GWRE2 picks up the torch that the original failed to grasp tightly enough, providing absolute instant satisfaction. There’s no foreplay here, as right from the off you’re rewarded for risk taking perfectionism. Using the mechanic employed in ‘GW: Galaxies’, score multipliers are no longer earned by killing set amounts of enemies, now being boosted incrementally by collecting ‘geoms’ – tiny green fragments dropped by downed enemies. This change mixes up the way you play the game entirely, as GWRE2 regularly rewarding you for flying back into the eye of the storm rather than fleeing from the waves of evil shapes as any sensible chap would. It also changes the pace of the game entirely; many of the game-modes in the game don’t rely so much on long-term survival as they do on effective geom hoarding, often the multiplier rewards you gain from risks taken within the first minute of gameplay will be the foundation of the high scores you’ll soon be racking up. It’s hard to really see the significance of this until you try and go back to playing the original game, only to find that the first 3 minutes of each round are pure filler; super easy sections with little to no scope for improvement.

Retro Evolved 2 doesn’t tease: You’re straight into the action, and within 3 minutes you’ll either be dead or about to set a rather delicious score. Because of this, there’s very little about the game that frustrates; you never have to do ‘that bit’ again to get back to the same state, as 99% of traditional gaming trawl has been entirely thrown out of the window – what you’re left with is a selection of variations on the classic Geometry Wars formula that throw themselves lovingly into the arms of instant gratification. Start-die-start-die-start-die-start-die-start-die-success! Start. Death can never feel like anything more than a slight disappointment when playing GWRE2, as you’re never more than a split second away from retry-redemption. Oh, and retry you most certainly will, as the game rather wonderfully insists on integrating the leaderboard from your friends’ list into the game itself as a constant reminder of the fact that you’ve got work to be doing.