Back in my high school years, me and my friends, whenever we were on the computers, always played whatever game we found on Shockwave or that someone had downloaded and passed around to us, with the biggest being the original Halo: Combat Evolved. But, one we sank the most hours in was a small title called Pocket Tanks, where the objective was to get more points by hitting the opponents tank with whatever weapon you have, be it explosives or other wild weaponry. Why do I bring up Pocket Tanks? Well, at the time, I had no idea it was inspired by an older game called Scorched Earth, which in turn inspired another game and the subject of today’s review: Worms, in particular Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition and, I’m not going to lie, if you were a fan of the original, then this game’s for you. But for newcomers, not so much.
The idea behind the game is simple: Your team of worms must destroy the other team before time runs out and the water begins to rise using a wide variety of weapons at your disposal. That’s it. There’s no overarching storyline, no characters to be invested in, nothing. It’s just simple, arcadey fun and that is both a good and bad thing. Good because this is a fun game and something you can easily pick up and play and kill a few hours with but bad in a sense that, outside of the other gamemodes, there really isn’t much on offer and you can see everything the game has to offer in one match. But, I don’t want to begin this review with the negatives as I do have a good bit of positivity to say about the title. For starters, I love the customization. Yeah, you can’t put hats on each worm nor can you go in-depth and design backstories or give a worm muscles to make Kenshiro bow in respect, but you can at least name your worms and your team as well as give them unique, if slightly repetitive and, at times, annoying voices, along with a Winning Song tailor made for each country. The voices and songs range from English/British to US American to French to even robotic-like voices, all done with this high-pitched tone which, for some voices, it’s OK but for others it did get a little ear-grating. Think Butters from South Park but not as endearing.
I also have to give praise to the weapons as I don’t think I played any game with this eclectic selection of weapons. Not even Pocket Tanks had this much creativity. While you do get basic weapons like a shotgun, SMG, and various explosives, you also get more out there weapons and these can really turn the tide of battle in your favor if used at the right time. Weapons like the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch that does count down from three and not five, a shoryuken straight out of Street Fighter, exploding sheep, and a grandma that also explodes which…OK, that’s a thing. You can also just straight-up turn your worm into a weapon itself by either kamakazing them into an enemy OR, if your aim “sucked”, send them backwards into an enemy worm and, possibly, send them flying either off the map or onto a mine, while also possibly killing your worm in the process, which I may have done accidentally a few times (whoops). Although, good luck spotting the mines in this game as they are really tiny and you can’t zoom in on the map. I also love how destructible the environments are, allowing for some surprising strategic gameplay or straight up trolling, depending on your mood. Now, it’s not to the levels of, say, Bad Company 2, but the destructibility is still impressive and I found myself using it to my advantage during matches. Speaking of the environments, I do think this game’s artstyle is charming. Everything has this sorta Saturday Morning Cartoon look to it and I do like how expressive and animated the worms can be at times. The locations are also charming, with places ranging from a beach to a variant of Mount Rushmore to even the Team17 Logo itself. Lastly, the AI is really competent. Normally, in these types of games, I find that the computer-controlled opponents are either really dumb or they’re making moves that would label them as cheaters in Call Of Duty. Here, I was impressed with what they were capable of and, even on the easiest setting, they put up a good challenge. I don’t think I've ever seen good AI like this in a long time and, for a game this old to have good AI, that’s impressive.
Unfortunately, that’s where my praise for this game ends. I’m not going to mince words: This game didn’t age well at all and that stems from its simple gameplay and how there really isn’t much to do. Outside of the basic mode, you have modes like Sudden Death, which raises the water level after every turn, and the titular Armageddon, which makes every worm sick and they lose health every turn, which you can also do in the other modes with the Skunk weapon. While these are great in concept, in execution, they’re just not that enjoyable and really just feel like afterthoughts. Yes, they do heighten the tension, so to speak, but I ended up sticking with the basic modes most of the time. Now, I do want to mention one other mode, The Training Mode, but not for a good reason. Usually, when a game includes a Training Mode, it’s to get you familiar with the game and its controls and that’s what I thought when I clicked on it. Instead, the ‘training mode’ is more of a ‘mini-game mode’ as you’re actually doing target practice with weapons and, unless you looked at the controls in the in-game options menu, you’ll have no idea how to even fire your gun and, thus, failing the mode and being sent all the way back to the first training level. I am not kidding when I say I have never heard of being able to fail training and being sent back to the beginning. Imagine doing the training course in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and you failed to knife the watermelon and, instead of being able to keep going, you are sent back to the start of the level where you have to pick up your rifle. Weird comparison, I know, but you get my point, the ‘training mode’ is a basic mini-game mode that can easily be failed.
Regarding the gameplay itself being simple, I know I said it’s simple and arcadey fun, but I also said it was a bad thing. I hate saying things like this, but a lot of games we grew up playing as a youngster just don’t age well and this is a prime example. Yeah, it’s fun launching the opposing worms off the map with a well-timed explosive and I did get a chuckle out of the various quips, but after about two-four matches, I was honestly kinda bored. I’m not asking for a ton of modes like variations of Gun Game or a Mario Party-esque mode, but it would’ve been nice to have a bit more variety in every available mode outside of ‘shooting worms and trying to survive’. Like, imagine if the Armageddon Mode had various disasters that happened after every couple of moves or if Sudden Death had, along with the water rising, an ultimate weapon of sorts that everyone fights over until one side gets it, wipes out the other team in a single move, and wins the match. Stuff like that would’ve made the already simple gameplay just a bit more interesting and engaging but, alas, that’s not what we got.
Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition is an odd kettle of fish. On the one hand, there is some fun to be had and I can see fans of the original enjoying this title and loving that it’s now available on more modern systems. On the other hand, it’s practically antiquated and has been surpassed by games that do this concept better and I can see newer gamers who could be potential fans getting quickly bored by this game. Speaking personally, while I did have some fun with it and was chuckling at some of the humor, I did find myself longing for just more things to do. While, yeah, the game does include a few bonuses, like the GBA port of Worms Armageddon and the Sega MegaDrive version of the first Worms, it wasn’t enough to make me want to play for hours on end. I’m still going to play it as I did have fun with what’s on offer, but probably on days I just want to relax and not spend hours grinding a camo on Black Ops 6. Don’t take this to mean I’m saying this is a bad game, I’m not, I just think this game didn’t age well. But, if you want to relive your childhood sitting in front of your computer and spending hours on this game, then by all means grab this title. For everyone else, I’d say at least wait for a good sale before you take the plunge.
