Worms Reloaded, released on the 26th of August through Steam, is Team17’s latest offering involving everyone’s favourite army of mindlessly violent creatures. Thankfully, the latest instalment in the series drops the 3D interface and returns to tried and tested 2D – the first 2D Worms for PC since Worms World Party in 2001. It boasts new high definition graphics, updated physics, some truly deadly new weapons and an overwhelming number of ways to customise your worms and your landscapes.
New Features
The additions that most Worms fans will be clamouring to hear about are the 14 new weapons added to Reloaded’s arsenal. Though veterans of the series might be disappointed to find that some notable past weapons like the Old Woman have been omitted, we’re sure they’ll be won over by such new cannonry as the intriguingly named Buffalo of Lies.
Several of the new weapons succeed in adding a whole new dimension of difficulty to the game – in Worms Reloaded; your squishy soldiers won’t be safe even if they hide deep in a tunnel or on the far side of the map. Examples of this include the Bunker Buster and Super Bunker Buster, bombs which cut deep into the ground before exploding; the Sentry Gun, which stays on the map and automatically fires at enemies who get too close; the Electromagnets, which repel metal projectiles, and; the Three Ferrets, who seek out enemies taking shelter in tunnels. These innovative new weapons help to open up the gameplay, letting you wreak havoc on your enemies in whole new ways.
The new HD graphics engine is a return to Worms landscapes of old, with the same bright and cartoonish scenery, but boasting sharper details and a generally more modern look. Don’t expect anything too flashy, but do expect to be pleasantly surprised by the mixture of old and new visuals.
Another update which has been much lauded by Team17 is the customisable AI. With 7 skill levels and many personality options, CPU teams have, in theory, huge potential for differing abilities and styles. However, in practice, computer controlled worms range from nightmarishly accurate war machines to unbelievably stupid suicide bombers, and it’s difficult to find a balance.
The Gameplay
In general, the gameplay doesn’t stray too far from the now 15 years old Worms formula. If it’s broken, don’t fix it, right? While that may be true for game developers seeking a steady pay cheque (and who’s going to blame them?), we were a little disappointed that the many game modes on offer in Worms Reloaded didn’t really show us anything new.
Single player options include Campaign Mode, where the player works through 35 different scenarios consisting of battles and puzzles such as “step on mines to blast yourself towards the goal”. Veterans of the series may be bored by the slow pace of this mode, but for those new to Worms, it should be a good learning curve and a way to gradually introduce the different weapons. Each victory in this mode gives you coins to spend on buying new items and weapons to use in your campaign.
For the more advanced player, the Warzone mode consists of a series of battles against increasingly harder opponents. While this is a good challenge mode, it suffers greatly from the “Worms from your deepest nightmares” AI slope mentioned above.
A fun distraction in Reloaded is the Body Count mode, which pits a single player-controlled Worm against an infinite number of enemies, in a bid to see how many CPU worms you can kill before being taken out.
Multiplayer remains much the same as Worms games, as you battle enemy players on a range of millions of randomly generated maps. While single player is a good starting point, multiplayer is and has always been the high point of a Worms game. There’s something truly heart breaking about the death of your worm at the hands of an enemy player, or the foiling of your master plan with a well-placed air strike, and the high-pitched, mocking giggles that follow. Though multiplayer Worms doesn’t inspire World of Warcraft style fits of rage, it is incredibly easy to get wrapped up in, and as a result is one of the most exciting and attractive aspects of the game.
The Verdict
Worms Reloaded brings some cool new toys to the party, mostly in the form of updated weaponry. However, we were disappointed at the overall lack of new features. “Reloaded” is an apt name for the title, as it really feels like a rehashed and slightly upgraded version of Worms World Party. Nine years later, that isn’t exactly desirable.
Another disappointment was the game’s DirectX compatibility issues – masses of people online, including us at the @rcade, experienced installation problems which required fidgeting with drivers to fix. Though a patch is rumoured to be in the works, we can’t help but feel that a little extra attention to detail would have gone a long way here.
However, like its predecessors, the game is thoroughly enjoyable, and retailing at a tantalising €20 (take note, rival game companies), it is a solid buy for both veterans of the series and Worms newbies alike.
The Good
New weapons open up the gameplay
Improved visuals
Multiplayer remains addictive
The Bad
Not enough new features
Utterly polarised AI
Technical issues should have been resolved before release
Gold Stars
7 / 10
