Review: Worms: Reloaded (PC)
There have been so many Worms games over the years spanning generations of engines and handfuls of spin-offs. Reloaded basically an expanded port of the Worms 2: Armageddon released earlier on XBLA July 1, 2009. PC gamers will at last be able to play the first 2D worms game since 2001 packed with customization options, unique steam features, and even more weapons than before.
Release Date: August 26, 2010
Exclusively on: PC
ESRB: RP
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy
Publisher: Team17 Software
Developer: Team17 Software
Price: $19.99
Developer Team 17 has kept the core artillery/turn based strategy game the same over the years with changes mostly due to balancing weapons and skinning the game in thematic fashions. An example being Worms: A Space Oddity, a take on David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” There are both single player and multiplayer modes with up to four players online. Battles take place on destructible landscapes spanning moons made of cheese and islands composed of junk. The object of the game is gauge your shot while taking into account the wind and the type of weapon you have. Once your shot is lined up, you can take worms out by knocking down their HP or knocking them off the map into water. No battle is the same and all the variables that play into each game of Worms is what keeps you coming back sometimes just for experimentation.
Single player modes include quick game, custom game, training, campaign, warzone, and body count. The campaign mode consists mostly of the game pitting you against AI opponents that could be better. All of their moves are too formulaic which makes you wish you could skip out on the AI’s turn because there’s a lot of waiting around in Worms. Team 17 does try to mix things up a bit by adding in puzzle game elements, but most of them aren’t the best designed puzzles and could benefit by taking away less constraints and adding more freedom to solving them.
The core of Worms: Reloaded and the series in general is the multiplayer with options for online network games and local play which nice. Rather than waiting and twiddling your thumbs for AI to act, it’s much more fun watching other real people panic and miss shots during very close games. Multiplayer options can be filtered, but finding full games of four can be quite difficult. However, the players you do find are dedicated and usually really nice after talking via in game chat room. Based on this, you’re probably going to want a steady group of friends to play with.
PC gamers will have a ton of options to play with including full Steamworks support, for pain free game updates, friends-lists, leaderboards, achievements and chat. But, one of the immediate options I usually turn on is windowed mode which wasn’t immediately available, not after doing some of my own tweaking. By integrating support and community tabs you can find the latest maps created by other talented Worms landscapers that add to the replay value. One of the more creative modes is rope races which force you to swing to the end of a level using the ninja rope like Spiderman that showcases the revised physics engine.
What made the Worms games so fun over the years were pop culture references including exploding mad cows or movie tie ins including the holy hand grenade from movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The sound of worm’s tiny voices screaming as they die is always satisfying after you decimate your foes online. For fans of the series it’s the definitive PC version and although it’s just more of just the same gameplay, it’s reloaded with PC features and content you can’t get anywhere else.
Verdict: B-
A copy of the product was provided by the publisher for review purposes.
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Worms Reloaded
