After playing modern games for so long, it can't hurt to go back to retro games, or retro styled games at least. It can provide a refreshing experience and a clever distraction if you feel like breaking up the monotony a little bit. Geometry Wars manages to accomplish this by blending in classic arcade game play with a modern twist. Sadly, you won't be playing for very long.
Let me start out by saying this, I did not spend $5 on this. While it might only just be worth that much, I played it as a minigame on PGR3. It pretty much includes everything you'd expect, except it's free. The game revolves around you surviving for as long as possible. You are a lone spaceship in the middle of a grid. Once you start, waves upon waves of enemy ships will swarm your position. All you have to do is shoot them down before they can reach you. It continues until you manage to get yourself blown up.
You start off with a basic cannon as one of two methods of attack. Your secondary attack consists of a bomb with a rather large blast radius, which can destroy several enemies at once if timed right. You can literally take down twenty or even thirty guys with a well timed detonation. As you keep playing, the guys hunting you down will start becoming more common, and you'll need a more powerful weapon. Luckily, you receive multiple upgrades to your cannon that enable you to blast your foes in a variety of ways.
You'll eventually have access to bigger projectiles, which can hit several targets at once, and you can even acquire a flamethrower type weapon among others. The graphics aren't too good. They look nice, but things can look dull sometimes. You'll only notice this when nothing is happening on screen, because once the action picks up the game comes alive. Tons of things flash manically, enemies come in various shapes and sizes, the effects look spectacular and after you reach a certain point, you're never safe from enemy fire.
While you'll no doubt enjoy what the game offers, there's just not enough to keep the average gamer satisfied. I'd say that retro gamers are the target demographic here as well as high score chasers. Those expecting an in depth plot will have to look some place else. Then again, why would you look here in the first place? There really isn't anything else to do apart from the main game. You can check out the leader board to see what your high score is, but that's about it.
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved isn't a bad game. It's a fun, quirky mini game that can become very frantic very quickly. Just don't expect anything apart from that. Yes, get it if you see it on sale, but be wary for what's ahead.