calls for 75 kills by using ricochet shots off of a gate; as you're playing a counter shows up saying "# / 75" to help you out.
There is also a new multiplayer component in Geometry Wars 2, but unfortunately it's limited to local play. But it's understandable because in a game this frantic one nanosecond of lag equals death. Also the menu interface is extremely slick and the leaderboards are quick to load and easy to sift through.
Overall, Geometry Wars 2 is not only a top-notch dual-joystick shooter that excels in every aspect, but it's a shining example of what a sequel should be and how achievements should be handled in Xbox 360 games. For 800 Microsoft points (10 USD) this bundle of fun is a real bargain.