They're back, they're in 3D and they've got an exploding sheep with your name on it. Just as with previous Worms games , Worms 3D features several teams of worms with an arsenal of bizarre weapons at their disposal, who fight in a turn-based battle in which the enemy must be drowned, exploded and burnt to death by throwing an assortment of weapons in their general direction. The game has always provoked inordinate amounts of lip-biting, gauging of wind speed and kicking of desks, but how has it fared in its transition to the third dimension?
If you're a seasoned Worms hack, then initially the extra dimension is a bit worrying, and despite the pick-up-and-play Worms ethos, it takes you a while to figure out how to manoeuvre your warrior over the battlefield.
It's all fairly simple, but things like the new-fangled control you have over your worm's jumps take some getting used to. And Worms staples like the Ninja Rope suddenly need about eight keys and a basic education in rope-physics before they can be used successfully in swinging from platform to platform.
Compounding this, the third-person camera is liable to throw a few wobblers at you during your game, either presenting you with a close-up of a grassy hillock or schizophrenically swapping angles so that you get confused and accidentally saunter into a nearby landmine. That's the sniffy games-journalist angle done and dusted.
The good news is that these problems fade away the more you play and the more adept you become. Multiplayer is as enjoyable as it always has been, allowing for Internet play, LAN games and the traditional huddle-around-the-monitor social interaction for which Worms is famous. Singleplayer, forever the bane of Worms-lovers, is the best that the series has seen. Whether you're parachuting your invertebrate from the top of a giant beanstalk, storming the Normandy beaches or protecting top-hat wearing worms in their Ewok-type village, the solo missions are invariably novel and entertaining, even though frustration and monitor-bashing are only ever a few heartbeats away.
Victory means that maps are unlocked for multiplayer, so it's always worth it in the end. There's no doubt the extra dimension adds a hell of a lot to the Worms experience.
It's hugely satisfying to make vast craters in the destructible terrain, and the tight physics make parachutes and jet-packs a fashionable means of transport for worms-about-town. The whole package is impeccably presented, endlessly customisable and contains music so good you'll be dancing on the rooftops. The switch to 3D isn't seamless, there are several bugs of the nonworm variety, but an old-school charm shines through that can't help but make you smile.
Personally, I'd have rather been playing Scorched Earth. While Acclaim hasn't been known for releasing showstoppers, this update of an old franchise seems a worthwhile party game to occupy a small group of game playing friends. You'll find most of the familiar staples from the Worms series still present, only repackaged in an inconvenient, hard to control form. In all seriousness, the one thing I'd have wished I could do with this game was easily aim and shoot without needing to use the camera controls each time.
Thankfully, especially for someone with my skills, this game comes with a wonderful little tutorial that helps you pickup the skills necessary to blow other people to kingdom come. Although it took some getting used to in the other games, it's downright aggravating in this version, as aiming in a 3D environment from what is essentially a 2D view of that environment can be a difficult thing to learn.
In case you've been in a cave for the last 30 years or outside of Europe - the franchise never did enjoy the same immense success it garnered east of the Atlantic , the principle of the game is to arm your team of worms with any one of a range of often bizarre weapons and take turns to shoot at the opposing wrigglies until they're hammered into oblivion.
So let's look at the weapons first. Standard stalwarts like the bazooka, grenade, cluster bomb, exploding sheep, Uzi and banana bomb are still there but out goes the much loved flame-thrower. You've also got your air strike, jet pack, ninja rope and homing missile, plus a few other "hidden" specials that only get revealed after certain missions are completed.
There are also a few new entries, including gas grenades and the nuclear attack. The air strike and homing missile are dependent on a new camera view -- blimp view -- which gives you a top-down perspective that uncovers where the enemy are hiding.
Using that view, you target the next worm and either watch the destruction unfold in the case of the air strike or return to third-person view to then launch your missile. This highlights one of the other major changes from the 2D predecessors - the controls.
In the past you simply moved your worm into position, used one control to alter elevation and another to control trajectory. Now, movement is via the WASD keys and direction is via the mouse much like a standard first- or third-person action game, with the cursor keys to adjust the angle. In addition, you can enter first-person mode and use the equivalent of a crosshair for targeting, which takes some time to get used to. The major problem is jumping.
If, for example, you're on a roof and are trying to jump on to a ledge, you have to simultaneously use movement and direction controls and then hit 'return' to complete the action and hit it twice if you need a backflip. Confounding this is no apparent option to customize keystrokes to particular actions. That aside, the 3D graphics themselves are perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the original.
In other words, they are colourful, over the top cartoon creations, frequently mimicking film scenes Saving Private Ryan, The Matrix, King Kong, etc. The worms themselves rely on a broad range of facial expressions to express anxiety, elation or fear, allied to their familiar high-pitched squeaks which can also be further customised.
One of the consequences of the new graphics is that movement time becomes more critical as you need to allow longer to get into position before setting up your next shot. This is where the jet pack and the teleport will definitely come into their own. The maps are not as extensive as in the 2D versions so trajectory is much more critical and the emphasis is now all above ground, as the tunnelling option has been removed.
Surprisingly, the only downside on the graphics is the surprisingly restrained degree of visual damage created by each hit. Yes, you get big explosions and fireballs and the accompanying sound effects match them well. But frequently after the dust has settled the attacked worm does little more than shake his head from side to side, sit up, and squeak, "That wasn't very nice!
The interface is simplicity itself with icons in each corner giving you tips on health, weapon elevation, wind direction, enemy location and weapon selection. The weapon options menu pops up when you right-click the mouse and hey presto, you're off and firing! The controls, however, are far more complicated and also not as smooth as it was in the olden times.
The learning curve of mastering movement, aiming, camera, and weapon controls is steep, and you need to develop masterful aiming skills to get through the endless array of pre-made and entirely random battles and missions the game throws at you.
This makes Worms 3D more annoying to learn than, say, Worms 2. The terrain is completely destructible, with explosions leaving huge craters and throwing little worms around — part of the fun is still blasting an arena into tiny bits.
But the terrain textures are woefully washed out and primitive-looking. As always, it delivers fantastic multiplayer action. Few games mix such levels of humor and sadism without crossing the line into tastelessness.
When playing with actual humans, the entertainment value skyrockets, although the worm AI in the single-player game is amusing as well. If there is any one real issue here, it stems from the extra dimension.
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