On top of this is competitive multiplayer and the promise of 10 different battle modes, half of which are brand new to the series. There’s also talk of a special 10-level four-player mode, although we don’t get to see that at all. Although, in addition to your standard smart bomb, they do have their own super attacks, such as dropping a turret or setting off a bullet hell style curtain of fire. It retains the idea of drones from the previous games – little computer-controlled helpers that can be set to defend you, or attack or ram enemies – but they’re largely self sufficient. Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions (for PC) Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions is a superb minimalist shooter that will have you saying 'just one more game' every time.

Just how complex to make everything is clearly an issue but from what we could see Geometry Wars 3 seems to keep on the right side of the line each time. There are cylinders with moving platforms to avoid, peanut-shaped arenas where you can shoot right around the whole level in one burst, and hints from the developers of even more complex shapes to come. Moving around a 3D object, but only along a 2D plane, is the same basic idea but even by the end of the demo the level design is becoming more complex than Stardust’ stock spheres. Unfortunately for Lucid it’s also highly reminiscent, particularly on the simpler shapes we see in the early levels, of Super Stardust. In fact it’s probably the sole reason why twin-stick shooters are still so prevalent in the modern era. Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions is not only about beating your friend’s scores you can also play together in 8 player competitive online and 4 player local co-operative multiplayer with friends and rivals. It started life as a mini-game in the original Project Gotham Racing and when released as a standalone title was the first big hit on Xbox Live Arcade ( here’s the original trailer for the first sequel). If you aren’t aware of the franchise it’s a twin-stick shooter in the mould of Robotron 2084 and Smash T.V. Although not franchise creator Stephen Cakebread (although the two devs we chat to at the preview do claim to be friends with him, as we marvel at how wonderful his surname is – and wonder whether it counts as the English equivalent to Halo spokesperson Kiki Wolfkill).Īlthough it’s due out this year no one but the developer is allows to play the game, which is a shame as that’s exactly what we want to do the minute we see it in action. The first two Geometry Wars games were created by the now sadly defunct Bizarre Creations, but Lucid Games is the largest of the many studios that formed after their demise and is populated by a number of ex-staff. Which in the case of Geometry Wars 3 certainly seems to be the case. So does Activision’s involvement mean Geometry Wars 3 isn’t really an indie game? Or what about Child Of Light, which certainly felt like an indie title but was made by a 40-man team at Ubisoft? The obvious answer is that it doesn’t matter as long as the games are good.

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