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Wii | Strategy | Worms: A Space Oddity

Boxart for Worms: A Space Oddity
Worms: A Space Oddity 8 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 3.25
  • SOUND: 3.50
  • CONTROL: 4.00
  • FUN FACTOR 3.75
  • AVG USER SCORE n/a
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 3.8

Review: Worms: A Space Oddity

Review by Emily Balistrieri | 03/25/2008 | 10:37:33 AM PST

It seems only a matter of time before Worms worms its way onto every system. The handhelds have the Open Warfare duo, the 360 got an HD version last year, and now the Wii has its own--if Mario can roam the galaxy, then why not the Worms? In A Space Oddity, the tiny artillery masters battle all manner of wormy extraterrestrial enemies.

Even people who haven't played a Worms game probably have heard it compared to Scorched Earth, since the idea is to eyeball trajectories of assorted weaponry while taking into account the wind and environment. It's not action-packed until things explode, since it's a paced, turn-based game. Apart from some new weapons like UFOs that shoot lasers and Drop Ships that smash deep into the ground, the most significant change from previous entries in the series is obviously the Wii controls

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Ready, Aim, Fire

There is a little learning bump before you get all the weapons down. Remembering that A is always jump and never fire is a good way to start! To launch the basic Impact Frag, you use the up and down arrows to aim, tilt the remote to affect the power gauge, clamp the B trigger to lock, and then swing and let go to fling your bomb. Practice makes perfect! Some are simpler, like the Guided Frag where you just hit B and let the missile follow your cursor as you move in for the kill. Technique is very important, especially for the Astro Punch, since how hard and in which direction you make the motion effects how far your enemy will fly.

For Solo Worms

The Single Player campaign features a healthy balance of environmental puzzles, timed challenges, and straight up battling. In addition to a nifty environment (slippery ice or galactic garbage dump, for example) with comfortable background music, each planet presents a mini-game final level, like steering a space ship through a cavern, delivering fuel cells, or shooting up UFOs. While not terribly challenging, they were much more fun than most tacked-on mini-games, and once they're unlocked multiplayer versions are available in the main menu.

For Party Worms

No online multiplayer! Not like we generally expect that from Wii games, but we should be able to by now. That said, the provided options and those you create yourselves in the character, game mode, and landscape customization menus are quite substantial enough to keep you and your more local friends busyyou can even hotseat from one remote. Fifty dollars might seem steep, but blowing each other into smithereens is perpetual fun, which makes Worms: A Space Oddity a decent buy.

Pro: excellent turn-based artillery fights, customizable game styles and landscapes, decent mini-games
Con: No online multiplayer, occasionally frustrating to accidentally waste weapons via an error in controller technique


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