Our thanks to DJ Incompetent for putting this AMAZING strategy guide together! Make sure to show him some love in the comment section if you’ve benefited from this series!
We wrap up this hardcover textbook from an online university with a little slice of captain obvious. Maybe it’s like the internet equivalent of an appendix, or that one night stand where the chick left an expensive earring behind and awkwardly tries to get it back, or that class you took a few years ago where you asked the professor if you needed the course book and he said you totally didn’t but later near the final exam there were review questions the guy never went over but the answers were in that book you didn’t have to buy. Well anyway, let’s round things out, freshen up, pluck that belly button lint, and eat some cereal with some goddamn fiber because I got nothin’ left to say after this piece.
EVOLVED: Anybody know how to unlock RETRO? I mean, it’s in the title…
Here we got Geo Wars One without the shifting weapons, the dopey foreplay, and the meaningful achievements.
60mil #976 The Decode
– Similar to deadline, aim for boosting your multiplier quickly then aiming for gates/blackholes later on, as thats where the real points are.
– People seem to have different methods for moving/shooting, I tend to aim straight ahead while going around the edge as I lets me pick up more geoms.
– Another useful thing is using the 4 black holes in the corners (when they spawn) to control everything following you. Shoot one, and as everything is sucked towards it blow it up, trying to take out as much as possible. if you repeat this corner to corner you can score well, especially later on.
114mil #212 Tekunikaru
– This is similar to Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, except starting faster and with different enemies. You still get the big groups of enemies surrounding you, that you need to blast right through. You still get the spawns of large groups from each corner. And most importantly, you still get the “pause” groups from the corners as well.
– If you’re not sure what I mean by that last part. The “pause” groups are when a blackhole, and a few enemies spawn in each corner at once. Generally when this happens, no other enemies spawn on the screen for about 5-10 seconds. And as in Retro Evolved, this is your time to relax and clean up the rest of the stage. Otherwise, there’s no real strategy here that’s different from the original.
– Generally making a wide circle of the level is helpful once things start getting hectic. Be sure to shoot in front of you while moving in case a Wave of the yellow wave ships heads for you from the blind end of the arena.
59mil #1064 Netherfiend
They are talking about the Circle-Strafe Method.
Let me tell you more about the Circle-Strafe Method:
– In GW1, the idea was to circle-strafe the board infinitely and fire backward only when you had a sec of nothing else on-screen in front, either from every possible enemy on-screen baited to follow the player or because it was during a break wave where there are black holes in every corner and nothing spawning.
– In GW2, the idea is to circle-strafe long enough to lead large groups of enemies to a trap of either a gate or a black hole to kill off large groups at your multiplier-times-five.
Evolved is like the final exam of Geometry Wars. Little tactics and nuances you pick up from all the other modes can be used here all as one mode.
– The Circle-Strafing practiced in Deadline is your base tactics for survival.
– Studying the enemy movements in King may help your timing and anticipate when a Snake will unintentionally clear a path or predict where fallout from an exploding black hole will group together.
– Gate-Running from Pacifism should translate well into leading the largest sections of the enemy mob to the gate explosions. Also, Wall-Grinding as an escape tactic.
– Swivel-Fire from Waves will help you when the inevitable random screen-long wave of arrowheads attempts to fuck up your shit. It’s good for spreading some of your fire wider while you circle the playfield.
– Finding holes in Surrounding-Spawns practiced in Sequence while they were predictable can help you in Evolved where they are familiar, but sudden in appearance.
However, one thing Evolve does a little better than Deadline and Sequence is put out predictably-placed black holes during consistent combat. So this is where I will give more detail on how to destroy a black hole during circle-strafe for maximum gain.
– The ideal on black holes is never to shoot them from a distance. Every attack on a black hole should be met with heading directly toward it and then circling behind it. Only when you begin to circle behind the black hole do you fire upon it. In this way, do you initiate the gravity field for a minimized period while drawing the enemy mob following you around the black hole to maximize the destruction of the enemy mob in the blast radius when you murder the black hole. Then you quickly double-back (if there’s room) and resume circle-strafing in the opposite direction, picking up the dense cluster of geoms dropped by the mob while resuming your circle-strafe strategy.
– This is a tricky maneuver with variable results. If you attack the Gravity Well too early, you catch little of the enemy mob in the 5x blast radius. If you attack the Gravity Well too late, the enemy swarm will enter and explode the black hole before you could ever have destroyed it. Only hands-on practice will be able to show you when it is best to start and finish-off a black hole. But it does function kinda like The Price is Right in tryin’ to hit it as close as you can without going over.
– I suppose the final thing about enemy technique to mention besides “how to not completely choke after losing a life” (which is my problem) is sessions of all corner-spawning enemies. I handle this the same way most circle-strafers do, with drilling into one corner of enemies until a hole is found, then drilling into the next corner or wall-grinding my way around the corner after.
26mil #6801 DJ Incompetent
The skill to practice using this mode: Remembering everything you’ve learned in one run.
Why? There are things to know from all the other modes that can apply to this mode if you’re interested in maximizing your score.
— Super Final Bonus Guide Number One! —
Dealing with Frustration.
– Find your trance: they call this “in the zone” among many other things. You’re trying to find the best playing environment where you can just zone-out yet play the best you’ve ever been. Serious zen shit. Many STG players understand the concept of this, but nobody can put it into good words without a guy on a forum coming down on somebody for claiming to have explained it wrong. If you’ve never experienced this kind of feeling on your own, look into playing in conditions opposite to what you’re used to. This can be as easy as changing the music, temperature, sitting position, time of day, or the place you’re playing in.
– Take a break: Some players have their best runs when they first start their playing session…not to sound like a Wii or anything.
– Mix a mild drink: If you always play sober, as you probably should, maybe you could consider changing it up. Your results could be unexpected.
– Switch modes temporarily: Any mode pissing you off? Play Waves once or twice. Waves pissing you off? Play Pacifism once or twice.
– Switch games: Go play Braid. Find yerself a goddamn puzzle piece.
– Move to a quiet area: Being distracted or interrupted constantly isn’t the best. If you got another HD screen elsewhere, bust it out.
– Invite somebody in to talk to you. However, too much quiet for a long period can make you go nuts. I’ve had my best runs in other games while just bullshittin’ with my girlfriend while playin’ something I’ve tried and failed many many times.
– Turn on a podcast: similar to above, but possible to ignore when positive things start happening in your game. Go to game settings and shut the Music (BGM) to off.
– Use the custom soundtracks: The right music can change you.
– Mute the music or sound: I used this when I got past the Megaman 1 Yellow Devil my first time.
– Fuck with your TV configuration: Some people have issues with Bloom Effect not because of quick contrast issues, but things just getting so bright the shapes will bleed together. If the TV is yours, play with your contrast, brightness, color temperature, and other similar settings. Or just give your own eyes a jolt of paying attention more and totally screw with the tint. Slight changes in anything can trigger your mind to simply pay attention more.
– Finally, remember to never be discouraged at the next player’s score. GW2 is exponential scoring, so that 17 or 70 million that next guy is right above you may just happen if you can live another 30 seconds after your personal best score, or even just one slick use of a gate or black hole…
It’s just a video game.
Vote for me in the next presidential election. I have all the qualifications.
More Articles In This Series:
Go to DEADLINE
Go to KING
Go to PACIFISM
Go to WAVES
Go to SEQUENCE
Massive thanks to Teku @ shmups.com, Boric @ VGEvo.com, and Etrian @ shmups.com
