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Bizarre Creations has moved the release date for Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 up by a week.  It is now set to arrive on the Xbox Marketplace on Wednesday, July 30th, for 800 points.

You’ll also be happy to hear that the trial version of the game will include the full ‘Deadline’ game mode in both single-player and multiplayer.   

Here is more info on all the different game modes:

Deadline

The first mode is Deadline. This is also the mode which is unlocked in the trial version of the game (both single and multiplayer). The idea is simple: score as many points as you can in 3 minutes. You have as many lives as you want, but of course if you die a lot then you won’t be scoring as many points as the next guy. You also have bombs, but these are limited (you start with three).

Destroyed enemies drop Geoms (little glittery yellow things) which you can pick up by driving your ship over them. These Geoms increase your score multiplier, so grab as many of these as you possibly can! Every game mode has Geoms, and you should always pick them up. I can’t stress this enough: pick up the Geoms to score big! Your multiplier is no longer capped at 10x either, so having multipliers of many thousands is quite normal (if you’re good enough)!

King

This mode is easy to explain, but very tactical once you start to really get into it. Again the premise is very basic: circular “zones” appear all over the grid. You can drive into these zones, and whilst inside them you are safe (the enemies can’t enter the zones). You can shoot outwards, destroying the baddies outside your zone. However (and it’s a big HOWEVER), after a short time the zone will collapse and you’ll be left exposed.  Whilst outside a zone you can’t shoot at all, meaning that you had better hot foot it to another zone as quickly as you can!

Try to collect a bunch of Geoms as you move between the zones. If you’re playing with a friend in co-operative mode, try this tactic: one of you stay inside the zone shooting outward, whilst the second player collects the fallen Geoms. Then swap when the zone decays. That’s the trick to scoring big in co-op!

Evolved

You can think of Evolved as a super charged version of Retro Evolved 1.  You start with three lives and three bombs, and you keep playing until those lives run out. There are quite a few changes this time though…

Here’s the short list:

*        New enemies make an appearance, like the gates, rockets, etc.
*        Overall balance has been changed, so the game gets more exciting after a shorter amount of time (no more spending the first three minutes of the game waiting for it to get intense!)
*        No more multiple weapon types. We nuked the first “starter” weapon from GWRE1, as well as the big, slow gun. The only weapon that you’ll use throughout GWRE2 is a tweaked version of the faster-firing weapon (which was pretty much the fan favourite to begin with anyway).
*        Tiny spinners (the little purple guys which split from the big spinners) no longer track the player. They stay rotating in one spot, acting more like a “blocker” than a normal “follower” type enemy.
*        Gravity wells now destroy enemies on exploding! Not only that, but it’ll give you 5x the score for the privilege! Gravity Wells should now be a priority to take out when things get busy. Note: destroying enemies in gate explosions (and bouncing bullets off of gates) also gives the same 5x score bonus.
*        Repulsars have a new look, and slightly changed behaviour. They no longer repulse your bullets, but they are still only vulnerable from the backside.
*        Lives and bombs are still given once you reach a set score, but this time the gap between them gets exponentially larger each time. In other words the first extra life/bomb is given at 100,000, then the second at 10 times this amount, and the third at 10 times that amount.
*        Of course, “Snake spawn” is no longer an issue.

Pacifism

Everybody remembers the Pacifism achievement from Retro Evolved 1. At the time it was hailed as the first of a new breed, encouraging a different way of looking at the game. Well we couldn’t just leave pacifism in the past… in GWRE2 it’s been promoted into a full game mode of its own. Yay!

As you might have already guessed, you can’t shoot whilst playing Pacifism. Oh, and you only get one life and no bombs. The only offense you have against the infinite blue shapes is to drive through the gates (a new enemy type), which triggers a big explosion deadly to the bad guys. Driving through multiple gates in a row will give you bonus points, so try to chain together as many as you can without stopping.

One word of warning: avoid the deadly yellow gate ends! Make sure you drive straight through the middle of the gate, without touching the sides!

Waves

If you’ve played the hidden Geometry Wars mini-game in PGR4, then you’ll have an idea of what to expect here. The Waves game mode gives you one life (and again, no bombs), and asks you to survive as long as possible against wave after wave of incoming rockets. The rockets travel either horizontally or vertically, so you’ll need to pick your route through them carefully in order to come out the other side unscathed.

If you’re having trouble mastering Waves, bring some friends along and quadruple your firepower. Oh and check out the Surf achievement, where you must stay alive for 8 wave spawns without firing a shot. Sound tough? It is!!

