I am still working my way through this game on the Xbox 360.  I played this a fair bit on the PC so I thought I would share some tips and help for people on this great game. 

FAQ

How many levels are there?

Stage 1       4 levels
Stage 2       5 levels
Stage 3       6 levels
Stage 4       5 levels
Stage 5       6 levels
Stage 6       7 levels
Stage 7       6 levels
Stage 8       7 levels
Stage 9       8 levels
Stage 10     7 levels
Stage 11     8 levels
Stage 12     9 levels
Stage 13     5 levels
Stage 14     5 levels = 88 levels x 3 difficulty levels

If you die you can restart from each STAGE with three lives and 0 score.

Challange of Horus (unlocked after completing Hard)
Stage 1       5 Levels
Stage 2       5 Levels
Stage 3       5 Levels
Stage 4       5 Levels
Stage 5       5 Levels = 25 levels

If you die you can restart from each LEVEL with three lives and 0 score.

 

How many points do I need for the Pharaoh of the Two Lands Achievment?
List provided by DDurwood who recieved this list from Scott Hansen, who was the Lead Designer for Luxor 2
Commoner
   Farm Hand                                                   0
   Plower of Fields                              250,000
   Keeper of Beasts                           500,000
   Chief Farm Hand                        1,000,000
   Appointer of Plowers                  1,500,000
   Supervisor of Seed                     2,000,000
   Master of Farm Hands                2,500,000
   Inspector of Crops                       3,000,000
   Overseer of the Fields               3,500,000
   Owner of Land                             4,000,000
Merchant
   Donkey Washer                        5,000,000
   Bearer of Goods                      6,000,000
   Goods Counter                        7,000,000
   Keeper of Goods                      8,000,000
   Chief Bearer                         9,000,000
   Buyer of Goods                      10,000,000
   Supervisor of Bearers               11,000,000
   Inspector of Goods                  12,000,000
   Overseer of Trade                   13,000,000
   Trade Merchant                      14,000,000
Scribe
   Potshard Cleaner                    15,500,000
   Mixer of Inks                       17,000,000
   Cutter of Reeds                     18,500,000
   Papyrus Maker                       20,000,000
   Chief of Materials                  21,500,000
   Fledgling Scribe                    23,000,000
   Supervisor of Fledglings            24,500,000
   Inspector of Writings               26,000,000
   Overseer of Scribes                 27,500,000
   Master of Hieroglyphs               29,000,000
Priest
   Initiate of the Temple              31,000,000
   Sacred Pool Cleaner                 33,000,000
   Sweeper of the Granaries            35,000,000
   Temple Musician                     37,000,000
   Chief of Initiates                  39,000,000
   Keeper of Sacred Hymns              41,000,000
   Appointer of Holy Scribes           43,000,000
   Inspector of Offerings              45,000,000
   Overseer of Priests                 47,000,000
   High Priest                         49,000,000
Builder
   Chisel Sharpener                    51,500,000
   Block Cutter                        54,000,000
   Apprentice Stone Carver             56,500,000
   Sculptor of Images                  59,000,000
   Chief Stonemason                    61,500,000
   Erector of Obelisks                 64,000,000
   Carver of Hieroglyphs               66,500,000
   Inspector of Monuments              69,000,000
   Overseer of Constructions           71,500,000
   Master of Works                     74,000,000
Treasurer
   Coin Washer                         77,000,000
   Money Stacker                       80,000,000
   Silver Polisher                     83,000,000
   Collector of Taxes                  86,000,000
   Chief of the Vault                  89,000,000
   Appointer of Counters               92,000,000
   Keeper of the Deben Rings           95,000,000
   Inspector of Gems                   98,000,000
   Overseer of Tribute                101,000,000
   Treasurer of the Silver House      104,000,000
Nomarch
   Papyrus Pusher                     107,000,000
   Brewer of Black Gold               110,000,000
   Filer of Scrolls                   113,000,000
   Manager of Servants                116,000,000
   Chief Papyrus Pusher               119,000,000
   Keeper of Seals                    122,000,000
   Administrator of the Nome          125,000,000
   Appointer of Judges                128,000,000
   Overseer of the Lands              131,000,000
   Lord of Nomarchs                   134,000,000
Military
   Axe Sharpener                      138,000,000
   Cleaner of Chariots                142,000,000
   Soldier Recruit                    146,000,000
   Lieutenant of Swords               150,000,000
   Standard Bearer of the Royal Bark  154,000,000
   Chief of Recruits                  158,000,000
   Scribe of the Army                 162,000,000
   Captain of Chariots                166,000,000
   General of Troops                  170,000,000
   Commander of Soldiers              174,000,000
Vizier
   Minor Advisor                      178,000,000
   Giver of Advice                    182,000,000
   Librarian of Knowledge             186,000,000
   Greeter of Foreigners              192,000,000
   Chief Advisor                      196,000,000
   Administrator of the King          200,000,000
   Inspector of Dignitaries           205,000,000
   Appointer of Administrators        210,000,000
   Overseer of the King's House       215,000,000
   Grand Vizier                       220,000,000
Royal
   Royal Acquaintance                 225,000,000
   Seal-Bearer of the King            230,000,000
   Eyes and Ears of the Sovereign     235,000,000
   Royal Prophet                      240,000,000
   Inspector of Royal Monuments       245,000,000
   Overseer of the House of Gold      250,000,000
   Ornament of the King               255,000,000
   Commander of the King's Army       260,000,000
   Second to the King                 270,000,000
   Pharaoh of the Two Lands           280,000,000

