Just like the rest of my fellow tea-swilling, fish-and-chip-eating, monarchy-having Brits, I bloody loveWorms. Although the original games that kicked off the nation’s Invertebrate fever released far before my time,Team17’s classic strategy games were still a large part of my childhood,even if my uncultured younger self believed that Worms 3D was the best one.
I’ve mercifully grown up in the 21 years since that horrible opinion was formed, which means that I now agree with everyone thatWorms Armageddonis the series at its absolute peak, even if it doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles that later games added. Despite my love for Holy Hand Grenades, it’s been alongtime since I’ve dived into a match of Worms, especially since the series has been going through so many changes recently.
Remember Worms Rumble? Didn’t think so.
While all of us Worms fans sit around twiddling our thumbs waiting for the next big game in the series, Team17 and Digital Eclipse are celebrating the 25th anniversary ofWorms Armageddon with a new re-release that brings it to modern consolesand adds a bunch of quality-of-life improvements and extras. While PC veterans won’t find much new here, it’s the perfect way for lapsed fans and the next generation to see what all the Ninja Roping fuss has been about.
“You’ll Pay For That!”
If, like a Worm, you’ve been living under a rock, Team17’s Worms is a turn-based tactical series that has you creating a team of high-pitched wriggling warriors and then taking on your own species in real-time combat with weapons that wouldn’t be out of place in Ratchet & Clank. While there are some normal arms like Shotguns, Uzis, and Baseball Bats (normal for a human, less so a creepy-crawly), you’ve also got an arsenal of exploding sheep, jetpacks, and a grenade that screams hallelujah as it blows up.
Combine all of those with tools like jetpacks that let you fly around the map, teleporters, and even girders to create paths and bunkers for yourself, and Worms matches end up having a surprising amount of depth to them as you and another player work to kill each other off and have the last Worm standing.
I’m not usually a fan of either turn-based or tactical games, but Worms has always held a special place in my heart for how it caters to every kind of player. Not just because you can make a team named after your friends and give them stupid accents, but because Worms is just as good for casuals and newcomers as it is for veterans and those who can actually use the in-game wind direction to their advantage.
Worms Is Still Just As Good For Vets As It Is Casuals
If you want to take it seriously and figure out the intricacies of weapons and their multiple uses you can, but you can also play like me and just use the Baseball Bat and Dragon Ball like a knob. That attitude is exactly why Worms Armageddon is considered by most to be the best. There’s an overwhelming number of things to customise, from the timers on grenades to the maps that you play on.
Everything that made Worms Armageddon special when it launched in 1999 is captured in the Anniversary Edition and I’m happy to say that it hasn’t missed a beat in all those years. The amount of strategic options is still impressive, the short matches are just as moreish as they’ve always been, and the feeling of clutching a win with a Mortar Strike is still unmatched. Well, except for finishing a team off with a Poke.
You will lose friends if you do that, though. Trust me.
On the flip side, that also means that all the things that might put someone off Armageddon are also here to stay. The notoriously tough single-player missions are still hell to get through even for veterans, the controls can be fiddly and unwelcoming for newcomers, and the offline solo matches take away a lot of what makes Worms so charming, to name a few. This is Worms Armageddon through and through.
Anniversary Edition Is A Worthy Celebration Of Worms History
You might have noticed that I haven’t spoken too much about what the Anniversary Edition brings to the table, and that’s because there isn’t really all that much on the gameplay side. Beyond making it available for console players and giving it a nice HD coat of paint, its standard remaster fare such as trophies, controller and online support, display options, and a new save system.
The most substantial thing that’s been added to this Anniversary Edition issomething that fans of Digital Eclipse’s work will be very familiar with- an extensive behind-the-scenes look at how Worms Armageddon (and the whole series) came to be, called War Stories. For fans like myself and those interested in the series' history or game development as a whole, the bevvy of video interviews and documents make for a fascinating extra that ties everything together.
Anniversary Edition also includes the Game Boy Color version of Armageddon, which makes for a very nice bonus, even if the controls are even more fiddly.
Beyond that, though, Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition is exactly what you’d expect from a re-release like this and doesn’t go much further than that. I would have loved to see crossplay and improved multiplayer lobbies considering how important that is to the series, but what you’re getting here is just another way to play the best Worms.
While I’m sure that’s not going to be enough for those who have already played hours of Worms Armageddon or who already own it on PC (which remains the best way to play), for everyone else it’s a nice way to experience the series at its best. Hopefully, above all else, it’s a reminder to Team17 what makes Worms works so well - and it isn’t when it’s trying to be a battle royale.
