Worms

"A gardener's and a general's best friend!"

'Worms' is one of those long living game series. That's because it combines simplicity in design and complexity in possibilities. Just about anyone can play Worms, but there is reward in practising and forward-planning. For a game costing 400 MP, you too will be rewarded.

-- What is this game? --

Too many reviews skip on this! Worms is a turn based game where your team of 4 bug-eyed earthworms have to blow up the other team or teams (controlled by either AI or another player). This is played out on randomly generated 2D landscapes with a variety of weapons. The skill comes in weapon choices and aiming: for example the bazooka is a great long distance weapon that explodes on contact but the shell is affected by gravity, how much you charge up your shot, and the wind direction. Grenades are not affected by the wind, but bounce until the timer of 1 to 5 seconds runs out. It's this sort of thing that adds the depth to what is otherwise a simple game.

-- What's gameplay like? --

This is a fun game! As stated above the various elements that effect your choices are great for putting depth into the experience. You aren't just levelling your cursor and pressing fire at the enemy, but instead working out HOW you're going to do it.

Any criticism to have about the gameplay here comes from those who've played Worms before. The weapon choices are limited and some may feel that the quirkier and funnier weapons that are now gone were an important part of the experience. If you are new to the series though, then take this gamer's word that you are not missing out on much. The game is shaved down but they haven't taken out what you need for a good time! So far I've yet to find a scenario where the weapons in this game can't in some way help you. Unleashing an exploding granny down a tunnel might have been a good way to deal with someone burrowing before; but with a bit of patience you can still get them with a grenade or with an uzi or even a landmine! What it takes is ingenuity, and the weapons available are not limiting.

There is also a small problem with occasional glitches, but I've yet to see anything beyond the slightly odd.

I rate gameplay at 8/10

-- How does it look? --

It's 2D but wonderfully made. The worms are cute and entertaining, and the terrain you fight on is wonderfully bright and pleasing to the eye. Explosions go off with a satisfying amount of dust and sparks and there is a certain joy to be had watching a bazooka shell arc across the sky. Overall the visuals are a fair notch above functional, but never displeasing. There is nothing to really criticise here though I advice that new players watch out for small bits of terrain that may be hovering despite everything else around it being destroyed. This is part of the gameplay but can be a bit confusing when you see a worm seemingly standing in mid-air or worse: your shot seeming explodes in the air!

I rate the visuals at 8/10

-- How does it sound? --

Again there is a level of functionality here that hits the mark, although perhaps less enjoyable than the visuals. The background music is general ambient warm N doom stuff which fits the bill but is hardly catchy. Sound effects are reasonable and the different languages and accents your worms can use are entertaining enough.

Again, old school Worms fans will note that there is seemingly less voices available although there is both free downloadable content and some you have to pay for. This more than makes up for the initial quantities available and also adds to the customisation.

I rate the sound at 7/10

-- Customisation? --

For a game so seemingly small, there is a great amount of customisation available. Normally this isn't worth mentioning in games but for Worms it adds to the experience. If you choose to make your own squad of 4 fearless soil-dwellers, you can choose the team name, character names, voices (and language) and what gravestone appears upon their demise. There is definitely something to say for controlling a team that you have personalised and you'll find yourself addressing them by name after a couple of matches!

Another customisable element is 'schemes' which are basically sets of weapons for games. Whilst you can't ban or limit a weapon outright (there is always a chance it could fall to the ground in a crate between rounds) the chance to shift the focus on potential tactics is a treat for the dedicated gamer. Feeling defensive? Why not have infinite girders and blowtorches and limit all offensive weapons till the 3rd round? Or perhaps like me you just want to hurl sheep at each other all day and use the ninja rope to get the higher ground? With schemes you can also effect how much time you have in games and some players might enjoy the chance to induce sudden death early on or not at all, or perhaps stop the chance to retreat after firing a weapon to punish poor decisions? The great thing is that the options are all yours and this adds a great amount of potential content to enjoy.

The final piece of customisation available is the ability to type in 'codes' to generate maps. As far as this gamer can tell it's hard to judge what numbers in the sequence do, but it's there to be played with as well as making it possible to play on a favoured map over and over (provided you write down the code when it comes up)

Oh and I'll mention it again: Downloadable content. 'Nuff said

I rate the levels of customisation at 9/10

-- Is it worth my money? --

Short answer: yes. Long answer: almost certainly. This game is cheap and offers many hours of fun. For all that has been cut out from other games in the series, what you get is a bag of laughs for you and your friends and I personally doubt you will ever feel cheated by this game. If you are one of the old school Worms fans that I keep mentioning, then don't forget that for double the price there is a much larger version of the game (Worms 2 Armageddon). In that respect you get what you pay for, and for this game perhaps a little more. Certainly for the same price there are few things to buy on your Xbox360 console that will bring you as much fun.

For value, I give this game a 9/10

-- In conclusion --

It's small but mighty, cheap but good quality, simple but full of potential and it is jolly good fun! Everything but the size of it makes it a joy to play, and even then the size does add a sort of 'perfectly formed' quality. If you want to spend more on a game then get the sequel, but this reviewer thinks he'll stick with this gem for a long time now!

I give this game a well deserved 8/10!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/24/09

Game Release: Worms (EU, 03/07/07)