Gameplay
Gameplay follows on the traditional gameplay of the series, in which teams of worms take turns to use a variety of weapons and items in order to eliminate the opposing teams. The game’s single Player mode is now two separate components, the Campaign mode and the Puzzle mode. The Campaign mode is probably a good place for people to start if they are unfamiliar with Worms games or maybe they are experienced players and they just want to see the new features Team 17 implemented such as the worms classes, physics objects or dynamic water.
Revolution features 32 missions spread out over the four different themes (Swamp, Beach, Spooky and Farm),which may start gently, like training missions to get you going but by the end of the game things become more complex. If you won’t become an experienced Worms player by the time you get to mission 32 then chances are you’ll never be.
There is also a Puzzle mode which is more about missions with a certain objective. Now that objective could be to get a vital worm that’s on the enemy team, or it could be to collect a crate. But you’ve only got certain items and certain ways to achieve that goal. This is a real strategic side of Worms games. There are 20 of those in total so there’s plenty there to keep you going.
Revolution also brings a couple of ways you can play against your friends with Worms Revolution. There’s local play and online play. Local play is the social side of Worms where you can either grab four pads or get one pad and pass it round. In online mode you can set up a lobby yourself and you can tailor it to whatever settings you like, then you can invite people or wait for it to fill up and you can basically take on the best players in the world really. if you don’t really want to mess about setting up a lobby yourself you can always join one of the lobbies that will be out there, do a search, dive in and once again see how good you really are when you are up against the best players in the world.
There are three multiplayer modes that you can choose from to play. The Deathmatch mode, the Forts mode ( similar to Deathmatch mode in fact but the landscape is set into two separate forts, one either side with a body of water in between), and the Classic mode. The Classic mode is for the Worms purists, it’s for people who have played Worms before and maybe want to experience that same kind of game. No dynamic water, no worm classes are included.
Speaking of classes we have to mention that their presence is the second major shift the Worms series takes after the return to the 2D gameplay. Until now you could play with soldier Worms that their all-around nature meant that they could do a bit of everything. However you can now also select a team that consists of Scouts, Scientists and Heavies each his its own special ability. Scouts can move extremely fast in the map and perform jumps but possess weak attacking prowess and can be easily knocked far by explosives , Scientists can boost the health of the team on every turn and also build some very powerful weapons such as the sentry gun, while the Heavies not only suffer less from damage but can also cause more than the average Worm but move sluggish. This new addition brings little joy in the single player campaign, but if you play it with friends then it manages to take Revolution to another level.
Worms Revolution features an arsenal of just under 50 weapons and tools at your disposal. Fan favourites like the super sheep, concrete donkey, banana bomb and holy hand grenade return alongside ninja ropes, teleports, blow torches and a shield. It’s a good selection, with a few empty slots on the inventory screen that have and will be filled by DLC later on. New weapons have been added as well, mostly centered around the new dynamic water element. Weapon and equipment drops will still randomly appear during a match, but that is no longer the only way to obtain the game’s more powerful weapons. Unique to Worms Revolution are coin drops, crates that give you money to purchase items during your turn.
What hasn’t been fixed is an issue that we feel is present since the first Worms launched and hasn’t been improved at all. We are talking about the game’s A.I level. There are times A.I. opponents too often exhibit ridiculously precise aim and then there are times that the A.I enemy sits there and wastes its time and even stands still even if you are in front of it.
Conclusion
Worms Revolution is not the revelation we hoped Team 17 would deliver in the franchise.There are a some elements missing and doesn’t manage to solve the series’ weaknesses like the awkward AI. However the introduction of new ideas are the freshest the series has seen in its years of existence, which may not totally satisfy the hardcore Worms fans but its most likely the best entry point for newcomers.
We would like to see a couple of worlds more, but given the game’s low price and the fact that Team 17 has launched two DLC’s that added more content to the game, like 10 new single player campaign missions set in the new Mars and 10 additional weapons in total, and will also launch another two in the future, then this becomes just a minor complaint.
All in one Worms Revolution may be the same old recipe, however the addition of classes and the renewed role of water as a tactical tool bring some much-needed variety, adding new layers of depth making Revolution higly recommendable to anyone who loved the past games and someone who just wants to play a game to have some fun.
Worms Revolution is available now for: PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network Store for £10.99/$14.99/ €13.99, the Xbox 360 via the Xbox LIVE Arcade Marketplace for 1200 Microsoft Points, http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/Worms-Revolution/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258411290 and the PC via Steam for £11.99/$14.99/ €13.99, http://store.steampowered.com/app/200170/.
Ganeconnect Rating: 7.8