Sequence

The final game mode is Sequence… and this is one for the professionals. There are 20 levels, and the aim of the game is to make it through all twenty without dying. On the plus side, each wave is identical every time you play… so if you remember the spawns then you’ll be at a great advantage. The bad news is that each wave is pretty freakin’ hard, and you only start with a set number of lives and bombs to do them all with.

Every level must be completed in 30 seconds, and if you lose a life you skip to the next level (thus forfeiting the points you could have scored if you had stayed alive).

Sequence gets interesting in multiplayer, especially when you’re playing competitively to beat each others scores. More devious players might experiment with the green Weaver enemies… try pushing them into another player to kill them off early in the level! When one of you dies you have to sit out for the remainder of the time, meaning your opponents can really score big whilst you’re on the sidelines. Ouch!

Game on!

As you may have heard in the Microsoft keynote yesterday, Bizarre have finally
announced a game which I know you’ve all been waiting for for quite some time:
Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2! The game will be available on 6th August, exclusively
on Xbox Live Arcade.

GWRE2 is vastly bigger than the original, including not only a remixed version of
Evolved, but also 5 additional game modes which each provide a unique challenge.
Waves returns, but has been supercharged and tweaked. Fan favourite Pacifism has
been promoted from achievement to full game mode, and newcomers King, Deadline, and Sequence round out the package.

Each game mode can be played solo, or with up to 4 players on a single Xbox 360
console. Either team up with a friend in co-operative play, or every man for himself
in competitive mode. You can also play Co-Pilots, where one player drives and the
other shoots.

GWRE2 features full XBLA leaderboard support as you’d expect, as well as 12 new
achievements designed to encourage players to see the game from a different angle.
Retro Evolved 2 has been created entirely in-house at Bizarre, led by coding veteran
Stephen Cakebread (creator of the original Geometry Wars games).

Bizarre will be unveiling more details on the new game modes, multiplayer options, enemy types, achievements, etc. on their website between now and launch. Please do stay tuned.

Screenshots:

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Video:

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 Trailer

Game on!

Bizarre Creations has just announced two new DLC packs for PGR4, which will be available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace on Thursday, February 14th.

• Free Challenge Pack

“Download the new Free PGR 4 Challenge Pack from Bizarre, and you’ll drive the hydrogen-powered 2007 Peugeot Flux, winner of the 2007 Peugeot International Design Competition. Plus, you’ll get two new game modes-one of them the player-requested Tourist Mode, which lets you tool around any city in the game checking out sights with your friends. Or play Free Roam Cat and Mouse, where a slow mouse vehicle must avoid enemy cats. And you add another 10 achievements. Get more racing fun for the best price-free!”

• Premium Challenge Pack

“The Premium PGR 4 Challenge Pack from Bizarre, available for 400 Microsoft(r) Points, gives you seven new cars-the 2008 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible Concept, 2007 Volkswagen Golf GTI W12-650, 2007 Peugeot Flux, 1987 BMW M3 E30 DTM, 2007 Ferrari 430 Scuderia, 2008 Honda S2000 CR, and 2008 Callaway C16 Speedster. You get three new bikes-the 2007 Yamaha YZF-R1, 1995 Aprilia RS 250, and 1998 Aprilia RSV 1000 Tuono R.”

“Plus, new World Challenge Arcade Mode gives you 20 arcade events in 3 themed chapters, including 5 events that can only be done on platinum. In Tourist Mode, get a free ride with friends around any game city. In Free Roam Cat and Mouse, a slow mouse vehicle runs from enemy cats. Ten new achievements fill out the pack.”

Here’s the breakdown for the new game modes:

World Challenge Mode

World Challenge Mode is a new option that appears in the single player menu. It contains 20 arcade events split into 3 themed chapters:

1. Platinum Plus - Arcade chapter that is harder than Platinum difficulty
2. DLC Challenge - Arcade chapter that limits vehicles to the Premium Challenge Pack cars
3. Arcade Challenge - Similar to the shipped Arcade mode

Online Race Modes

Free Roam Cat & Mouse Mode

Played in an open city, Free Roam Cat & Mouse is a team based game where each team has a slow ‘mouse’ vehicle, with the rest of the players in high powered ‘cat’ vehicles. The mouse earns kudos for every 2 seconds it avoids being hit by enemy cats. On being hit by a cat the mouse is ‘wasted’ and can’t earn kudos for set period of time. Cat players get a kudos reward for hitting an enemy mouse and also for defending their own mouse. The team with the most kudos after a time period set by the host wins the event.

