Xbox Community Game: Groov
Ever play Geometry Wars? How about Rez? What if you could play both of those games at the same time!? That’s essentially what Groov is. On the surface, Groov is your basic twin stick shooter. At first glance, it’s very easy to mistake it for a Geometry Wars knock-off. The twin stick shooting mechanic, the starry background, the colorful and distinct, never-ending waves of enemies trying to crash into you.. it’s obvious where Groov got its inspiration from. But the genius of Groov is that it isn’t a Geometry Wars clone. Just ten seconds with this unique game and you’ll realize what it really is: an interactive song.
Much in the same way that enemies in Rez would explode with a cacophony of sound, the enemies in Groov all produce their own musical sound effect. Even your own gunfire produces a sound with every fired shot. These sounds basically all add up to produce a song. A song that you are somewhat in control of. Want to hear the horns? Shoot the yellow glider enemies. Want to hear guitar notes? Shoot the light-blue fighters. As you play, you’ll find yourself seeking out specific enemies to create the song that you want to hear.
It’s really difficult to explain in words exactly how Groov works, so luckily there’s a Youtube trailer (watch the HD version) for the game, not to mention a downloadable demo. I tried the demo and fell in love with it instantly. The only shortcoming is that there are only three modes. A normal mode, that only takes a few minutes to complete; an expert mode that is essentially just a more difficult version of normal; and a remix mode where you’re invincible and have full control over the music that is played. In the timed demo, it’s possible to finish the normal mode and still have some time to spare.
Despite the brevity, the game is a steal at only 200 space bucks. Dollar for dollar, I think it’s superior to Geometry Wars 2. More than just simply shooting and dodging enemies, Groov has you creating a song at the same time. It’s as challenging as the original Geometry Wars, and is even more musical and interactive than Rez. Hopefully, the game’s creator is working on a follow-up, or even better yet, it is expanded upon and released as an Xbox Live Arcade game. I’d pay good money for more Groov.
