Worms Reloaded Review

I have to admit that I still have a soft spot for Worms. Worms, well, Worms Armageddon was one of the first games that I had ever played online a good ten years ago, before Counter-Strike and its evil FPS ways bit me with a bug I still can't shift. While I was playing this online I had lots of fun and even met a great group of people. So with my rose tinted glasses taken off, can worms rekindle a flame which I thought I had lost or will this be just another disappointment.

If you haven't even looked at a Worms game before here is a little run down on what the main idea is. You start off with a team of four worms and so does you opponent, the idea is kill all their worms using a variety of weapons that are given to you as well as air dropped in as the rounds progress. Example of the massive arsenal you have at your disposal are, drop-able mines, bazookas, grenades, melee attacks such as dragon punches or even prod them to their doom. The whole game is turn based which requires a little bit of pre-planning on what you want to do and how you are going to execute your moves before you begin. If you are still unsure don't worry as there is a great training mode within the game to teach new comers the basics and allow some of the older players to brush up on their skills

As well as using weapons there is also a utility which again you can use to either help protect your worms or allow you to get into harder to reach places. These are for example, the Ninja rope or the jet pack allowing you to move around the map quicker than you would do as a normal worm or even use girders to protect your worms from incoming attacks.

This in itself is the main game of Worms, but since I was playing at least 10 years ago there have been some refinements and even new game modes added. There is now rope racing, which is where you and a opponent have one worm each and you have to successfully navigate around a course with just a ninja rope. There is also forts, where each side has their own fort and it's up to you to either invade the other teams fort and kill them all or become defensive. While all these game modes were possible when I played, users had to create the maps themselves instead of being built into the game as standard. However Team 17 saw how popular these types of games were becoming and decided it would a good idea to include them into later games.

So whats changed? Well nothing, the game is still as fun as ever and with a campaign mode that will keep you entertained as well as a host of other modes in single player that will keep you busy unlocking all the things that are available in the shop. A new game mode has also been added to the game called Body Count. Body Count is where you control one worm and you have to fight off a endless swarm of other worms coming to finish you off. The difficultly increases as you play but due to the integration with steam this has allowed Team 17 to create leader boards where people can upload their scores and see where they rank in the world. The total amount of campaign levels is around 35 for the normal mode but if you go into the war-zone mode this boosts the single player campaign up to 65 stages you can take your worms around which will vary in difficulty and also include challenges.

However the real reason I bought the game and probably 90% of the other Worms fans is the online play. I must admit there is something special about blowing up someone elses team or knowing you have just beaten someone online. It's a competitive edge and if you have a few friends with the game its a bloody good laugh.

Graphically the game has been updated and if you have recently purchased the XBL version of this game I think you will be on the same standard as this version. Everything still has the charm right down to the customisation of your team of worms and choosing a name for the little fella giving him a voice and even giving them hats to wear when they are on the battlefield.

The controls themselves have been taken from some of the other game versions, which is using the keyboard to do most of the commanding and just using the mouse to move the screen and also make your weapon selection. I feel that this keeps with the true spirit of Worms and this was how I learned to play all those many moons ago, however I feel that newcomers to the game may be put off by this. This is remedied though, by giving you the option to use a pad to play with if you want to.

The whole game itself is probably the best version I have played on a PC for a long time and I hope that Team 17 keep updating the game with new features to keep the community going. For years I have wanted a good solid Worms game back on the PC and it feels like my prayers have been answered.