Worms

It should be called...

"The Game You Can Even Play With Your Girlfriend". That's what this fantastic game from Team 17 should be called. I'm serious! We're continually bombarded with games that are "fun for all the family", but when is the rest of the family ever interested in Spot Goes To Spot Land, eh? This game draws crowds, and for once, not because of some spectacular graphical technique (no one but the computer geeks are actually interested in that - talking from being in the know here)... it has humour, it has violence (cartoon style), and it has playability. Goddam it, it's FUN! Anyone can, and will, want to play this one... for how long, I'm as yet undecided, but nonetheless, they'll certainly have a ball while it maintains their interest.

Ok, so that's quite a complimentary first paragraph, so I'll counter it with one that points out Worms' very serious fault. Playing this game one player has as much appeal as having a bull's testicles boiled and salted, and sat on a plate in front of you (this is assuming you don't come from a country where this is a delicacy). Suddenly, you just won't want to be sitting where you are anymore. The game's just dull against the computer. Of course, this fact also plays to its advantage as it makes one stunning multiplayer game.

I'll get you!

Basic plot: you're the commander of a team of worms, surprisingly enough. These ain't your typical ugly, slimy useless worms that crawl aimlessly around the garden. These are hard (yet cute), Arnie-wannabe, weapon-wielding, nutter worms. Your team of worms have a whole host of weapons available to them, with only one objective in mind: KILL KILL KILL (the other teams of worms that is). And that, has just about summed up the entire plot.

So obviously no prizes will be won for depth, but howsabout getting some nominations in for implementation? The minute, yet beautifully animated graphics for the worms, allow the teams to fight one another in a huge playing field, as one screenful of landscape could fit hundreds of the little creatures on. Anyone who's played Lemmings (yes, everybody) will know what I mean.

What so special about the game, though? It's hard to identify one single element of Worms that actually stands out, as it's the entire package that creates magic. The graphics are as detailed as you can get with VGA, and sound has been sampled excellently. The worms shout abuse and congratulatory remarks to one another in cutesy little voices, which will have you in stiches. I particularly love it when you hit your own team member by mistake and get cries of "Oi! Nutter!" squeak through your speakers, or when you gang up on an opponent's worm and hear them wail, "Leave me ALONE!"

The weapons are plentiful and varied, and cover you for all situations. For example, you have a bazooka to fire out to a worm quite a distance from you, a shotgun for close-up play, grenades to lob into hard to reach places, and dynamite to plant for optimal damage (as long as you can get to a safe place in time). You also have some tools which will help you move your worms around the screen, such as the blowtorch to burrow through the scenery with blatant disregard for silly physical laws, like gravity. A really fun one is if you want to jump down a distance without hurting yourself, you can select bungee and run off the side of a cliff - hell, I could do that all day without killing any worms, it's so hilarious.

Gameplay takes the form of the old classic "turns each". This was all the rage back in the 8-bit days when people couldn't afford an entire computer with screen each - instead you actually had to share a keyboard! GASP! Each team consists of four worms, and on a player's turn he gets to move the worm who was next in line. Naturally, there is a lot of strategy involved in each turn... not only do you have to decide who is the best worm to go for, and what weapon is the most appropriate, but also where you will end up after the shot's been taken.

The back of the CD claims that Worms is playable for up to 16 players at a time. Of course, they work this out by saying that every player could take control of one worm each (4 teams of 4 worms max). In theory, this might sound a blast, but I doubt in practice, everyone would enjoy waiting for 15 players to have their go before control comes back to them, especially if someone kills you before you even got a chance to move. A patch is being released imminently which will allow modem and network games - something tells me the Internet has a new bandwidth monopoliser to worry about.

I stated a worry at the beginning about Worms' lastability. Just how long will it take for you to get pretty bored? Normally, people associate addictiveness in computer games as a good quality, but that only worried me more - because it's got that "just-one-more-go... I'll win this time!" feeling to it, you can end up playing the game for hours on end, until you're just absolutely sick of the sight of the little pink fellows.

What helps ease my concern is that you could play the game for years, and still never get the same landscape twice. Sure there's only actually 8 different graphical locations, but the landscape is randomly generated each time, so the placement of the worms and mines, and the design of the ground changes constantly. This is a big plus.

Reinforcements?

Team 17 have a Web page at http://www.team17.com where they keep quite a lot of goodies and information on Worms. I've recently read that a data disk, "Worms: Reinforcements" is very soon to be released. The data disk will give you extra options, a landscape editor, and the ability to create your own sounds and graphics. It seems to me all of these features should have been included in the original game, especially considering how quickly after releasing the main game this data disk appears. Money grabber? I don't doubt it.

So anyway, if you decide to buy the game, keep an eye out in your computer store for any special offers involving buying the two packs together, otherwise you'll just feel rather cheated, like us honest mugs who buy the games when they first come out.

SUMMARY

• Graphics: 76%
• Sound: 85%
• Playability: 94%
• OVERALL: 87%

One of the most enjoyable multiplayer games, that doesn't even require you to pay a phone bill (unless you don't have any real mates who actually come round to see you in the flesh). Do not buy this, however, if you're only looking for a fun one-player game.

Review By GamesDomain