Tourist Mode

This is a simple mode our forum users have requested. Players drive round an open city for a period of time determined by the host. The player with the most kudos is determined the ‘winner’, but this is really a sandbox mode where players can drive around looking at the environment and making their own games up. (Source)

Game on!

On Tuesday, February 19th, The Club will arrive.  To mark the game’s launch, Bizarre Creations is having a launch competition. 

Two winners will be selected and each will receive signed copies of Bizarre’s recent back titles (PGR4, The Club, and Geometry Wars Galaxies at a minimum), plus all sorts of bits and bobs they’re digging up (posters, t-shirts, stickers, etc.)  This is Bizarre’s biggest prize giveaway yet, and they’re excited about it. 

Here’s the info:

• Aim: Get the highest score you can!

• Platform: Xbox 360 or PS3

• Location: Warehouse

• Route: Downtown Dash

• Difficulty: Insane

• Character: Any

Closing date: Monday 31^st March 2008

To enter, post your their scores onto Bizarre’s forum HERE.  You’ll also want to ensure that you’re connected to Xbox Live so Bizarre can verify the scores. Unfortunately this competition isn’t open to PC folks, as Bizarre can’t reliably verify the scores on that platform.

Of course you can read the full competition announcement on www.bizarrecreations.com, as well as a bunch of hints and tips from Bizarre’s resident expert Pete.  Good luck. 

Game on!

Introduction:
When the original Xbox launched, along with it came some impressive launch titles: Halo, Amped and Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee just to name a few.  There were also a scant offering of racing titles, but the one that seemed to stand out the most, and became one of Xbox’s most popular and best selling launch titles was Project Gotham Racing (PGR).  Not quite a sim but also not quite an arcade racer, PGR brought the premise that there’s more to racing than just finishing first.  The ‘kudos’ scoring system, introduced by PGR, pushed the notion that driving with style is as important as finishing first. 

A few years later, Bizarre Creations followed up with Project Gotham Racing 2 (PGR2), a worthy successor to PGR and even more popular in sales.  PGR2 expanded and improved upon the kudos scoring system introduced in the first title and, of course, added a plethora of Xbox Live features to the game.  The gameplay was still solid; the graphics were crisper and Bizarre got Live right.  Xbox racers everywhere were happy. 

Well, here we are; 2005, and the most sought after & difficult to find console, the Xbox 360, has arrived.  Among the list of launch titles for the Xbox 360 comes a very familiar sounding name.  So, does Project Gotham Racing 3 (PGR3) live up to the legacy of its predecessors?  Is it the 360 launch racer everyone was expecting it to be?  Read on to find out.

Gameplay:
One aspect I’ve always liked about the PGR series is it’s ease of gameplay and PGR3 is no different.  The game menus are very easy to navigate, and the gameplay itself is simple and intuitive.  Of course, most racing games aren’t overly taxing control-wise (like most racing games, it’s: gas & brake on the triggers & a face button for the e-brake), but the PGR games just make it really easy to jump right in and start racing. 

Having played both previous titles extensively, I was eager to get on the road and see what PGR3 had in store for me.  After automatically creating my PGR3 profile from the Xbox 360 Live account my Xbox 360 was logged on to, I was presented with the following options: Gotham Career, Playtime, Gotham TV, Achievements and More. 

If you select Gotham Career, you’ll be presented with two basic options: the solo (off line) career and the online (Xbox Live) career.  From this menu, you also have the options to view the leaderboards or view your cars (viewing your cars also allows you to walk around the garage and play the original Geometry Wars, from PGR2, and a demo for the sequel that’s available on the Xbox 360 Live Arcade, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved).  Though many gamers will be eager to jump right into their online careers, they have to keep in mind that you can only use cars in your online career that you’ve unlocked by playing the off line solo career.  So, if you really want to work on your online career, you’ll have to put in some time in the off line career first. 

As you progress through the off line career, you earn credits that can be used to purchase better cars, and there are five different classes of cars to chose from (A thru E – and you must own a car in the proper class to participate in class restricted races).  To be honest, I found it almost too easy to earn the credits I needed to buy the top cars in the game.  There really are no ‘bad’ cars in the game, however.  The first car I purchased was an Acura NSX (PGR3 calls it a Honda), and I used that car to progress far enough in the off line career to earn enough credits to purchase pretty much any car I wanted. 

