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Watcha Playing: Geometry Wars Galaxies

Posted by Amber Ahlborn



When I was a kid and had all the time in the world to play games I had no money to buy them. Now I'm an adult with a halfway decent paycheck I can afford to buy any game I want. Unfortunately that paycheck is attached to a full time job so I have little time to play. That is cruel irony. I have always loved beefy games; full blown action adventures, platformers, and the biggest time sinks of all, RPGs. However, it is only relatively recently that I've come to fully appreciate quick fix games; games like Geometry Wars Galaxies that I can play for hours or minutes and still get the full experience.



In celebration of the Large Hadron Collider going into operation today, I present to you: Particle Accelerator the Video Game.

There is a diner in my home town with an ancient arcade cabinet sitting in one corner. The cabinet houses an original Asteroids game in all its vector graphics glory. Geometry Wars takes the basic idea of Asteroids and runs with it, creating a game that manages to be intense and relaxing all at the same time. Anyone who's gotten into “the zone” while playing it knows what I'm talking about. It's easy to just get absorbed in the light show.

Geometry Wars sports no life-like CG models, no fancy texture maps or overblown motion capture. It breaks the visuals down to the most basic shapes and dazzles with cascades of particle effects and streams of light. It's a beautiful game with a look that will never age poorly like yesterday's cutting edge 3-D. The color and motion blend together in a fluid work of interactive art. Don't get too mesmerized by the digital fireworks though, or you'll never see the deadly rotating square that annihilates your ship!



Related Links:

OST: Everyday Shooter

Watcha Playing: Kororinpa Marble Mania

Watcha Playing: Fantastic Contraption


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT

Comments

John H. said:

An original Asteroids machine?  I would eat at that place for that reason alone.

September 16, 2008 5:25 PM

About Amber Ahlborn

Artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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