Don’t sq-Worm out of this review!
The Worms franchise has been around since the mid nineteen-nineties and has gotten itself quite a following. This time around the group at Team17 have brought the masses Worms W.M.D. Let’s get right into it!
The a good comparison I can come up with for Worms M.W.D is a board game mixed with role playing elements. You will be able to customize a team of worms to play with. While playing, you can unlock customization options or in RPG terms, level up while playing.
New players should start with the tutorial section to learn the basics of the game and get some quick easy points before you get into the main gameplay. Customization ranges from what headgear your worms will wear in battle to their celebrations/voices. You can even customize your tombstone when you meet your untimely death in battle which may sound morbid but having a totem-pole symbolize your death looks pretty cool in game.
If customization isn’t your thing, you can play the game with a preset team of worms. Like I mentioned earlier, the game feels like a board game mixed with RPG elements. There are strategic advantages located on the board where the battle is taking place. You’ll be able to take shelter inside buildings to stay away from enemy fire. However locales can be damaged in battle and something could go up in flames and thus trap you. You’ll have to use your battle senses and wits to stay one step ahead of the enemy team.
You’ll also have the ability to jump in vehicles during battle so if you need an advantage in the fight, see if there’s a tank or helicopter onscreen. You have all kinds of weapons in your arsenal to destroy the competition.
They range from landmines and bazookas to air strikes and jet packs. There are weapons on the playing field that can be used too like explosives and long-range guns. You will again have to use your wits to stay alive and win the battle!
There are online modes as well as challenge modes to test your mettle. You’ll be able to play against friends and random people too. You will need to be at your best playing online because the artificial intelligence will miss easy shots, real life opponents will not! Challenge missions give you a certain mission/task you need to complete during gameplay and that will be the objective. It’s going to be a tough mission but it wouldn’t be in challenge mode if it weren’t a challenge!
The music adds to the game where you can set your victory theme in the custom menu. I know I’m drilling home the customization aspect of the game but it’s a big feature. I used the main Worms theme because I like rock music but it fits the team perfectly. Headphones, air guitar and rock music is a perfect combination for my team!
However, with practically every game, there are good points as well as negative points. Worms W.M.D. is no different. For starters the game wants you to have pinpoint precision when it comes to jumps and attacks. The controls aren’t as tight as they need to be when precision is needed for aiming or jumping up through a building when you have a certain amount of time to attack. Jumps and movements could have been quicker because of the time limit and would have made going through each level/stage easier.
Slow movement doesn’t make it unplayable but it does hinder the gameplay. The game could have done a better job of notifying the player what each attack/weapon does. It was hard to tell what attack did what. Aiming was also a giant hassle and that brings me back to control precision. If you need to move your worm with the left control stick and that’s the same way to aim, you should be able to move and then aim your weapon. I found it very difficult to move and then aim. Worms were moving when I was trying to aim my weapon.
It’s these reasons that I’m giving Worms W.M.D. for the PlayStation 4 an 8/10.
Score: 8 / 10