Many consider the Ferrari F50 the top car in the game, but I decided to be a little different and purchase the Mercedes CLK.  In a feat I knew I likely wouldn’t be able to duplicate (and I did not), I managed to win my very first online race in PGR3, which was a rather exhilarating experience. 

Of course, if you don’t care about rankings and just want to jump into a race on Live, you can.  Just select Playtime from the main menu.  Here you can select any city/track and race with any car in the game for some off or online fun.  You can select any race type from the following playtime options: Street Race, Eliminator, Team Street Race, Team Eliminator and Capture the Track.  All of these race types are also available for system link play. 

The other two options from the game’s main menu include: Race Against the Clock, where you try and get the best time on a particular track, and Route Creator.  The route creator feature allows you to create your own race route through any of PGR3’s cities.  You can use your created tracks off line and in playtime on Xbox Live. 

The graphics in Project Gotham Racing 3 are outstanding.  While some complain that many of Xbox 360’s launch titles hardly look next gen (and I agree for some games), PGR3’s visuals are extremely impressive.  The cars themselves look excellent and the cities you race through are near photo-realistic.  Also, in addition to the usual compliment of available views while racing, PGR3 adds the new ‘Dash View’.  Dash view gives you a through-the-windshield view, complete with a view of the windshield pillar, the car’s dashboard and your gloved hands on the steering wheel.  The dash view quickly became my favorite.  It’s the most realistic view, as if you’re seeing the race through the eyes of your virtual driver. 

Sound in PGR3 is equally impressive.  The squeal of the tires and the roar of the engine, which changes appropriately for each car you drive, sound just as you’d expect.  Also, as with every Xbox 360 game, PGR3 allows for custom soundtracks.  One drawback I found, however, is that, if you chose to use custom soundtracks rather than the in-game music, you lose the ability to skip to the next song, using the directional pad.  Of course, the in game music isn’t all bad.  In fact, I accidentally discovered the thrill of driving to classical music.  Tchaikovsky is my new friend. 

The Achievements option from the main menu, allows you to view the trophies and badges you have earned in PGR3  Here you can also view general stats, the leaderboards and your Xbox 360 Live achievements (which link up with your ID on the official Xbox.com forums).  The final option from the main menu, More, allows you to alter settings such as audio and video options, enter the Xbox Live marketplace and chose which profile to use in the game. 

Extras:
Project Gotham Racing 3 is, of course, fully Live-enabled.  You have the option to race in ranked races over Xbox Live (Online Career) or race for fun against friends or strangers (Playtime).  If you select the Online Career, you’ll only be able to race using cars you’ve unlocked in the single-player off-line career and you will not get to select people from your friend’s list to race against.  This is because, during your online career, PGR3 will automatically match you up with other online racers of the same approximate skill level.  You simply select an event, and off you go to be matched up on Live and race.  The better you do, the more you’ll rank up to face better and better racers. 

If you become one of the best, you’ll be featured on another part of PGR3: Gotham TV.  Gotham TV is PGR3’s version of a replay theatre.  However, rather than just being able to view your own replays or have a ghost race with you (which you can also do in PGR3, of course), Gotham TV lets you watch anyone on your friend’s list, as well as PGR3 ‘Heroes’ race…Live.  That’s right.  These are not replays you’ll be viewing, but actual live races as they take place on Xbox 360 Live. 

The heroes are the best of the best from those who play PGR3 over Xbox Live.  Want to see how the top ranked racers take their turns?  Want to see how they get those amazing race times?  Just access Gotham TV and watch them race.  For those of you who truly learn by watching, this is really a great feature. 

If you chose to host your own playtime game on Xbox Live, you’ll have the following race options: City to race in, track to race on, the number and skill level of your AI opponents, whether to race during the day, night or when it’s overcast, reverse the track, restrict the gear type, force the in-car view for all racers, turn collisions on or off and select whether to have a friends-only race (from those on your friend’s list) or an open race (open to anyone on Xbox Live). 

Conclusion:
Project Gotham Racing 3 is a worthy successor to its earlier versions, and one of the better launch titles I’ve experienced for the Xbox 360.  It brings everything that was great about the first two iterations, while adding jaw-dropping graphics and even more Xbox Live goodness.  Some may see the game as nothing more than PGR2 with a graphical upgrade, but I do not.  In addition to the greatly enhanced graphics, PGR3 also brings features that utilize Xbox Live to a great extent, and show off the Xbox 360 in an impressive way. 

If you’re a fan of the racing genre, then you owe it to yourself to own Xbox 360’s first great racing title, Project Gotham Racing 3. 

Score: 8.9