Portable Worms done right!
Even as a huge fan of 2D Worms games, I was a little wary going into this one, due to the well-deserved negative reception that the original W:OW game got. With Two Tribes developing this one though, it turns out that I had no reason to be - the gameplay on this one meets or exceeds that of the PC versions in almost all respects.
I honestly don't see how any fan of Worms 2 or Worms: Armageddon could be any less than thrilled with this outing, as all weapons and tools - including the ninja rope! - behave exactly as expected. Fire a shotgun high on an opposing worm's head, and he'll slide backwards. Land a bazooka shot on the ground in front of or behind a worm, and he'll go flying in the correct direction every time. And jumping is useful and easy to control, unlike in the first game for the DS.
The weapons selection, while not the most varied in the series, is more than adequate (many of the weapons in previous games were useless anyway). While some fans may miss the bungee, the flamethrower, the baseball bat, or worm select, the game makes up for it to a certain extent by offering several brand-new weapons. The Buffalo of Lies (referenced for years as the Concrete Donkey's nemesis) replaces the mad cow, and is essentially a smaller version of the Concrete Donkey that travels horizontally across terrain rather than vertically. Magnets can be used to attract or repel metal weaponry and trigger mines. Sentry guns monitor their surroundings for enemy worms and cause massive damage if an unlucky worm wanders too close. Boomerangs can be used to grab items or push worms, and, as the name implies, they can be returned to the thrower's hand (and inventory). They can also be embedded in scenery, much like shots from the longbow in previous games. And lightning strikes can revive dead worms, restore health, and alter sentry guns and magnets in the user's favor.
The one player modes, while a bit easy for the most part, will still provide hours of fun for most players. There are three main modes, puzzle, campaign, and laboratory.
In puzzle mode, players must use use their abilities, weapons, and items in creative ways to reach exits, kill enemies, or collect item crates. Most puzzles are not all that difficult, but they're still a lot of fun.
Campaign mode is much like deathmatch mode in previous games, where players must kill all enemies in predefined levels. For defeating bosses, players earn FMVs which they can watch at their leisure, and many of these are very funny.
Laboratory mode has three minigames: Blow, Blast, and Draw. In Blow, players must navigate to an exit using a parachute, and blowing into the DS mic provides lift for the parachute. Blast uses the stylus to target explosions on an otherwise immobile worm in order to move it around the level. And Draw requires players to draw lines using a limited ink supply in order to manipulate the path of a mine-launched worm.
By completing single-player levels, credits are earned, and they can then be spent on items for customization, locked weapons, and bonus one-player levels.
Speaking of customization, this game is excellent in that respect. Aside from choosing names for all your worms, you can choose colors, voices (from a respectable 25 voice schemes including many classics from the PC games), and gravestones, and there's a flag editor and level editor as well. I have one small complaint about the flag editor though. Flags must be edited with the stylus, which makes pixel-by-pixel editing much harder. Still, I've managed to make some flags that I'm very satisfied with, though it took much longer that it would have if I could have used the d-pad.
Finally, there's the multiplayer. Hotseat, single-cart, multicart, and wi-fi are all supported to varying degrees. The performance in most of these modes is excellent, but ranked wi-fi matches are terrible. Schemes are chosen at random, and most of the schemes contain some flaw that removes most of the skill factor from the game. For instance, occasionally you'll get The Full Wormage, which provides an infinite quantity of every weapon in the game, meaning that battles can usually be won easily using only Concrete Donkeys. Other schemes can be unwinnable, such as one where each team gets two blowtorches, no weapons, and item drops are insufficient. Fortunately though, other wi-fi modes are fine, as they allow some degree of control over weapon schemes and other aspects of play. I haven't tried non-wi-fi multiplayer modes, but I've heard they're all very playable, with the exception of single-cart, where in certain circumstances, connections can be lost.
Aside from issues with ranked matches, single-cart multiplayer, and the user-friendliness of the flag editor, there are a few other weak points. The manual is in black and white and seems rushed. The terrain vanishes completely when it's destroyed, unlike in previous games where a shadow was left behind (which I preferred, as it gave a good sense of what's been blown up). Some hazards are really annoying at first - things like earthquakes and rising water levels happen occasionally in some level types with only a one-turn warning for each team, which sometimes results in almost complete annihilation. A little experience allows you to use these hazards strategically though, so it's not a huge deal. And there are no girder-based levels, though I'm sure something similar could be designed in the level editor, with long strips of regular ground in place of long girders.
I'll end this review with a point-by-point analysis in the style of the old GameSpot reviews, which seem to have recently become defunct.
Gameplay - This game plays like a charm, and any Worms fan should be satisfied, but I will dock a point for the horrific ranked match system. 9.
Graphics - Just fine. I personally preferred the look of levels in Worms 2/Armageddon/World Party, but on the other hand, the sprites look fantastic here. 9.
Sound - This is a toughie. The music is pretty average, but it can be turned down or off entirely in the options, and the voice selection is simply awesome. 8.
Value - I'm in Japan, and I ordered the European version on eBay, and ended up spending probably around US$60 for this. Still, I feel I got my money's worth, as this is an awesome game. And anyway, it wouldn't be fair to assign this rating based on my special case. I guess I'd say that for Europeans, this is an 8, and for Americans, this is a 9. I'll just round up the average. 9.
Tilt - I love this game, but ranked matches will affect my tilt score a wee bit too. 9.
Average score: 8.8 (but ugh, the new scoring system doesn't allow this, so I'll round up to 9.0)