Gameplay screenshot of a boss level in Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions. The player (center) must avoid contact with enemies, while slowly firing on the boss and depleting its health.
The player pilots a claw-shaped ship that can shoot independently of where it is pointing. The primary objective is to destroy a variety of enemy shapes which attempt to destroy the ship. Depending on the game mode, extra lives and extra supers can be collected upon achieving a certain number of points. Supers can be chosen before the game starts, and are expendable powerups that have extreme effects on the game, such as turrets that shoot enemies and a massive wave of bullets. In addition, several 'drones' may be selected to accompany the player to perform tasks, such as collecting geoms or firing on enemies.[5]
Crucial to effective play is the score multiplier, which can be increased by collecting small green diamonds called "geoms". Skilled players may get the multiplier into the ten-thousands on occasions.[citation needed]
The game was released worldwide on November 25, 2014 for PC, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 and November 26 for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One.[7] A free update, titled Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved was released on March 31, 2015 on all platforms. The update included 40 new levels and other gameplay features such as new boss battles and gameplay types. Existing players received Evolved as a free update, and it is also included in new purchases of the game.[8]
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved received a physical disc release on PS4 and Xbox One on October 11, 2016.
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 4 version 87.36% based on 11 reviews and 85/100 based on 20 reviews,[10][14] the Microsoft Windows version 78.00% based on 4 reviews and 79/100 based on 4 reviews[11][15] and the Xbox 360 version 85.26% based on 19 reviews and 83/100 based on 21 reviews.[12][16]
Brett Makedonski from Destructoid gave the game a perfect score, praising the responsive shooting mechanics, distinct level-design of the adventure campaign, inclusion of various new modes, as well as a "classic mode", which has similar gameplay as its predecessor Retro Evolved 2. He stated that "Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions improves as much as possible while still staying true to the core of the franchise. That old game is still there, it's just unspeakably better now. It may have been past installments in the series that were billed as evolution, but Dimensions is where Geometry Wars truly evolved".[17]
Christian Donlan from Eurogamer was more reserved in his praise, feeling the game wasn't up to par with its predecessors: "I'm not sure if Lucid really gets the mentality behind this series, and that makes for a perfectly serviceable shooter when the lineage requires something more".[18]
