GamesRelay

Name: Worms

If you don't know what Worms is about by now, you've either managed to successfully avoid one of the games that's been written for every single gaming platform since the Commodore Amiga in 1994 or you're completely new to the gaming scene, either way you need to know that you're missing out on some great fun. The game itself was originally developed as part of a competition run by a magazine, Amiga Format, they published a cut down version of the programming language Blitz Basic and asked their readers to come up with a game, a bloke called Andy Davidson submitted a game called Total Wormage. Andy's game did not go onto win the competition, however, not to be put off he took the game to the European Computer Trade Show (an annual trade show which ran from 1988 to 2004) and stumbled across the Team 17 stand, they snapped up the title immediately, and such was born a true classic.

The idea of Worms is simple enough, you control a team of four Worms who you take to war against other teams of Worms against a random smattering of destructible scenery. Up to 4 teams of Worms can compete at the same time, each Worm being given 100 health points and they take time limited turns to attack a member or members of the other team until the health points run out, when that happens, well, the poor blighter dies. The Worms have access to a tool kit consisting of weapons or gadgets to help the escape, the weapons vary from simple enough things like a Bazooka, Uzi, Grenades and Dynamite to the more extreme (and stupidly good fun) things like the Sheep weapon which will see a sheep make its way to its target and explode, or, the Concrete Donkey which will see a statue of a donkey (made of concrete, naturally) bounce its way down the screen taking out everything in its path; such is the madness and comedy of the game. The escape tools include a Teleport system, a Ninja Rope or a Jet Pack, the latter being capable of dropping weapons as you use them in case you want to leave some of the other Worms something to remember you by.

Controlling the Worms and there arsenal is simple enough, they move left, they move right, you can make them jump over obstacles and you can call up their weapons at the mere press of a button, you can come across some tricky stuff from time to time, the jet packs for example require a degree of skill as does the ninja rope. Both offer comedy values in their misuse as well, many a time things can go quickly wrong when using them but you kind of know it's down to your own fault at the same time.

This is the first time we've visited the Worms in HD and the graphics have been given a significant upgrade, suffice to say the Worms look glorious, while the animation could be more varied in the idle phase of them they look great when moving around the screen and doing there dastardly deeds or even when getting blown to pieces, the game now has a proper cartoon effect to it that for veterans they probably already imagined, but, now is realised.

The sound effects in the game, well, they are a strange concoction, the weapons themselves are well done, if you choose the sheep weapon you get "Baa Baa" and if you choose an Uzi you get a satisfying "Ratatatata" from it, simple but effective, you wouldn't want any more. Again strokes of comedy genius come in the form of weapons such as the "Holy Hand Grenade" which will give a shout of "Hallelujah" before it decimates the (hopefully) surrounding worms, and, in the clutches of death many a time will you curse the sound of the Concrete Donkey with its "E-hahw E-Whaw" as it crushes your last Worm.

The game modes available are slightly limited, you can play a match offline against the CPU or you can work your way through and complete a series of challenges, the game really comes into its own when you're playing online, get together with a couple of mates, or, a couple of random people and you're going to have a lot of fun together. You can completely customise your game down to the weapons available, when they are available and if they are available at all, you've also got the option of naming your team and the individual names and what they sound like, though, be fore warned if you name your team after family members or pets, things are going to get personal

All in all, this game is a great way to kill a couple of hours, it's better if you can play with people you know and make a night of it, it's simple fun though both offline and online, Team 17 have had an age to make this the game that it is and they don't disappoint with this iteration of the classic franchise. There is a demo available on the Xbox Live Marketplace so if you're not sure, if you've never heard of the game, or if you're just plain bored then you should check this title out, it's well worth the money and all we can say to the guys at Team 17 is more please!