It's been well over two years since the European developer Team 17 announced the next evolution in their coveted Worms series. Though there's certainly an impressive following for Worms in the UK, it has quite a ways to go until American gamers truly embrace it on the same level as our British counterparts. I've been a fan of this series since my first deathmatch battle on the Sega Saturn way back in 1996. Since the first sequel, Worms 2, the series has only seen minor evolutionary expansions that tweaked the game; but true "wormers" have been waiting for a revolutionary step in the series. Worms 3D was announced, and gamers in the US sat and waited as the UK reaped the potential fun and excitement of this new installment. To make matters worse, the GameCube, PC, and Playstation 2 versions were published by the now-defunct Acclaim, while for some reason Sega got the Xbox version. So without a Gamecube or a PS2 to my name, I had to wait nearly an entire year for this game to see the light of day on my desired platform. After all this time, I couldn't help but wonder, Would Team 17 falter in their attempts to take their exciting turn-based strategy game into the 3D realm, or would all this waiting actually pay off?
Those new to the series will experience a learning curve, but so will fans of the series, as the new 3D gameplay is certainly quite different than that found in the previous 2D versions. Not being familiar with how the game would handle the added dimension, I decided to go through the tutorials just to see how my skills adjusted to the new style of gameplay. Without embarrassing myself, I can say that I was rusty at best. So have no fear, newcomers, you're going to be on even ground with us American Worms veterans, so now is the perfect chance for you to take a "shot" at this game. (Pun intended.)
To those unacquainted, Worms is simply a turn-based strategy game a la the old BASIC game "Artillery", in which you control an army of worms wielding normal weapons like shotguns, Uzis, and bazookas (as well as more obscure armaments such as the sheep launcher, homing pigeon, and Holy Hand Grenade) in an attempt to exterminate your opponent's evil worms.
While the look of Worms 3D is different this time around, it offers the same wacky campaign mode that its predecessors included; this consists of over 50 missions/challenges. Some will require you to collect the utility crates that drop between turns in order to complete a mission, while others may simply be a brutal worm vs. worm fight to the death.
What seems to be missing in some games today is an actual incentive to keep playing. We have all been disappointed with a reward similar to the one you received upon completion of GTA2 years back. (All you get is a tacked-on "The End" screen.) Well, fortunately, this will not be the case with Worms 3D, as you are constantly unlocking new maps to play both online and off, new sound banks for your Worms dialect of choice, even some new missions to conquer. As in years past, I found myself slaving over a Worms game just dying to unlock all that I could. Three weeks of total wormage and a resulting decrease in my social life led to me acquiring about 90% of all the unlockables found in this title.
Worms 3D has followed suit with its previous installments by maintaining a high level of customization. Even a quick match or custom set up game can be selected to your preference. Such modifications can be as basic as toggling turn time, health, and even an expansive utility in which you can randomly generate a landscape that is almost guaranteed to be unique. Teams can be created with ease, leaving you to be the general of your very own worm army. All names pertaining to your created team can be named or edited however you'd like.
Once again, Team 17 has brought along their Wormpot mode which acts as a slot machine filled with varying game mods. You can choose to have the game select three random variables or you can choose them by yourself to your liking. This certainly keeps your skills sharp, and allows for the game play to stay fresh even after weeks of playing with your friends in your house or overseas via Xbox Live.
Speaking of Xbox Live, this is where the game falters. After years of anticipation of playing 3D on my Xbox, I must say that a shoddy online experience is the legacy this game will carry in shame. Though at first I experienced virtually no problems with connectivity, it was only a matter of a few days that I found myself getting booted at random points during a match, or even having my Xbox freeze while initiating a game. Just to point out, this is only the second game to actually freeze my system; the first being Enter the Matrix.
It has gotten to the point where about 60% of the Worms 3D games played online will freeze up or glitch out in some sort of way. This is a sad fact to be sure since this title was a long time coming and this jump into 3D was quite a promising one. Probably beyond playing a 3D version of Worms, I think what I was most excited about was the ability to actually take it online; but with this aspect severely lacking due to said reasons, I can't in good conscience claim that online play has been an enjoyable experience. Though I will point out that the few times everything actually ran smoothly, it was a highly entertaining experience; it just so happens that it has gotten to the point where it is a problem more times than not.
I will applaud Team 17 for updating the look of the series in order to complement its 3D upgrade. Maintaining the look and feel of the original Worms series, we are treated again to vibrant colors, zany landscape models showcasing bizarre objects which can all be randomly generated and toggled at will. A few of the normal graphical glitches appear due to bad clipping, such as object appearing to be placed on thin air; this will occur when a worm is shot onto a partly destroyed object. It's certainly not a huge deal, but often a little land may mean the difference between life and death.
Ambient music is present throughout gameplay, along with a new juiced up version of the classic Worms title screen song. Unfortunately for us Xbox gamers, the ability to make Custom Soundtracks is strangely not available. Though music has never been a huge chunk of what Worms was all about, it would have been nice to at least have the option of cranking up some of my favorite sweet tracks. The strange worm dialect is back with more sound clips than ever to choose from. Even more audio goodies are unlockable when busting through campaign mode and various challenges.
With previous installments of Worms, the PC version was always easier to control. This in turn lead to a more entertaining gaming experience, but this time around, a console controller is all you will need to fully enjoy Worms 3D. The 3D element is certainly familiar territory with gamers these days so using the Xbox controller was no real stretch. There are some quirks while aiming your weapons and plotting air strikes due to the sensitive control system that can at times become annoying.
Fans of the series will no doubt be playing this title for years to come, but assuming that no online patch is released (Team 17 and the publisher, Sega, have sadly taken a laid back approach to the online glitches), it looks like I will have to settle for inviting my real-life friends to join the party. Worms 3D is a title that flourishes offline but falls apart when trying to take it Live; a real disappointment in that respect, but fans of the series will love this title with open arms as the core of the game is very impressive. For a mere $20, however, there is no reason why newcomers and casual fans won't find their money's worth here, either.
