Well here it is. Another thing that I’ve made up at short notice. The original version involved “Half-Life” but the task of reviewing a game that everyone has already made up their minds about, and where the majority of them have already played, finished, memorized, recorded ‘lets plays’, written the FAQ and ledge jumped their way to a speed-run that takes all the fun, adventure and enjoyment out of a game made for entertainment was just to great. So here’s a thing about “Worms”.
“Worms” have become a staple of most of the game YouTubers. Its silly, explosive, cartoonish violence with up to four players online so it’s easy to see why. The most popular of the series for the ‘Tubers is “Worms: Revolution” (2012) and the most recent “Worms: Clan Wars” (2013). Their very recent so lets go back to when I had Worms. The game, not medically.
“Worms: Armageddon”
Developer: Team 17
Publisher: Atari (PC), MicroProse (PlayStation [EU])
Released: 1999
Surprisingly, I can say that Team 17 is a UK studio and they are still around. They are even the longest running independent developer so says their Wikipedia page. Maybe that why the other went under. Looking at animation history, (I like cartoons) there seems to be a curse on being bought out by a Borg-like company and then swiftly dieing. I call it the ‘Anglerfish Principle’. Tempt in the little guy and then eat them. Anyway, “Worms” sees you control a team of worms that are armed to the teeth with a massive range of weapons with the aim of killing all enemy teams by taking turns and shooting at each other. Some of the weapons the worms get are sensible, like the pistol, Uzi, and grenades. Then there’s the not so sensible like the sheep (it prances to you enemies and explodes) the old lady, (which waddles to you enemies, sometime farting, and explodes) and my personal favourite, the holy hand grenade, (which brings forth a chorus of angels, and explodes). As you may have guessed, a lot of things explode. As things explode, the land is blown away which is a problem because the land you are on is surrounded by water. Deadly, deadly water.
Surprisingly, more fun comes from being bad at the game because hitting your target is really difficult. Things like baseball bats and shotguns are easy enough to aim but things like grenades and bazooka have to be arced. To make arcing harder is the wind, which changes from turn to turn. So every now and them they may be a time when you aim a rocket at you nemesis, fire, and only see it go a little distance before it starts travelling backwards into your own face.
“Armageddon” was almost only an expansion pack for “Worms 2” but it ended up being bigger then they anticipated. People liked it because it advanced the graphics and boosted the online play with the creation of their multiplayer ‘WormNET’ network. The opposite argument was dropped on the next game in the series (the other Worms game I have) “Worms: World Party”.
“World Party” (2001) was where the series spin it wheels a bit. Besides from a few tweaks it didn’t really go anywhere. There was some customization to be had with making your own teams but not much changed. This ended up being the last game that was 2D while the next few games game out in 3D. Eventually, they went back to 2D which is where we are now.
The Worms games I have was on the PlayStation but the games still live on, on the PC. Armageddon still gets updates and patches, and it was recently released on Steam. I think that Worms is having a resurgence of popularity thanks to ‘Tubers. And I think that blowing up your friends with cartoonish weapons with worms never gets old. But it still probably worth getting the new ones.
“Worms: Armageddon”
Retro Score: 5/5
Modern Score: 4/5
“Worms: World Party”
Retro Score: 4/5
Modern Score: 3.5/5