"Finally! A handheld Worms game that doesn't disappoint!"

Worms has been around for 13 years. It was first released for the Amiga and was ported later to the other systems. Team17 continued and made a lot of Worms series - Worms 2, Worms Armageddon, Worms World Party, any many more. For some odd reason, it's still under the mainstream radar. When they announced that they'll make a 3D Worms game, many Worms fan were constantly complaining at how it will ruin a good franchise and that Team17 might not make another 2D Worms game again. As an avid Worms fan, that was quite a shocker. I played Worms 3D and was pleased to know that it still maintained that Worms-quirky atmosphere but that wasn't enough to satisfy my hunger. I wanted another 2D Worms game! When Team17 announced Worms: Open Warfare for the DS and PSP, I was excited to hear the wonderful news! At long last, a 2D Worms game made by my favorite company - Team17. Unfortunately, that game didn't satisfy my hunger - the game was horrible! I thought I would never see Team17 make an astounding Worms game for the DS.. that is until they announced Worms: Open Warfare 2! This game is much better than the first Open Warfare series and it's a good contender for Worms World Party (which is the most greatest 2D Worms game in my opinion.)

GRAPHICS:

The graphics are much better than the latest 2D Worms game on the PC (which is Worms World Party). The weapons, utilities, worms, and stages are fully detailed and you can easily tell the difference between each object. One thing I've noticed when I first played the game is that the view is a little farther than the worms I used to play but it does fit perfectly well on a handheld.

Although the graphics are pretty good, there are some problems in the department. Some sprites could use a little added animation like the Super Sheep for example - They could've made the cape flutter around.

Also, there are no Flame effects in this game like it used to. When a Napalm/Flame barrel explode, there would be a flame that would scatter around back in the old Worms 2D game for the PC but they removed that in this game. This, of course, affects the gameplay area as well. No Flame Effects means they removed weapons that used those flame effects like Flamethrower or Napalm Strike.

SOUNDS/MUSIC:

The sounds will bring Worms fan a nostalgic feeling because it hasn't change! The sounds are all ripped from the Worms PC version (Worms 2, Worms Armageddon, Worms World Party) and when I say the sounds are all ripped from the PC version I'm talking about the weapon explosion sound, powerbar sound, holy hand grenade allelujah sound, and even the soundbanks are ripped from the PC version as well but don't think they put all the soundbank from the PC version. The soundbanks are quite few this time.

Even though the sounds hasn't changed one bit it's still quite excellent. Worms will groan when they get hit, they'll smack talk other worms (without cursing of course), and they'll say something funny if you miss or you hit yourself by accident. The music is well done and it fits the theme pretty well. Like in a Pirate Landscape, you'll hear a pirate-y music, in a Space landscape, you'll hear a space-y music, etc etc.

GAMEPLAY:

The gameplay is very similar from the previous Worms game. You control a squad of worms and dish out the opposing worms using a variety of cool and wacky weapons at your disposal in a Turn-based battle. There are two options in defeating a worm; Drown 'em (instant kill), or beat 'em to a bloody pulp 'till their health reaches zero.

There's 3 single-player modes in the game; Puzzle, Campaign, and Laboratory. Puzzle is where you do a bunch of goals depending on the Puzzle you choose such as defeating a worm or getting to a certain area of the landscape and you are being timed for it. You can also replay a finished puzzle and beat your own previous record. Campaign is where you do a bunch of missions and there are exactly 35 missions for you to beat (30 if you exclude the Unlockable missions). Laboratory Mode uses the power of the Nintendo DS to play 3 minigames; Blow, Blast, and Draw. In Blow, you navigate your parachute-equipped worm to a specific area by blowing on the microphone. I had no problem navigating a worm because it picks up a blow accurately. Blast is where you navigate your worm to a specific area by touching any area on the touch screen. Touching anywhere causes an explosion and that is how you navigate your worm. The game sounds easy but it's not. Your worm will fall in a different direction depending on the angle and power of the explosion. In Draw, you draw a line anywhere to either assist a worm or try to block a certain landscape object such as a mine and make your worm reach its goal. You observe the landscape and draw a line in Pause and when you're ready you press the Go button and watch to see if you drew the line in the right place.

There's a Quick Game mode where you control a random Worm team and duke it out with another team. The point of this mode is that you can have a quick play without having to choose your own team and editing which is kind of time consuming. Custom Game is where you can choose your own team to play, choose a preferred Scheme, and edit a landscape before playing a game.

There are 32 weapons in the game (33 if you count Surrender). The first thing a worms fan would notice is that they removed some of the weapons. The following lists are the weapons and utilities they removed from the previous 2D Worms game so if you see your favorite weapon in the list, feel free to cry: Baseball bat, Mortar, Homing Pigeon, Sheep Launcher, Battle Axe, Handgun, Minigun, Longbow, Suicide Bomber, Aqua Sheep, Mole, Napalm Strike, Girder Starter Kit, Bungee, Flame Thrower, Petrol Bomb, Skunk, Mad Cow, Old Woman, Select Worm, Freeze, Low Gravity, Fast Walk, Laser Target, Invisibility, Earthquake, Super Air Assault, Mine Strike, Mole Squadron, Scales of Justice, Super Banana Bomb, Salvation Army, MB Bomb, Priceless Ming Vase, French Sheep Strike, Mikes Carpet Bomb, Indian Nuclear Test, Magic Bullet, and Armageddon. The Game Setting Tools like Double Turn Time, 2x Damage, Crate Shower, and Crate Spy are also missing in the game.

