Game Review: Geometry Survivor

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC

Roguelikes are a fairly common genre these days, as is their survival counterpart, which were made popular by Vampire Survivors. Into this crowded scene drops the neon-infused, autoshooter Geometry Survivor. It's currently available on all major platforms, and I will be taking a look at the Nintendo Switch version today to see if this has what it takes to stand out from the crowd. The runs may not be long, but I'm going to have to do a lot of them, so let's cut the intro short and dive right in!

Don't those ships look like they're from Asteroids?

One of my favorite weapons by the way.

There isn't any story to speak of here, so we're going to go right to discussing gameplay. Gameplay in Geometry Survivor is extremely simple to explain. You are a single geometrically-shaped ship fighting other geometrically shaped ships. You have a set number of lives, and can earn more via pick-ups. Getting hit usually means death, but that can actually be counter-acted by a few of the ship upgrades you can get. Ship upgrades come to you once per level up, and those level ups are done by way of picking up loot that defeated enemy ships leave behind. The only controls you need to worry about in the main game are those directly related to your ship. You don't have to worry about doing any of the actual fighting as all weapons fire and aim automatically. Each weapon has a cooldown period that can also be adjusted via upgrades. Each level up lets you pick one upgrade from a random set of three. These can be re-rolled sometimes, but more often than not you have to go with what is given to you. You have seven slots to work with, so you really want to be able to add on only the best upgrades. Most of the upgrades have levels to them too, so you may want to keep powering up the best ones on each level up. Dying happens quickly, but you continue immediately and keep everything you've gained so far. Besides loot, there are only a few pick-ups in the game. There's hearts that give you another life, a lightning bolt that instantly brings all loot to you, and an item that lets you instantly mutate an upgrade. Mutations are sort of the final level of any upgrade, and once all your weapons are fully upgraded your level ups will only give credits or drop a local bomb at your current location. That's pretty much all you need to know regarding how to play Geometry Survivor, but I guess one needs a goal. Thankfully your goal here is simple: Survive for as long as possible, preferably for a full twenty minutes.

There's more to it of course, as other game modes offer a lot of variety too. Unfortunately most of these game modes need credits to unlock. I didn't talk about them before, but credits are awarded to you after every run, successful or not, based on performance. Credits are mainly used to purchase permanent upgrades to the game, but also for additional modes. While I don't like the idea of using credits to unlock the other modes, I have to say that the random mode was my personal favorite as it took all the anxiety of picking the right upgrades out of my hands. I actually learned to appreciate the power-ups I never used thanks to this mode, but I also learned that some were just not suited to my play style at all. Since the number one goal is to survive, I'd say that it's best to not be where the enemies are. With this in mind, my play style was made up of constantly running away from the never-ending wave of enemies, only standing and fighting if I got myself stuck with no escape. I eventually learned that most players of these survivor-type roguelikes tend to play far more aggressively than I do. I'm the kind of player who charts their course as a constant game of cat and mouse, with me being the mouse. There's a weapon called the "Fat Beam" that is clearly meant for offensive use. That in turn meant that it was a weapon I never wanted to show up in my queue. I went almost exclusively for upgrades that helped me get loot quicker, gave me a shield or made me invincible, or did a lot of enemy destroying behind me. I also used my credits to invest in upgrades that did similar things, and made sure to eventually max out lives and speed. I mention all this not to let you in on my cowardly way of playing survival games, but to show that Geometry Survivor can be played in many different ways. While the idea of surviving the entire twenty minutes without fully upgraded lives and speed seems impossible to me, I'm sure that others can do it without even breaking a sweat. It's really a game made for everyone, despite its occasional difficulty spikes.

This is nothing!

This is a very colorful game.

Since I've raved about the game already, and know I'm going to do it more in a bit, I wanted to point out a few issues I had with the game. My biggest gripe would have to be the credits system in general. I played this game for several hours, but it wasn't until I was consistently clearing runs that I was able to comfortably buy all the things I wanted with said credits. I want to once again mention that these aren't just spent on upgrades, but also to unlock most of the other game modes. I would've liked it more if these were unlocked through other means, or if the entire cost could be reduced to make things just a bit more beginner friendly. There is a "refund all" option within the upgrades store, but I couldn't help but feel that hardcore players probably wouldn't bother with these upgrades anyway. That means that the only person being inconvenienced by the high prices would be the casual players. I don't want to make it seem like I wanted an easy game that offered no challenge at all, but more options are always a good thing. Also, speaking of difficulty, there were certain waves of enemies that popped up towards the end of just about all the game modes that felt very cheap. I usually would try my best to hoard lives for some of them, as I knew I'd take a handful of hits as soon as they appeared. The lines of blue enemies that box you in, the diamond shaped armies that leave you only the tiniest of areas to escape into, and walls of bombs stopped most runs with just minutes to go. Obviously the retort to this is just to play better, but it feels hard to do that when you're only controlling movement. Add to this the randomness of the upgrade pool and I'd simply restart runs that I knew weren't going to end in anything but failure. Then again I pointed out I like randomness earlier, so I guess I don't know what I want. Anyhow frustration is frustration, and I definitely felt it here and there during my time with Geometry Survivor.