 

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Gamerdad of 3
My xbox can blog

Achievements
Pharaoh's Treasury  16 points
Simple - collect gems and jewellery as they fall and after 100 pieces across all games this will unlock.

Royal Sharpshooter  16 points
Get 100% Accuracy.  Easiest during the first levels of easy.  Take care with your shots.  Always match the colours and you will get 100% accuracy.

12 Gates of Luxor Temple 14 points
Get 12 or more spheres with a single shot.  Colour bombs are useful here.  Complete during the first levels to get big groups of colours then set them off.  If you get two large groups with some randoms in the middle clear the randoms to get your twelve spheres.  Must all be the same colour, combos don't work. 

Golden Ankh Coin  16 points
collect 15 coins in one level.  This one is easier in the middle stages as the beginning stages don't always provide enough coins.  Coins are produced from triggering big groups - 5 (4 + 1 you shoot)or more colours and use of the scorpion power up during the level.  Completion of the level with the scarab as far back towards the beginning as possible will produce additional coins.  When you have completed the level the scorpion races around the track releasing jewellery and coins.  I think the most I have got from this was 6 coins when I blasted the chain back to the beginning and finished it off from its entry point.
 
Life! Health! Prosperity! 15 points
Don't die during a level.  You should be able to get this doing an easy stage. 

5 Days of Thoth   15 points
Create 5 chain reactions.  You will probably get this during the game but you can set this up with a run similar to this

<B><B><G><G><R><R><Y><Y><P><P><Y><R><G><B> 
Firing a <P> ball in the middle will trigger a collapse of the rest and give you the achievement.  Takes a bit of patience to organise but the effect is fairly impressive.

Glory of Osiris   18 points
Complete all 13 bonus levels destroying all spheres (Perfect).  Needs to be completed with one game so start at Stage 1 Level 1 Easy and work through to the end of Stage 13-5.  The game may be saved but you must continue each time.  If you lose all your lives you will need to restart at Stage 1 Level 1 to unlock this achievement.  Even though Stage 12 and 13 get challenging you should be able to complete it fairly easily .  Collecting coins during the easy stages will see you finish with around 20 lives.

Feather of Ma'at  15 points
Complete game on Easy

Horns of Hathor   17 points
Complete game on Normal.  Completing Normal first will NOT unlock Easy

Magic of Isis   19 points
Complete game on Hard - unlocks Challenge of Horus.  Completing Hard first will NOT unlock Easy or Normal.

Challenge of Horus  19 points
Complete Challenge of Horus

Pharaoh of the Two Lands 20 points
Earn 280,000,000 points across all games and game types played on your Gamer Tag.

Power Ups
Dagger - provides a limited number of needles that will destoy individual balls.  Useful to knock out the single balls in the group and build combos.  Don't just randomly shoot - get prepared.
e.g.
<G><B><G> 

Knock out the <B> will prepare a combo for you, leave the <G>'s for later.

Colour Bombs - Destroys all balls of a particular colour.  Saved my backside on many occasions and sometimes results in some big combos.

Colour Cloud - Changes the colour of all balls within a radius of the explosion to a particular colour.  Extra useful where paths cross or turn corners to colour as many balls as possible.  Use where there are lots of single balls, don't waste on your pairs.

Net - Catches all treasure, coins, and power ups for a period of time allowing you to focus on getting the spheres

Reverse - Reverses the chain for a period of time.

Slow Down - Slows the chain down for a period of time.

Stop - Stops the chain for a while.

