Worms

Worms is one of those franchises that never should have made the jump to 3D. That's why the nostalgic yearning for this Xbox Live Arcade 2D version (priced at about $10), has been high. So what do you get for a Hamilton?

An extremely scaled-down version of Worms Armageddon with almost no customization options, around a third of the original 60-some-odd weapons, about as basic an online multiplayer as imaginable-- and it's buggy, to boot. That said, it's still the basic 2D Worms gameplay and it's still pretty fun.

Get Your Half-Assed Worm On!

Worms is a turn-based strategy game where you and a team of four cartoon-y, trigger-happy worms get to battle up to three other Worms teams with over-the-top firepower. Being that the game is built around nutty weapons like dynamite, explosive sheep, a bazooka, and an uber-destructive banana bomb, it's a shame that the majority of cool weapons were left out. Where is the baseball bat to slug a worm out to sea? What happened to the Homing Pigeon that explodes like a giant blast of Alka-Seltzer? The Mad Cow, the Holy Hand Grenade, the Indian Nuclear Test...and the list goes on.

It's not just weapons that get left out; it's utilities, too. The Ninja Rope and Jet Pack made the journey, but the parachute and bungee are suspiciously missing, drastically altering gameplay. Team customization is lean, which is such a shame because it was a big part of what gives Worms its character. The speech bank only allows for a few different types of speech sets and gravestones, where Worms Armageddon had tons. Creating a truly unique team of worms was the essence of Worms' gameplay, but here it's just a primer.

Single-player modes are limited to quick matches and challenges, both of which are boring if you're used to the older games. The online multiplayer play via Xbox Live is buggy, shallow and has a lousy lobby, but there are leader boards, which is nice if you can withstand all the problems in between. Unfortunately, you can only take one team per console onto Xbox Live, which is a shame if you've got friends or roomies that want to get in on the party. Patch, perhaps?

The Full HD Wormage

It's not all bad though. Despite being tremendously slim, Worms is still fun, looks glorious in high definition, and the controls translate very well to the Xbox 360 pad. Worms fans will be disappointed by the lack of returning features for $10 ($7 would have been the sweet spot), but will still enjoy getting back into the 2D action.

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