Ah yes another Worms game there’s been so many in its small little life, small being 6 or 7 games I might add. Another game that proceeds to make the transition from 2D to 3D in this modern gaming age but how will the Worms series fair, it’s had a good life, but is the game about to turn into another 3D flop or a work of art?

Gameplay:
First things first, if you’re not familiar with the worms series its basically a turn based strategy game in which you control a team of worms (literally) and attempt to destroy all of your opponents worms until you win, this of course involves many hilarious weapons such as flying exploding sheep, cluster grenade style banana bombs and so forth! Worms 3D is a different game to play when you first start playing it, if you’re used to playing 2D worms you’ll feel a little frustrated at first having to get used to a different set of controls in essentially the same game. This means learning to move your worm about, jumping and moving the camera to allow you to pull off the best shot possible, which is made as easy as pie through many ways – the game comes with a complete tutorial allowing absolute beginners to get used to playing worms in 3D within minutes, along with the use of a worms ‘driving range’ area allowing you to test weapons.

Asides from that the game has also had special camera angles implemented making movement and aiming much easier, first of all there is a ‘blimp’ view which allows you to see overhead the map to see who is where and what to destroy. There is also a first person view, as the game is played through third person usually, which can be very helpful when aiming at close range objects as much as the blimp view is for long range. Moving about in the game is very easy too, moving the left thumb stick allows you to move your worm but your worm will never get stuck as the worm is very adaptive and will jump up onto ledges that don’t require a jump, the right thumb stick is used to rotate the camera so you will always have a good angle on moving your worm. SEGA and Team 17 have made playing the Worms series in 3D as easy as it gets basically and particularly in a game like worms where moving about and looking at objects is very important.

The actual game itself remains similar in concept to previous versions as it offers a single player mode allowing you to take part in training tutorial, in a campaign mode similar to training but more focused on a variety of missions and completing them gives you access to more weapons in the game. The challenge mode is essentially an extension of training mode allowing you to beat Team 17’s times for weapons training, this also allows you to open up new modes exclusive to Worms 3D. Other modes available in the game include – Quick Blast which throws you into a game of worms straight away against a computer opponent. Finally there’s multiplayer mode where the game really shines, allowing you to play with up to 4 teams with 4 worms, computer or human based – making a great 16 worm fight. The game allows a multitude of options and in-game settings plus the game map can also be fully customized. The main benefit of this is that it’s turn based and anyone can have a 4 player game, absolutely brilliant multiplayer fun, but where worms excels and has always excelled is in it’s little touches available in the options with customizable teams allowing your own team voices, flags, special weapons and even gravestones!

The game also includes the world famous ‘Wormapedia’, same as a dictionary but with weapons definitions and the history of worms too, just for the people who want to know everything about the worm’s series. Despite being a war game retains an awful amount of humour whether it’s the witty replies, the smirks on the worm’s faces or the bizarre weapons. The game has made a good translation to the 3D world and retained everything from its 2D predecessors with some extras too. The only criticisms on the game would be - where is the Xbox Live support? This is a fantastic multiplayer game and would be great online, even with downloadable content, but this game misses it unfortunately, also that the fact of getting used to worms in 3D is tricky too as aiming and judgement of how to destroy your enemies can be difficult in a 3D world as the game takes a little time to get used to really.

Graphics:
Well you don’t see anything special in Worms 3D compared to normal 3D games, but the graphics certainly have a high build quality to them and there are no glitches to be seen. The worms, the stars themselves have been recreated beautifully in their new 3D world to retain their style along with some very nice and indeed pant wetting cut scenes in the single player mode, which all worms fans will be familiar with. The game also has a nice cartoon feel to it without using the effects of cel shading and it works very nicely.

Sound:
The amount and variety of voices available is fantastic with London cabbies, Hippies and surfer dudes to choose from – the list goes on. Sound levels are a bit funny so that it is hard for you to hear your worm in game but this can be changed in the options menu, the background music is very similar to previous worms games and has a sound good to the game which mixes in the humour and war theme, but there is also the official soundtrack ‘Shake Your Coconuts’ from Junior Senior available to listen in the main menu, the game might of profited from having the ability to play your own soundtracks really.

Longevity:
The game has a huge amount of single player missions and challenges to get through to unlock the full potential of worms 3D. Not to mention the multiplayer mode is great to play with a friend or at a party, but as I’ve already mentioned this should have been a Live game from the start and the fact it isn’t really disappoints me. SEGA who helped make this game got Worms World Party a couple of years ago online with the Dreamcast, so why not for Worms 3D on the Xbox? The game will last you quite a while if you’re willing to play out the single player missions and use it on ‘party’ occasions essentially.

Round Up:
Worms 3D is a truly great game to play and is an excellent conversion from 2D, but like it’s predecessors it doesn’t really offer much new, sure it has the same modes and new weapons but in 3D. Worms 3D is just a brilliant game as it’s older 2D games were but will keep you going for a long time, a little dash of Xbox Live would have been the cherry on the cake, but nether the less this is still one banana bomb of a game!

Pros:

• Extremely smooth 2D to 3D conversion of the Worms series
  
• Single player that will last even the hardcore gamer ages
  
• Plenty of unlockable weapons and modes
  
• Absolutely great fun to play in single player mode or in multiplayer
  

  Cons:
  

  • No Xbox Live mode
    
  • Nothing too much new in the game