After reading about how excited people were about Worms coming to the XBLA, I decided to give it a shot when it was released yesterday. Having never played any of the classic Worms games on PC or the Playstation, I really didn't know what to expect. The concept seemed simple enough, you have four worms on a team, a bunch of different weapons (some in limited quantities, some unlimited), and you take 60 second turns taking shots at each other trying to either knock the other team's worms into the water or reduce their hit points to zero.

The gameplay is more addicting than I thought it would be. The weapon variety gives you a lot of attack options. If the worm you want to kill is on the other side of a peak you can try to launch a grenade at the right angle to land at his feet, you can call in an airstrike which will rain missles down on top of him, you can use a jetpack to fly over the obstacle and drop a stick of dynamite on top of his head, you can blowtorch your way through the obstacle and burn the opposing worm. You can do whatever you can get done with one weapon in 60 seconds.

This could be the best multiplayer game I've played so far on the 360. When you get 4 teams of Worms on the map, mayhem ensues. You can name your team and your worms so everyone brings their own personality to the table. I put Team Tremors, consisting of Hannibal, Faceman, B.A. Baracus & Murdock up against 3 other teams including the likes of Meatwad, Master Shake & Frylock. Everyone was laughing when a grenade shot bounced wrong and had unintentional consequences, or accidentilly set off a mine, or dropped a stick of dynamite on an enemy but missed a jump and ended up blowing themselves up too. Since you take turns, you spend more time spectating than actually shooting, but that what makes it such a good social experience.The anticipation of the next move, will he make the shot or not, while planning your next turn, makes it a very strategic game. So you get some thinking with your explosions which is always a good thing.

It's also a sharp presentation and a pretty game to look at. The animations and sound effects are humorous and give the game the light hearted spirit that keeps it a laid back, casual yet competitive experience. There are only 3 backgrounds, but with the level randomizer, every game is unique so the replay value is through the roof. You can also customize the settings so if you want to do an all bazooka battle or you only want to give 10 seconds per turn, you can. The achievements are also rather easy. After only two hours of playing, I already had 70 of the 200 pts. Most of the achievements are cumulative so all you have to do is keep playing and you'll get the majority of them.

This is the first arcade game I've bought since I picked up Geometry Wars & Doom when I bought the system and I can't recommend it enough. Pick it up and let's get our Worms on!