Geometry Wars Evolved is sick. Maybe we're sick too, because we can't pull ourselves away from the game long enough to play any of the launch titles we've received. Kameo, Project Gotham Racing 3, Amped 3, NBA2K6, NHL2K6—it don't matter, we're so in the groove with Geometry Wars that we've come to an epiphany of sorts.
Gameplay is everything. The game is modelled on Robotron 2084, a game that I never became good at because it required an investment of quarters that was far beyond my 10-year-old's allowance. Heck, I'd sweep straws between arcade cabinet and floor in order to dig out a quarter to feed my addiction. Now that I've got the game on Xbox Live arcade, I am determined to become the gaming god that I had idolized as a poor arcade rat.
Some games don't stand the test of time, but Bizarre has pared the Geometry Wars human-computer interface (just two analog sticks are used to control the game) down to a minimum. With 5.1 sound, thumping subwoofers, a massive HD screen, and (ok, we admit it) several glasses of Chardonnay in us, we're completely enthralled with this game.
But that's not really the point of this post. The point is that gaming happiness isn't the exclusive domain of those oft-overpriced boxes sitting in your local game retailer. Xbox Live Arcade is more than enough to create veritable endorphin rushes of the sort that so-called "AAA" titles regularly fail to release.
Congrats, Geometry Wars Evolved, you've become the first Xbox Live arcade game that we've plunked down our own quarters (20 of them) to purchase. That's the highest compliment we can pay any game.
We'll see you suckas on the leaderboard under gamertag Joystiq.
[Update: gamertag Joystiq just made it to #17 in the rankings with a new high score of 181,275. We're thrilled!]
[Update 2: We have now reached rank #11 with a score of 223,200! This of course requires feline-like reflexes and ninja-like dexterity.]