Lightning - A vertical lightning bolt that destroys all spheres in its path.  Approximately 3 spheres wide so take time to aim and get maximum impact.  Awesome on some levels with long vertical paths.  Average on levels where mostly horizontal paths. 

Lightning Storm - Random lightning strikes destroying balls across the whole level.  I usually don't fire while the storm is working as sometimes it knocks out a ball I am aiming at.

Fireball - Destroys balls within a radius of explosion.  Extra useful where paths cross or turn corners to destroy as many spheres as possible.  Use where there are lots of single balls, don't waste on your pairs.

Speed Shot - Spheres travel faster and have an arrow more clearly indicated on screen for greater accuracy.

Scorpion - Leaves from the exit and destroys approx 10 spheres from the closest chain. Where two exits the scorpion heads for the nearest chain.

Wild Ball - Allows you to destroy two spheres of different colours.  Useful for getting rid of two singles.

General Strategy.
Power Ups.  These are crucial to succeeding.  You need power ups and plenty of them.  Whilst it is tempting to destroy a group of balls it is better strategically to build up big combos and/or chain reactions.  Successfully done you can blast a chain back from where it came giving yourself valuable breathing space.  Look at the chain you have built to work out the best place to blow it up.

<B><G><G><R><R><G><B><B>

Using a red sphere will set up a chain combo that will send the chain rolling backwards. 

Destroying spheres at the end of the chain will not result in any combos.  Where possible work in the middle of the chain for better results.

If you end up with a gap aiming at the scarab end of the chain with a coloured ball will suck any balls back causing a slight roll back and delay.

e.g.  <G><B>    gap       <R><R><Scarab>

Firing a blue at the red will result in the <G><B> spheres rolling back to the chain.  This also applies if you destroy a group next to the scarab, the next group of balls roll back.

Each level start by building pairs of spheres for as long as possible.  When the time is right start blowing up your pairs.  Every three pairs destroyed you get a power up which hopefully will provide some relief.  Once you start blowing up pairs keep going until you are unable to hit another pair.  At that point start building more pairs.  Ensure you have at least three pairs built and preferably more before you blow them.  This is important even when under pressure as it is the Power Ups that will save you.  Using this strategy should enable you to complete easy easily.

Certain power ups don't need to be used straight away.
Colour Bombs
Colour Cloud
Lightning
Fireball and
Wild Ball can all be swapped with a normal ball using the B button.  This can be useful when you have nearly completed a chain and a new chain is due to appear.  After firing a normal ball the power up will appear again and you will need to press B again if you are not ready to use it.

Learn the levels.  There are parts on each map which are easier than others to focus on.  Bottom of turns and straights are the easiest placest to nail shots.  Be careful when aiming at sloped sections as the balls don't always go where the arrow indicates and you need to adjust for that.  Don't take the shot unless you know you will nail the location.  A misplaced shot will cost you valuable time.

As you advance in difficulty levels you also need to be fast and accurate.  The same strategy applies however you need to be firing the balls off as quickly as possible AND as accurately as possible.  A misplaced ball may require a futher two shots to remove wasting time.  At this level you should be able to nail the sloped parts with ease.

As the game gets harder you need to be "in the zone" to play.  Don't try to complete when you are tired.  The game can be saved so take breaks.  This is a fun game except when you try to thrash it for the achievements.

 

As the game gets to the more difficult levels I have been playing with setting up bigger chain reactions which may mean firing a ball into a position that breaks your accuracy but results in a larger reaction. 

e.g.

<G><B><B><R><R><G><G>

If you fire a <B> between the <R><G> and then trigger <R> you get a larger chain reaction and more roll back.  This strategy is a bit more risky but more rewarding with the roll back effect.

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Gamerdad of 3
My xbox can blog

Challenge of Horus  19 points
Complete Challenge of Horus  <-- about this one.. how does it works ?

anyway good guide.. now I know its gonna take years before I can get 200/200 in this one..

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Living Room 3.0

Challenge of Horus is unlocked when you complete the game on Expert.
You get to play every 25 levels one more time, but this time there are never two or more balls with the same color next to each other. So it's pretty tough!

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chrillex

Thanks, this helps a lot.

That is a great guide! Why on Earth is it not stickied?

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My Youtube channel
My Geometry Wars 2 Scores

hahaha,  thanks for the feedback.  It probably isn't stickied cause there isn't a lot of activity in this forum and it still near the top

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Gamerdad of 3
My xbox can blog

nice guide, dood.  88 lvls???  holy crap!

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Slowly working my way through this game, I'm stuck on level 13 on easy mode, I get to 13-4 and then mess up. So close but yet so far...

