Geometry Wars: Waves
Geometry Wars: Waves is a multidirectional shooter video game created by Stephen Cakebread of Bizarre Creations, released as a bonus mini-game as part of Project Gotham Racing 4 on Xbox 360 on October 2, 2007. It is the third release in the Geometry Wars series. The game is a variant of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved where the player is given one life to survive continual waves of orange rockets that pace back and forth across the edges of the play-field for as long as possible.
| Geometry Wars: Waves | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Bizarre Creations |
| Publisher(s) | Microsoft Game Studios |
| Designer(s) | Stephen Cakebread |
| Series | Geometry Wars |
| Platform(s) | Xbox 360 |
| Release | October 2, 2007 |
| Genre(s) | Multi-directional shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Gameplay
The gameplay of Geometry Wars: Waves is very similar to previous entries in the series. The player controls a small ship that can move in any direction while independently firing in any other direction. The objective of the game is to score points by destroying swarms of enemies. One of the major gameplay changes of Waves which has been passed on to Geometry Wars: Galaxies and Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 was the introduction of "geoms," small items that are dropped by each defeated enemy that must be picked up to increase the score multiplier.
New enemies introduced include the prominent orange triangles that pace back and forth in packs, a pair of red squares that remain mostly stationary and rotating gates that reflect shots and, when passed through the center, cause the edges of the gate to explode, taking out any surrounding enemies. All three new enemies returned in most modes of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2. Returning enemies include the purple pinwheels, the blue diamonds and the green squares.
The game features two difficulty levels, Normal and Extreme. In Normal mode, the orange rockets form waves that take up half the length of a wall in the play-field. In Extreme mode, the orange rockets form waves that cover the entire length of a wall, enemies drop more geoms and the appearance of other enemies happens more aggressively. The leaderboards for the game are not separated by the two modes and do not denote which mode the player achieved their score in.
Development
Geometry Wars: Waves was designed by Stephen Cakebread whom created the previous Geometry Wars games. It was developed as a mini-game to be included in Project Gotham Racing 4 as an homage to the original Geometry Wars, which was a mini-game in Project Gotham Racing 2. The graphics are mostly similar to Retro Evolved but feature brighter, richer colors than the original. The soundtrack was created by Chris Chudley of Audio Antics who has composed the music for all Geometry Wars games and the main theme includes a small clip from the theme of Retro Evolved (if the player can survive long enough to hear it).
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 release
Geometry Wars: Waves was included as one of the six modes of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2. This version is mostly identical to its stand alone release but features the improved graphics of Retro Evolved 2 and combines the two difficulty levels into one that changes between the two dynamically based on the player's performance.