They've added 6 brand new weapons in the game; Lighting Strike, Sentry Gun, Bunker Buster, Electromagnet, Boomerang, and Buffalo of Lies. The Buffalo of Lies is a similar version of Mad Cow; It'll explode on contact! Unlike the Mad Cow, the Buffalo of Lies explode 6 times and you'll only release one animal on the land not like the Mad Cow where you release 3 angry cows at once. The Boomerang is a projectile that, when thrown, returns to the owner by pressing the Fire (A) button. It can push worms but they can't take damage from it. It can take a crate/utility from far away when it hits. Also, when it hits a landscape, it turns into a solid object meaning you can treat the stuck boomerang as a landscape and use it to reach a hard-to-jump area (think Longbow). The Electromagnet either attracts a metallic weapon or repels it but the power of the Electromagnet wears out after 5 turns. The Bunker Buster is similar to Air Strike except it releases 1 single missile and it'll dig through a landscape and it'll explode when it hits an object (mine, flame barrel, worm) or its time runs out which is after a few seconds. The Sentry Gun is a planted weapon such as a Dynamite or mine and its job is to shoot moving worms and the maximum damage it can cause is 50! The Lightning Strike has a lot of uses; It can heal a worm by 30 points, turn the opposing Sentry Gun's color into yours making it your property, recharge the Electromagnet, and finally, reviving a dead worm! Yes, for the first time in the Worms history you can finally revive a dead worm but the downside is that they'll only have a measly 5 points of health.

Another good thing about Worms is the Customization. You can make your own team, save it, and duke it online or offline. In Team making you have a lot of options to choose from such as Speech, Control (either Human or A.I), Fort (for Fort mode), Flag, Skin Color, Gravestone, Victory Dance, and the worms names. You can create a flag of your own using the Flag Editor option. You have 32 available colors and 8 editing options to choose from. The Editing options are Pencil (for drawing), Brush Size, Fill with Color, Dropper (to copy a selected color and use it), Clear, Choose Template, Save, and Undo. There's also a Landscape Editor which means you can make your own landscape. In the Landscape Editor, you have the option to Draw a Landscape, Place Objects, make Holes and Tunnels, Edit the Landscape Settings, and make any Alterations. You can also make/edit your own Scheme. A Scheme is the setting of the game. You can add a desired weapon or remove it, adjust the worm's health, lessen the chance of crates appearing, etc etc. Some of you may be wondering if you can make your own soundbank. The answer is NO. You can't use the built-in microphone to record your own voice/make a sound and use it online.

Regarding Physics, it's very similar to the previous PC versions so you'll have no trouble using the Ninja Rope. Even if the Physics didn't change, Worms Veterans would have a hard time adjusting themselves to the power bar. The power bar is located on the bottom of the touch screen unlike the previous versions where the power bar is located in front of your worm.

There are also unlockable items in the game such as Soundbanks, Skin Color, Victory Dance, Gravestones, Landscape Theme, Forts, Weapons, more Campaigns, more Puzzles, more Blow, more Blast, and more Draw modes. You earn points (which is used to buy these unlockable stuffs) by playing the single-player mode.

I noticed quite a few things that wasn't in any previous Worms 2D series. The Landscape can affect the gameplay now (this wasn't in any previous 2D Worms except Worms for the SNES) like in the Space terrain, gravity is evidently low. In the Icy terrain, friction is less, etc etc. Another thing new is that sometime in the game it'll display a warning message and try to make things more disastrous depending on the terrain you're playing. In the Pirate terrain, there may be a Bermuda Triangle approaching in 3 turns or a high tide making a water rise up and many more.

When it comes to Multiplayer, you can invite 2 - 4 of your buddies in a Worm battle by passing around your DS when their respective turn comes up. There's also a Single-card download, Multi-card download, and Nintendo WiFi Connection available but I haven't had a chance to use those so I can't do a review about it.

Conclusion:

Although there are some improvements that could be made, it's not like it's something that's really important and that is how it still manages to get a 10 out of 10. If you're a Worms fan such as myself, I highly recommend that you pick this game up. It has that Worms feeling into it and with WiFi, you won't get bored easily. If you're new to the series, try to rent it first to see if it's to your liking. If you love a good ol' turn-based 2D action/strategy game full of quirky, odd, yet funny weapons that gets chaotic in the middle of the game then this might just be the one for you. Give Worms: Open Warfare 2 a try. Chances are, you won't regret your purchase like me.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/24/07

Game Release: Worms: Open Warfare 2 (US, 09/04/07)