Pharaoh of the Two Lands 20 points
Earn 280,000,000 points across all games and game types played on your Gamer Tag.

 

Just so I am clear.  This is total points across all games right.  That doesnt mean I need 280 million in each game, across all games right.

Thats correct, play any game type and you will gradually level up.

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Gamerdad of 3
My xbox can blog

For a mere mortal, which achievements would you say are "unpossible" ...

Related/followup question:

I'm trying to get the most out of this game but also have the total achievements from it end in a multiple of 5. Which achievements would you reccomend?

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confessions of an xbox 360 gamerdad

This post is provided "as-is" and confers no rights.

If you feel like spending 3 or 4 hours on this game you could complete easy mode and end up with the same achievements as me for 125.  To increase from 125 will require another 3-4 hours.  You can get 60 in a very short space of time by getting:

 

Royal sharpshooter.  Finish a level with 100% accuracy.  You can get this on the first level for 16 points

12 Gates of Luxor Temple.  Match twelve spheres of same colour.  Check the description above for 14 points.  With a little luck you will  get this on the first level or shortly there after.

Life health and Prosperity.  Don't die on a level.  Should be simple enough to beat level 1 on easy for 15 points

5 days of thoth.  Should be achievable in the first few levels.  Requires a bit or setting up and a little luck for the right colours to come along for 15 points. 

You want to complete these achievements before the first bonus level or otherwise getting a perfect will muck up you multiple of 5 as that achievement is 18 points.  You might have to miss one on purpose if you get that far or go for 125

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Gamerdad of 3
My xbox can blog

cheers mate.

I could just muck up the bonus level if I wanted to avoid getting the cheevie, yes ?

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confessions of an xbox 360 gamerdad

This post is provided "as-is" and confers no rights.

Yes, just let at least one ball go through

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Gamerdad of 3
My xbox can blog

I have 145 in this game, you will need a turbo controller to get the Pharaoh of the Two Lands achievement thought, unless you feel like playing forever.  I have all but medium and hard difficulty, plus Challenge of Horus.  You should be able to do the same.

 HaPPy RoNiN NZ wrote:

You want to complete these achievements before the first bonus level or otherwise getting a perfect will muck up you multiple of 5 as that achievement is 18 points.  You might have to miss one on purpose if you get that far or go for 125

oh now i understand -- i don't mind being out of alignment as long as when all is said and done I'm back to 0 or 5.

anyhow i'm up to level 8 on my normal playthrough but have been losing my leaves steadily so I guess I'll work on getting the Easy shored up.

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confessions of an xbox 360 gamerdad

This post is provided "as-is" and confers no rights.

BTW the dificulty achievements i.e. easy, normal and hard are not stackable.  Got to play through 3 times

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Gamerdad of 3
My xbox can blog

indeed...... i didnt know this when i started on normal but fact is i dont see myself beating expert anyway so i'll just take my 125 and be happy with it

by the way this thread needs a

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confessions of an xbox 360 gamerdad

This post is provided "as-is" and confers no rights.

I Just read through this whole post and agree that this post deserves a sticky. So what if its not a very active thread, feeding frenzy and other games like that have pinned posts so I give you a nomination for a

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Anyone want to add me go ahead, I dont really have any of the newer games but I am on a lot.

Thanks.  Good luck with COD2.

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Gamerdad of 3
My xbox can blog

Trying to see if I can help you get this pinned

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confessions of an xbox 360 gamerdad

This post is provided "as-is" and confers no rights.

 HaPPy RoNiN NZ wrote:

Thanks.  Good luck with COD2.

I did it. so now im playing C&C 3

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Anyone want to add me go ahead, I dont really have any of the newer games but I am on a lot.

 xenocidic wrote:

Trying to see if I can help you get this pinned

Woohoo, and have you just become an ambassador? Congrats to you.

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Gamerdad of 3
My xbox can blog

 HaPPy RoNiN NZ wrote:

 xenocidic wrote:

Trying to see if I can help you get this pinned

Woohoo, and have you just become an ambassador? Congrats to you.

Yep ;> Thanks.

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confessions of an xbox 360 gamerdad

This post is provided "as-is" and confers no rights.

Great guide for a pretty cool game.

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'The Brave Do Not Fear The Grave' - Final Fantasy VII
Winners never quit, quitters never win.

Great guide, thanks.

88 levels though, that's gonna take a while.

Much appreciated.

Andy~

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His armband proved he was a red..
TORRES!TORRES!

Reported for sticky goodness!

Very nice guide mate.

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*XBOX Ambassador*

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