Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved On Linux, Here’s What I Think

Geometry Wars 3 has been out on Linux for a while now, but sadly it was left outdated for too long with issues. The update is out, so how is the game on Linux?

About the game
Experience the full evolution of the award-winning Geometry Wars franchise and battle through waves of enemies on 3D grids in this frenetic arcade shooter!

My thoughts
I’ve sunk a lot more time into it than I honestly thought I would! I played the slightly updated original “Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved” back in my Xbox 360 days (R.I.P), and it was a quality game for when friends come around for a drink. So, how does GM3 stack up against that classic?

Performance
Of course you should take this with a grain of salt, as I am currently on an Nvidia 970, but the performance is perfect. I have been able to play rather a lot of it, and it’s flawless.

Music
The music is probably some of the smoothest I’ve heard in an arcade game of this type. It mixes some quality electronic effects along with some rather tame drum and bass for an interesting mix of styles. It’s very good at keeping you pumped when it really kicks in, and I find myself getting quite attached to the music in it.

Gameplay, comments below the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEXx2JCiP84

Geometry Wars 3 is a very different beast to the simple arcade shooter of the original, and it’s fantastic to play it natively on Linux. It’s just as frantic as the older versions, but it’s actually a lot more fun due to the variation in battlefields, enemies, the bosses, and the enemy AI.

The boss fights are probably my favourite feature in the entire game, as the first boss is so fun I think I’ve replayed it about 4 times. I know boss fights aren’t exactly a unique feature for a game, but the way it’s done on GM3 is rather clever I think.
The first boss has an impenetrable shield your bullets bounce off, and you need to take its health down one section at a time. All this while it warps in lots of shapes to try and obliterate you, but beware the boss moves itself around to try and squish you.

I think the battleground variation is what’s mostly making me fall in love with it, after you destroy the first boss you get a sort of oblong shaped battleground that rotates as you move. It’s that kind of variation that will keep you interested for hours, as you only get to see a small part of the area. You need to keep moving or the enemy shapes could quickly creep up from the other side.

I’m liking the fact that some enemies will even try to dodge your bullet spam, and it’s really quite cool to see a wave of enemies swoosh about avoiding your bullets. That is something I don’t remember seeing in the older games, and it’s fantastic. Those little green dodging devils sure do like to dive and swerve, which makes me focus on them too much and get blown up by everything coming in behind me.

The game is incredibly frustrating at times too, although it does try to help you. When new enemies are spawning they fade into the battlefield giving you a chance to move, but that hasn’t stopped me stupidly not realising as I’m too focused on the barrage of shapes heading my way and BOOM it spawned on top of me—damn.

I think the enjoyment is actually higher due to the leaderboard integration, as I have repeated many stages to try and beat “Von” on my Steam friends list, and failed miserably. That won’t stop me though, as it’s the healthy competition that keeps you driven in games like this. Due to how fast paced the game is, and how random it can be, it’s fun to repeat stages too. Although at times when I struggle to hit 1 million points, and Von has over 4 million, I begin to question my skill…


I think my favourite game mode so far is "Titan". This game mode enlarges all the enemies, along with introducing a new one. Once you destroy each massive enemy, smaller shapes spawn, and that repeats once more. It doesn't sound like much, but it gets intense very quickly.

Sad points
Sadly, it does seem like the multiplayer part of it is dead, but that’s not surprising. Games like this never do seem to gain a big online following, and they are so fun in single player that it’s really not an issue. The good thing is with Steam you can gather your friends and invite them in, so if you’re that bothered I’m sure you will be able to find people to play with.

The AI can also be a little stupid at times due to the battlefield variation. You can see it in my video too, as they can get themselves stuck on walls, rather than knowing to float around them. It’s not a major issue, but still an issue.

Final thoughts: It’s a quality game, and the port really is rock solid. If you’re a fan of fast paced games, and want something to stick on when friends come around too, this is just the ticket.

Grab Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved from GameAgent and support the porters Aspyr Media directly. Buying it there gives you a Steam key. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.