Face-Off: Geometry Wars 2/Touch

By Richard Leadbetter Published 4 June, 2010

Xbox 360 vs iPad: Retro Devolved?

Page 1 of 2

It's time for full disclosure. From an entirely personal perspective, I think that Geometry Wars 2 on Xbox 360 is one of the best games ever made, and probably just pips Trials HD to the post as the single greatest download title available on the Live Arcade. The recent release of a mobile rendition of Bizarre Creations' classic for iPad has seen that insane Geometry Wars score addiction take hold once again: the handheld version is wonderful.

It's all down to that "retro evolved" formula of course. The core brilliance of the Robotron 2084 twin-stick control method, the perfectly realised vector graphics, the exponentially increasing score multipliers... All combined with modern-day enhancements like the friends leaderboard. The formula is nigh-on perfect, the execution flawless.

Over and above that is the pitch-perfect refresh of the visuals. While adhering to the original vector graphics look, Geometry Wars 2: Retro Evolved utilised the Xenos GPU within the Xbox 360 to create a huge amount of particles, enemies, and bullets - all rendered at full 1080p at an uncompromised 60FPS.

Combine this with some beautiful effects and even a cathode burn-in style post-processing filter and we have a game that looks fresh and modern while at the same time paying homage to the Golden Age that many of us grew up in which shaped our life-long love of video games.

In preparing the recent Digital Foundry vs. iPad feature, I was struck by how "extremely close" DoubleSix's conversion of Geometry Wars 2 was.

All of the six game modes found in the Xbox 360 version made their way into the new Touch version, along with a new addition: Titans, an intriguing combination of the existing GW formula with the classic Asteroids. But just how close does the conversion compare to the brilliant original?

It's been many months since I played Geometry Wars 2, and certainly the look and feel of the iPad game are very close, but upon returning to the 360 original I was struck at how much different and indeed better Bizarre's version is, while at the same time I grew more appreciative of the work DoubleSix undertook to make this game remain playable and beautiful in its own way on the new tablet platform.

So first up, a chance to see how Geometry Wars Touch compares via a specially prepared digital showcase covering all six of the game modes: direct-feed iPad footage up against some downscaled 1080p60 video of the 360 original.

iPad Geometry Wars Touch up against its 360 sibling. Some big differences but gameplay is gold on both systems. Something internet video can't show is that both run at a solid 60FPS.

Of course there are compromises. Probably the most visually noticeable to begin with is that DoubleSix appears to have gone for double-thick lines on the game's vectors, including the game text, so we're left with a much rougher look on iPad despite what is a very high resolution screen.

Head to head with the 360 version, particles, enemies (and the amounts of them) are dialled back, on-screen text dealing with multipliers is gone, and many of the more beautiful screen-rippling special effects are absent as well. The sense is of a game that looks almost like an intermediary between the original Geometry Wars and its 360 sequel.

'Face-Off: Geometry Wars 2/Touch' Screenshot vectors1
'Face-Off: Geometry Wars 2/Touch' Screenshot vectors2

Despite having a high-resolution screen right 'in your face', Geometry Wars Touch uses double-thick vectors, giving the impression of a game running at lower than native resolution - which it isn't.

Going back to the Xbox 360 game, it's quite astonishing just how much real estate you have to play with compared to the iPad rendition. The main gameplay arena is inordinately more vast, and your ship, along with your enemies are miniscule, meaning that when things really start to get going, the screen is teeming with more enemies to wipe out.

The thinking may be that the outsize magnification is required for the mobile screen, but it should be pointed out that one of the key strengths of the iPad is the fact that it puts an HD-style screen directly in your face. Chances are that the field of view you get with the tablet is much larger than it is playing 360 in your lounge.

Of course, it's also the case that a smaller playing area inherently limits the amount of enemies it can contain - however, I get the idea that this pretty much downscaling is as much about control as it is about the visuals.

Manoeuvring a tiny on-screen ship involves having a precise level of control that the iPad - bereft of sticks and buttons - is simply unable to provide.

Returning to the Xbox 360 version of Geometry Wars, it's immediately apparent not only that the game is much easier to control, but also that it's quite a bit harder too.

This is perhaps unsurprising - the ship's basic rate of fire seems to be very similar on iPad, meaning that in the enclosed area with more closely packed enemies, those bullets deal more damage, especially in the early stages of the each game variation.

However, levelling things somewhat is that - unsurprisingly - giving up your trusty 360 pad for a pair of on-screen virtual sticks makes life a whole lot harder when playing on the tablet.

