Worms 3D (PS2)

Worms 3D is the first 3D outing for those pesky Worms, created by Team 17 and Sega.

This is a strategy game, where you basically have a team of worms with a variety of (often bizarre) weapons, which you use to destroy an opposing team of worms.

THE CONCEPT:

As I said, this is a strategy game where the aim is to destroy the opposing team. You each have a number of worms, who take it in turns to take pot shots at each other until 1 team is destroyed.

Worms has been out in various forms for years now. I remember playing a basic PC version about 10 years ago, and now this is available on different platforms and in various forms.

Having loved the original version (and finding this one very cheap at Amazon), I decided to buy a copy. This is also one of the few games I am actually half decent at.

THE GAME:

Based in a variety of cartoony landscapes with jaunty music playing in the background, Worms is a feel good game (apart from the massacre of course), suitable for ages 3 and up (apparently). It now also has added factors such as varying weather conditions. One minute it will be sunny in wormland, next your worms are getting drenched. The landscape is also destructible, so if you chuck a grenade at a worm it will destroy a good chunk of the scenery as well! In multi-player mode you can select whether or not the landscape can be destroyed, whereas, in previous versions of Worms, you were limited in the number of ways you could play the game. Worms 3D has numerous options to satisfy your blood-lust.

You can either play multi-player against your friends (up to 4 players), or single-player against the computer.

Multi-player offers the greatest customising options, as you can select everything for your game, from which landscape you fight on, to which weapons are available for each battle and how much health your worms have! I find this takes a little away from the game play though, and I tend to choose a random selection for things such as worm positioning.

There are 3 ways to play as a single-player.

1) Campaign mode - You are assigned tasks which you need to complete in order to progress to the next level (ie kill all enemy worms then proceed to the sea-plane etc). The further you progress with this game, the more challenges (see below) and new landscapes become available to you.

2) Challenges - These are one off games which usually involve destroying the enemy within a set time, or with specific weapons only.

3) Quick Game - This is basically a one off game on a randomly generated landscape against the computer.

YOUR TEAM OF WORMS:

Now for the fun part! You can modify your team to suit your own tastes. You can either go with the computer's random selection of worm names and voices, or make up your own names and choose from the 30 something voice options provided.

Worms are pretty chatty and tend to pipe up when it is their turn, or when they are targeted by an enemy worm.

They come out with such gems as 'I'll get you for that' 'You traitor!' (when accidentally hitting one of your own worms) and many more.

THE WEAPONS:

Different weapons cause differing amounts of damage, and this is also affected by the distance away, and accuracy of the shot etc.

There are way too many to mention, but I will mention a few.

BAZOOKA - Pretty standard Worms weapon, the bazooka can be pretty hard to target and is affected by factors such as the wind. This is a weapon with unlimited ammo.

HOMING MISSILE - another classic worms weapon, the homing missile can be targeted exactly, though you have to be careful how you aim and the power you use or you may miss your target! Normally only 1 or 2 are available per battle.

GRANADES/CLUSTER BOMBS - these are throwing weapons, so you need great accuracy. Cluster bombs explode into several bits which then explode on impact.

SHEEP - Ah, a little woolly jumper - Literally! Take your sheep, chuck him, watch him bound away and press the detonator when he reaches the target, then BOOM! No more sheep and one mangled worm!

SUPER SHEEP - da da daaaaa up up and away! Woolly develops super powers and soars above the clouds. You direct him and then explode him when he reaches a suitable target.

SHOTGUN/UZI - best for close quarters. You get 2 goes on the shotgun, so it is great when there are a couple of enemy worms nearby. Kill 2 worms with one stone so to speak.

UTILITIES -

These include things such as jet packs and girders, and can be used to assist you in reaching certain areas by jetting somewhere else on the landscape where you can get a better shot, or rebuilding part of a landscape with the girders. These are usually very limited so use wisely.

CRATES - crates are dropped from planes at intervals, and they can contain either weapons or utilities. Also dropped are medical crates which increase the health of the worm that retrieves it.

GAME PLAY:

Maneuvering around a 3D landscape can be fairly tricky, as can locating both your own and enemy worms (although the worms are displayed with their names in different colours for different teams). To help you, you can either view an overhead shot of the entire landscape, or use the first-person view to look immediately around you.

The movements are controlled by the analogue stick, with the weapons controlled by the buttons.

To help you get the hang of things there is a tutorial where you are taught how to move, and how to select and target weapons etc.

Definitely a good idea for 1st time players, and even seasoned worms veterans! The controls are very easy to get to grips with though.

MY OPINION:

This is a great fun game, in either single or multi player mode. Prepare for arguments in multi player though when your worms are getting a kicking, or your worms are doing the kicking!

The only gripes I really have with it are that occasionally the graphics are a little iffy, and it has crashed on me a couple of times.

When a worm is in an awkward position like in a little crevice, the computer can't seem to get to grips with it, and you will find the landscape a little jumpy or your view obscured. I think this has been an issue with most of the Worms games though, and it isn't a massive problem.

At a cost of approx £11 from Amazon, this is extremely good value for money with the amount of gameplay you get out of it. Even when you complete the Campaign levels you have almost unlimited options with multi-player games.

If you don't fancy Worms 3D, I would definitely say you need at least one Worms title in your games collection!

Worms 3D has taken all the good things from previous titles and stepped up the pace by another few notches to produce a truly brilliant strategy game. Worm wars and multiplayer battles are always a pleasure and I enjoy handing out a few much deserved air strikes to wipe out my opponents. The game is easy to pick up and will appeal to old hands and new players alike. There are plenty of new features on display and it takes serious preparations to set your opponents up for the kill. Hank's verdict? Worms 3D - a great game just got better.