It’s been a decade and a half since the original Worms was released and despite a few forays with 3D the series has pretty much stuck to it’s roots. A strong return for the series was the re-release two years ago, simply known as Worms that heavily borrowed from the original. After a two year break, Team 17 are back with the follow-up that again heavily borrows, albeit from arguably the highpoint of the series so far of Worms Armageddon.
Anyone who picked up the reinvigorated Worms on the Xbox Live Arcade two years ago will instantly feel at home. The similarities are clearly noticeable from the first point of contact. Actually you would be forgiven for thinking this is simply Worms with a few extra modes and weapons thrown in and to tell you the truth you wouldn’t be far from it.
The core group of weapons is still here and you’ll find yourself spending more time with the Cluster Grenades or the Bazooka rather than the flurry of new weapons. Veterans of the series will see welcome returns for the Holy Hand Grenade and Concrete Donkey, among others, with majority of these coming from Worms Armageddon. These weapons are brilliant fun but unfortunately only in limited supply.
You’ll get to know the game with the Campaign mode that’s a lot more than simply battling against the AI. Occasionally you’ll have puzzle and timed challenges such as kill all the worms with only one shot or use this jet pack to get to the checkpoint in under 40 seconds. You won’t spend hours on these challenges but it’s nice to see a bit of variation. It’s just a shame they didn’t spin it off into a fully fledged Puzzle Mode.
You can also compete in new Crazy Crate and Fort modes that are slight variations on the main game. Crazy Crates is simply worms on worms but with numerous supply crates dropping ammo, health and new weapons at the end of every turn. Meanwhile Forts is exactly what it sounds like with the stage being pre-constructed out of two separate ‘forts’ with one team on one and the other team on the other. It proves to be a simple twist on the formula that requires long range accuracy.
You should probably pick up this game with a view for taking it online. You might have to wait around for a full four player match but at the moment the servers are full with ready and waiting potential bazooka fodder. The simplicity of the game naturally leads to a latency free game and you’ll soon wonder where all that time went.
Worms 2 Armageddon might not be a massive leap forward for the series but they have remained faithful to the original. While it only offers a handful of so-so modes, along with a few reintroduced weapons, Worms 2 does give you a perfect excuse to jump back into the same old Worms you know and lovet. And really, who wouldn’t want that?
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