Page 1 of 2

Comments (37) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • wizlon #1 2 years ago

    Stupidest face off ever!

  • jag10 #2 2 years ago

    so are people "Apple Fanboys" aswell for likeing Apple products?

  • fknetwork #3 2 years ago

    "There's nothing Bizarre or DoubleSix could have done about this of course, as there's simply no Xbox Live style of service available for the iPad."

    Openfeint, +Plus, Crystal, Agon all say hi!
    All of these offer a mobile xbox live like experience, openfeint for example is superb and has achievements, leaderboards, friends lists, messaging, chat, online forums all built in!

  • jonsaan #4 2 years ago

    I like Galaxies on the DS the best of all personally.

  • enfilade #5 2 years ago

    That control mechanism looks truly horrid compared to the dual sticks of the 360. It could still be fun if you're desperate to play Geometry Wars on the go, but otherwise this seems like a fairly pointless technical evaluation of an unnecessary port.

    If I were so inclined to own an iPad, I'd be interested in games that utilised the touch-screen mechanic and really ran with it, not that were crippled by the lack of thumbsticks to the point of utter frustration. It's the same issue as porting RTS games to control-pad consoles: it just doesn't work.
    Edited by 1 at 05/06/10 @ 09:32

  • womble #6 2 years ago

    I love GW2 on the 360! I would really love to see a technical interview with its creators some time, because it really is a technical and gameplay gem.

    I don't have an iPad, but will be forced to get one for development work, so I'll grab this game then.

  • Jackface #7 2 years ago

    I don't need to read this article to know that the Xbox version pisses all over the iPad version, mainly over the controls. You just can't seriously compare these two games and not expect the iPad version to lose, it's pointless.

    The single most important change that needs to be made to the iPad version is the bomb trigger. It's positioned in such an awkward location it's almost like they looked at all the options and picked the worst. Obviously none of them have played Meteor Blitz on the iPhone. They got bombs just right - double tap the right 'stick'.

  • Jackface #8 2 years ago

    "The friends leaderboard - such a key component in the 360 title - is much more limited in the iPad game. There's nothing Bizarre or DoubleSix could have done about this of course, as there's simply no Xbox Live style of service available for the iPad."

    Yes there is. There's at least three, such as Openfeint. Apple will have their own from next week, but there are more than enough third party solutions in the meantime.

  • Bremenacht #9 2 years ago

    Blimey - this makes a change from xbox vs playstation. A completely new fanboy war must follow.

  • Jackface #10 2 years ago

    When glaring errors such as the one about leaderboards are made in articles on a website purporting to be an expert in it's field, does anyone in Editorial notice and make a change to the article or do you just leave the error in?

    Curious, because that's a biggie, frankly.

  • Feanor #11 2 years ago

    1024x768 is not HD.

  • mowgli #12 2 years ago

    I would rather play these types of games on something like an iPad/PSP etc. Not because they control better (which of course they don't); but because when I'm sat in front of my big lovely TV I want to play something big fancy and epic like RDR or MW2.

  • Jackface #13 2 years ago

    "1024x768 is not HD."

    Yeah it is. Anything that's higher than standard definition falls under the umbrella term of 'high definition'. What you meant to say was "1024x768 is not as high definition as my high definition telly." which is correct.

  • jag10 #14 2 years ago

    @ mowgli
    yeah i would rather play games like Uncharted 2 and God Of War 3 in true HD on a console. and FF14. and FF13. and Metal gear solid rising.
    Edited by 2 at 05/06/10 @ 11:58

  • Jackface #15 2 years ago

    I much prefer this game on the Xbox, but only because of the controls. It's practically unplayable on the iPad if you're a fan of the Xbox version. I mean, it's not really unplayable, but the drop off in accuracy, and that bomb button, makes it too hard to enjoy it without wishing it was better.

  • Weezer #16 2 years ago

    At some point, some enterprising soul is going to make a dual-stick joypad accessory that plugs into the iPad and is going to make a fortune. I'd buy one.

  • Sunyavadin #17 2 years ago

    @Jackface
    Yes, but remember, for most of us PC gamers "Standard definition" was 1024x768 from around about 1995 onwards.

  • Retroid #18 2 years ago

    As a face-off of the game(s) and the implementation of the controls and as such it's an interesting read.

  • Deckard1 #19 2 years ago

    Am I the only one who much preferred the first geometry wars?

  • Jackface #20 2 years ago

    @Sunyvadin

    I think the problem is the developers themselves are choosing the use the suffix to distinguish the iPad versions of things. Others are using XL instead. It's an ugly thing if you ask me, I'd much prefer 'for iPad' if they have to use anything. I really hate it when they add the letters to the icon as well, as if I'm going to have anything other than the iPad version on my iPad.

