Worms 3D for GameCube Reviews by Gamers

Amidst a sea of technologically advanced shovel-ware and software popularized based purely on theme, a few franchises still cling to the past and prioritize good old-fashioned pick-up-and-love-it fun over everything else. The Worms series, which encapsulates a number of well-received multiplayer titles across a wide range of consoles, falls into the latter group. A simple premise mixes with a spectacular amount of gameplay options for an end experience that is intuitive, filled with strategic elements and extraordinarily satisfying.

But of course that describes Worms as it was -- a multiplayer-centric battle series played on flat 2D landscapes. Two or more teams of worms use a variety of unique and often humorous weapons in an attempt to destroy their enemy. The franchise has hooked audiences with this formula since it was first unveiled so many years ago. And now, the inevitable has arrived: the jump to the third dimension.

Developer Team 17, which created the Worms games of yesteryear, has attempted to stay as true to the Worms recipe as possible with the franchise's transition to 3D and it has largely succeeded. Long-time fans will recognize the overall control and play mechanics employed in this sequel. Plus, much of the humorous one-liners -- another staple of the series -- have moved over intact. And naturally the battlefields, now in full 3D, allow for a wider and less constricting experience. But the openness of 3D has not come without faults and drawbacks, many technical in nature.

The Facts

• Classic Worms franchise reborn in 3D
• Multiple teams of worms battle against each other using a wide variety of weapons
• Customizable teams -- from names to the weapons they can use
• Randomly generated and deformable 3D landscapes
• Single and multiplayer modes
• New challenge mode expands single-player experience; beat the challenges to unlock extras
• Three different in-game camera modes including third-person, first-person and blimp cam
• Environmental weather effects such as rain, snow, night and day

Gameplay
Worms 3D functions similarly to its 2D predecessors. Players control a team of six soldier worms, which is scattered around a 3D environment. The objective is to use a wealth of different weapons and items to attack an opponent team of worms. The first person to eliminate their competitor's wigglies wins the match and also earns exaggerated bragging and gloating rights for many days afterward. Or, at least that's how it works when we play it.

With Worms 3D, Team 17 has smartly applied the overall winning control configuration and play mechanics that made previous Worms games so enjoyable. As a result, the title won't be difficult to pick up and play for anybody who has dabbled in the franchise before. But more importantly, it means that actions such as moving the worms about the 3D terrain, selecting and executing different projectiles like bazookas and bombs, and using a jet pack to fly across a chasm, are easy and generally feel tight.

The very 3D nature of the game has both benefits and drawbacks. The immediate pluses are that players can now freely move their worms into any direction -- up, down, left, right, forward backward; if one can see a spot then he or she can probably go there. Battlefields seem larger and more spread out than ever before and players can position their worms on multiple tiers of architecture, thus adding to the already deep strategic element of the series. Further, a flexible camera system enables the person attacking to view their worms from the third-person (with a manually rotatable camera); from the first-person, which is integral for precision aiming and targeting and works very well; and from a panned out blimp view, which is effective for finding all of the enemy worms on a battle field.

On the other hand, going 3D has not been without faults. In fact, though far from mechanically crippling, the disadvantages sometimes outweigh the advantages. The 3D terrain is much more difficult to gauge than the 2D one. It can be hard to accurately judge how far to shoot a missile in order to target it anywhere near an enemy, for instance. The camera can fall behind structures and impede the view, which is bothersome. Meanwhile the dynamic camera, which follows projectiles to their target, sometimes fails to zoom in close enough on the action to offer a proper view of what has just transpired. And that can be confusing. All said and done, one wonders if the series has advanced in its transition to 3D or if the 2D battlefield remains superior.

And yet, this isn't to suggest that Worms 3D isn't fun because it is -- especially as a multiplayer game. Battles against other worm teams are still saturated with strategy, filled with challenges and ultimately very entertaining. The wide selection of weapons and items at one's disposal -- everything from homing missiles, grenades, sheep, banana bombs, pigeon missiles, fire fists, shotguns and a baseball bat to finger prodding, ninja rope, jet pack and more -- is unbelievably varied and delightfully engaging. The simple process of choosing the right tool to get the job done is enjoyable and it fails in comparison to the actual act of sending an enemy worm diving into the water.

The single-player game still revolves mostly around randomly generated battlefields against computer-controlled teams. But Team 17 has also included a welcomed new challenge offering where players can participate in various objectives such as firing off a shotgun at as many targets as possible before time runs out to unlock bonuses such as medals and secrets. The challenge mode is a bit repetitive, especially since gamers have to score a gold medal to advance to the next objective, but completionists will no doubt find it a noteworthy addition all the same. Of course, it's the multiplayer mode is the real draw of the series and here up to 16 players can compete against each other across four worm teams, rotating the controller. Naturally, the multiplayer mode is far more interesting than the single-player experience because of human interaction -- name-calling, bragging, victorious shouts, crying, full-blown brawls, etc. But one omission remains puzzling and extremely disappointing: for whatever reason, players are unable to use different controllers to play the game. Instead, everybody must share a single controller and pass it around. Why?

Graphics
Worms 3D looks the part, but it is not a marvel of 3D technology. The environments and characters resemble their 2D counterparts except in full 3D. The locations range in themes from tropical to icy, from war field to picnic spots and more and most of these areas feature impressively bright, colorful textures and large geographic structures. Neither the characters nor the environments are particularly high in polygon counts, but they still get the job done with subtle extras like transparent shimmering water, advanced particle fire and smoke effects and real-time lighting.

Some of the maps, especially those set to the backdrop of rain, appear to be stale in comparison to the more cheery spots. It's mostly at these points that we can see the lack of texture clarity.

The worms feature humorous animation routines, including a wide variety of death sequences, and these too get the job done. But at the same time movements can be quick and jerky, which is disappointing. Some particle effects and wide camera shots interfere with the otherwise solid framerate.

The game does not run in progressive scan mode.

Sound
Subdued music mingles with an impressive assortment of different speech themes for the worms. There are some 38 different, wholly unique speech patterns, many of them humorous. The tried-and-true international themes -- French, German, Italian -- are still largely the most enjoyable, but some of the others, like the robotic voiceovers, are also well done. On the other hand, many of the one-liners are not funny and some of the samples lack clarity.

The game does however run in Dolby Pro Logic II through the use of the Factor 5-developed MusyX tools.

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