I've tried studying its movements, to no avail. I've tried alternating my right thumb shooting patterns to keep it on its toes, but more often than not it's me who comes off second best. And everytime a whole bunch of them are on screen, I've tried carving out a path, holding them back with firepower and frantically bolting for the temporary space I've created only to get cut down by the one green rhombus from the pack who decides to rush me. Do they possess hive intelligence? Some sort of psychic ability? Because no matter what I do, it's almost always them that get me.

The addiction of Geometry Wars Evolved 2 presents itself in constantly making you believe that, no matter how well you did in your last game, you can always do better. A lot better. There is a sense of injustice when you get taken out by an enemy you saw die, or at least, you believed it was dead. And in highlighting the shape that killed you when your little claw-shaped ship explodes into light and lustre, you want to come back, Charles Bronson style, for some sweet sweet vengeance.

The gameplay is immensely deep: you start to learn about how to navigate past certain shapes, and how best to take them out. You turn into a bully, destroying the easier ones in order to get to the tougher varieties. And of course, you learn about picking up the dropped 'geoms' of vanquished enemies - the vitally important score multipliers. Before you know it, what was once an overload of colour and confusion becomes the norm after practice and patience. You start getting 'in the zone,' seeing only what you need to see, and process this information in your brain at a ridiculous rate. You will then continue to dream about the shapes, tactics for victory. These shapes will invade your life.

Looking back on the first game it was fairly limited: only one gameplay mode was available and that would eventually get to a stage where there would just be a tumultuous, mad rush in enemy shapes that would suit players of a particular skill set. I was not one of those players, but, given the crazily high scores of many on my Live friends list, others were.

GWE2 goes so much further to offer 6 different modes, all brilliant in their own right, where players are able to find the best mode to suit their own styles. For me, my best mode is the one where you don't shoot - Pacifism - and instead lure your enemy into 'gates', one of the many new additional objects in the sequel. The closest the game comes to a 'story mode' of any description would probably be in Sequence, where you have to try and make it through 20 levels of ever increasing difficulty. For those who enjoy video game nightmares, Waves gets to the point where panic sets in. But, again, learn the patterns, know your strengths and limitations, and you could master it. Because you know you can.

While there is no online multiplayer, probably due to the effects even the slightest lag would have on this game, local multiplayer supporting four players in versus or co-op is available. But the most surprising thing is, after having a few friends over to play it, how much of a 'spectator game' it turned out to be, complete with sound effects: the oohs and aahs came regularly, the phwoars at near miss escapes, the angry awwws at unexpected deaths. And the best thing? No one has to wait long for a go, but at the same time, if someone is having a good turn we want them to absolutely kill it.

But the most addictive thing out of all in this game? The online friend leaderboards. GWE2 takes you back to what is practically the origin of 'old school' arcade gaming, where high scores meant everything. Already, I have been pushed beyond my expected ability thanks to the intense competition from online buddies as we all battle it out for top spot. The friends leaderboard within the game is so well implemented that, upon waking up and deciding to have 'just a quick one before work,' the discovery that someone managed to thoroughly demolish your previous best score provokes an unrelenting, powerful desire to beat it whilst making full use of the Xbox Live messenging system and calling in sick.

In conclusion, get this game. Become the neon shape destroyer you were born to be. But be very, very careful around those tricky, unpredictable green bastard rhombi.