by: Corey Peace

November 10, 2005

Worms 4: Mayhem is the third Worms game in about two years, the first being Worms 3D, which was the first in the series to take away the 2D gameplay and put it entirely in 3D. Most fans of the series considered this massive gameplay change a blow to the classic series they had come to love. Personally being one of those fans myself, I was upset when this was set into play and one of the greatest game types of all time was left behind. Now it’s not that the 3D gameplay is really bad, but the way everything has just ultimately changed sort of throws that classic Worms gameplay way off balance.

Gameplay
So here is where the problem lies with this game, the gameplay is just way too clunky, floaty and causes all kinds of camera problems because of this. Just like every other Worms game, you control a team of Worms, which you can create yourself, in a turn based game against the computer where your objective is to destroy the enemy worms with a wide-array of weaponry. If you have never played Worms before, getting used to this style of gameplay could take a while so starting with the “story mode” will be a great way to get underway. The overall gameplay is the exact same as the past two Worms games in form of the way the worms move, the flow of the camera, how the weapons move and work, and basically everything else. In that case, the same problems still exist. The camera is really awful at times because of the 3D aspect and using it can be tedious when it comes to aiming and just moving in general. The same types of weapons are in here as well, but a nice new feature where you can create your own weapon is very interesting, but there are limits to how powerful you can make it. There are also a fair level of new weapons including sniper rifles, poison arrows and all kinds of new explosives.

There is also a choice for multiplayer in ways of playing with 3 other people on one system, or the ability to play over Xbox Live. You have choice between games such as Deathmatch, Homelands (fort mode), Destruction, Statue Defender and Survivor. I really only had one problem with Xbox Live play, I didn’t even get to play it! There was absolutely no-one online to play with. I waited for about 30 minutes for anybody to show up and I ended up with nothing. Sure if you have friends who love Worms then playing on Live shouldn’t be a problem but from what I “didn’t” experience, I wouldn’t recommend any online play.

Graphics
Again, there is nothing new here to talk about. Worms 4 still withholds the same cartoony look and fun graphical layout which is great for the type of gameplay Worms represents. Pretty much of the graphics could be considered dated and now especially overdone because they are still being based off those from 2003 when Team 17 used them for Worms 3D on the PC. The camera is involved here where I must comment on it again because of how horrible it can be. Because of how many things can be in one level, the camera will move all around certain objects and through others causing visual problems in way of moving characters and what not. The cell-shaded graphics are very nicely done and as stated work wonders for what type of game Worms presents itself as.

Sound
Here we find again the same type of formula used in the past Worms games, but this time for some reason the sound effects just feel very weak compared to what the used to be. The explosions and gunshots are pretty weak in power it seems and just about every other weapon too seems to be tuned way down. There are also voice-overs to the worms in the story mode between the main characters and the worms of your team, and by voice-overs I mean loud, squeaky mumbling repeated over and over again over subtitles at the bottom of the screen.

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Worms 4 is a fun multiplayer game, but when you play as a single-player, you will just find a very slow moving progression of a watered down classic gameplay that was lost oh so long ago. If you haven’t played any of the Worms games before and you’re interested in the 3D formula, Worms 4 is a perfect place to get started. If you’re a fan of the series, you won’t find much more here than a few new features and a couple new weapons. Since this is a title at a nice budget price I would suggest buying this game only if you are a fan of this series, but if you’re not a fan I would suggest renting it first if you’re interested in a unique multiplayer action game.

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