Gameplay aside, the thing that kept me coming back to Geometry Survivor again and again were the graphics. There is something amazing to the visuals that you have to see in action to fully understand, pictures just don't do it justice. I've heard it told many a time that vector graphics can never be replicated on screens that weren't meant for them, but Geometry Survivor feels like it hits that exact aesthetic and surpasses it. Everything glows in a neon light, and every enemy type has a color all their own. Even the explosions look great and I love seeing enemies phase into the world, even if that may mean an imminent death. The retro vibes are real here, and I one can't help but see tinges of Asteroids and Tempest throughout. The first enemies in the game even resemble the ship from Asteroids. I was also impressed by the sheer amount of stuff that could be going on at once. Your ship could be firing several weapons at once, loot can be scattered everywhere, and the enemies can number in the hundreds, but the action never seems to slow down. Things held up very well even playing on the Switch. There were some hiccups from time to time, but it was usually for something specific, like hitting a mine or picking up a lightning power-up, and would usually go back to normal speed right after. I honestly have nothing bad to say about the visuals in Geometry Survivor. I guess I should point out that if you have photosentivity issues you might want to always play Geometry Survivor in a well-lit room. I don't have those kind of issues, but there were times when things got almost blindingly bright when I was playing in the dark. Other than that, go nuts with this one!

An example of the upgrades screen.

So close, yet so far.

I don't think I fully have the music words to describe the genre of music in Geometry Survivor, but I really enjoyed it. It felt like music you'd hear in a retro-themed club event. Actually, the entire game could totally fit that aesthetic if it were played in the background of a DJ performing these tracks live. Everything has an electronic vibe to it that is very intense, as well as very addicting. The action in the game doesn't let up for a second, and the music reflects exactly that. It's all high energy and ensures you'll be 100% alert for any enemies waiting for you to slip up. My only mild complaint was that it felt a little too intense at times, and I occasionally would frantically try to turn the volume down while playing. Thankfully this game is completely one-handed, so that wasn't an impossible feat. I do want to point out that the entire turn the music down thing was due to me playing this game well into the obscene hours of the night, and that definitely speaks volumes as to how addicting its gameplay loop can be. That's really the thing about the music here, it helps move along the gameplay loop, and keeps your energy level at a near constant high and ready for your next run. It also just stands out as great music in its own right. I'm not sure if an indie release like this would have a soundtrack available, but I'm going to attempt to find one as soon as I'm done with this review. Anyhow, don't do what I did, play this game loud and be sure to turn that volume way up!

This is the part where I talk about value versus content, and this game makes me feel that I can get this section over with in a sentence or two. As of this writing Geometry Survivor costs a very affordable $4.99. This is rather normal for survival roguelikes like this I'll admit, but I definitely think you get content and value worth far more than that five dollars. I played this game far longer than I needed to for the purposes of this review, and will probably be playing it long after I finish it. You can play it for countless hours on end, and that's just priceless. Not only is there a lot to unlock, but the core game revolves around twenty minute sessions that can easily stretch into several hours for a handful of runs. You're bound to sink a lot of time into this one without even realizing that you're doing it. It's rare that a game shocks me by its value being extremely high compared to its cost, but that's exactly what's going on here and I'm of the opinion that it’s worth far more than its asking price.

These waves of enemies are the worst!

Don't forget about the upgrades shop!

Do I recommend Geometry Survivor? YES! Grab it now on any platform you can and thank me later. Seeing as it's currently available on all the big ones, you shouldn't have any trouble picking it up. It's extremely simple to learn, offers near infinite replayability, has an impressively low price tag, and is just amazing overall. I honestly can't recommend it enough, even to those new to the genre. If you're a retro game fan, you'll probably get even more mileage out of it. I'd continue raving about it, but I want to wrap this up and jump into my next run already. See you all there!

Check Out Geometry Survivor on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/geometry-survivor-switch/

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Story: N/A
Gameplay: A
Graphics: A+
Music/Sound: A+
Value: A+

Overall: A+

Pros:
+ A fast-paced, easy-to-learn shooter that can easily become addicting.
+ While the controls are as simple as can be (just directional controls), there is a lot of customization that make each run unique.
+ Each weapon and upgrade actually feels unique, with each suiting different play styles.
+ The neon, almost vector-like, graphics are extremely cool and impressive.
+ Features a soundtrack that really gets the blood pumping.
+ At just $4.99, Geometry Survivor is a steal!

Cons:
- While saying the game can be difficult isn't exactly fair, there are some cheap moments towards the final round of enemies that can spoil even the best runs.
- The roguelike elements can kill some runs before they even start.
- Even though the game runs impressively for the most part, there can be some slowdown from time to time. On the Nintendo Switch version at least. (Though this can be also seen as a good thing!)
- While Geometry Survivor really drew me in, its simplistic gameplay may mean that it has a relatively short shelf life for some players.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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Get used to this screen!

#GeometrySurvivor