  • Stoatboy #21 2 years ago

    "- though how you overcome the friction of the screen remains to be seen"

    Butter?

  • uglygamer #22 2 years ago

    Will we get a FIFA 10 World Cup - XBOX 360 vs DS face off?
    Edited by 2 at 05/06/10 @ 14:59

  • thesombrerokid #23 2 years ago

    there's no point implementing Plus+ or Open Fient now as pretty soon they'll be obsolete, the Game Centre will superscede them. About the flip it's a common mistake for developers to develop an application on the ipod and assume the headphone jack is in the same place on all devices and not add a flip option, which is a mistake because inexplicably the headphone jack is in a different position on the iPhone/iPad.

  • yegon #24 2 years ago

    I've learnt from 2 years with the iphone not to buy certain types of games that are ill suited to touch screens, and Id definitely lump this in with them. As iPad apps are noticeably more expensive - which I don't necessarily have a problem with - there's no way Im taking any chances on fast action games with no demo/lite version like GW.

  • Retroid #25 2 years ago

    I didn't see this as pitching the iPad against the 360 at all - it'd be damned obvious that a low-power portable device isn't going to compare well to a high-power home console (even if it is getting on a bit) when it comes to hardware used to push it around!

    I just read this as someone who is a fan of the game seeing how these versions compare. Personally, from what I've seen of it on iPad (I don't have one myself, too sodding expensive!) they've done a bloody amazing job of recreating the look & feel with what's available to them, including down to the controls. That's what I find interesting.

  • septimus #26 2 years ago

    Next: XBOX 360 Sonic 1 vs MegaDrive!

    XBOX is t3h bestest!

    The control on the iPad version isn't that bad. Set the thumb-sticks down to 10 instead of the default 20, it improves a lot in reaction time. The bomb button does need fixing. The accelerometer could be used instead.
    Edited by 1 at 05/06/10 @ 17:54

  • Quixz #27 2 years ago

    right..

  • Retroid #28 2 years ago

    septimus: "Next: XBOX 360 Sonic 1 vs MegaDrive!

    XBOX is t3h bestest!"

    If that's truly how anyone read that article, then....

    /Picard

    Now, if it was Megadrive Sonic The Hedgehog vs *any 3D Sonic game* well , the Megadrive would kick arse.
    Edited by 1 at 05/06/10 @ 20:37

  • Rack #29 2 years ago

    @Retroid. Exactly, the game was clearly designed around dual sticks and the iPad version was almost never going to be as good, but it's still interesting to see how close it got.

  • UncleLou #30 2 years ago

    That control mechanism looks truly horrid compared to the dual sticks of the 360.

    Nothing horrid about them. Virtual joypads work fine on the iDevices if implemented correctly. It's not ideal, but neither are gamepads for FPS games, but we all got tired of that argument long ago, didn't we.

  • bladdard #31 2 years ago

    GW2 is no longer an MS platform exclusive so how about a PS3/PSP version?

  • Retroid #32 2 years ago

    bladdard: "GW2 is no longer an MS platform exclusive so how about a PS3/PSP version?"

    Slightly surprised they haven't included a version in Blur - they introduced Waves in PGR4, after all.

  • Jackface #33 2 years ago

    @UncleLou - it's not horrid but compared to the Xbox controller it's pretty crap. Unless you've oiled up the screen so your fingers will always glide without friction over the screen, it's tricky. And the bomb button. Oh my God.

    Seriously, whoever made this port ought to be ashamed of that bomb button. I know they didn't have access to the device before releasing the game but it's been out now for over a month. They should have fixed that with an update as soon as possible. One gets the feeling they won't bother at all.

    Ruins the game, for me.

  • Stoatboy #34 2 years ago

    @Jackface: You've got a forehead haven't you? My guess is that you're meant to give it a Glasgow Kiss to activate the smart bomb. Stitch this, alien bastards!

  • TheFlashGuy #35 2 years ago

    why in the name of satan's trousers would you do a face off with the iPad vs XBox 360? What next? PS3 vs Casio Game & Watch? Pointless...

  • bladdard #36 2 years ago

    I find it quite interesting to find out how Apples brand new iPad stacks up against current gen console technology from a games perspective.

  • Kryon #37 2 years ago

    "What next? PS3 vs Casio Game & Watch? Pointless... "

    Why would that be pointless? The PS3 and Casio Game & Watch are very evenly matched, although admittedly, Game & Watch has the edge.