Worms - Xbox Live Arcade review

Saying Worms is a turn-based strategy game isn’t doing it justice. That description just sounds so complicated and stuffy. It’s accurate; but Worms is so much more than that. This brilliant 2D wargame of invertebrate annihilation is the perfect multiplayer title for fans of almost any genre.

Learning to play Worms is as simple as choosing a weapon and a target and pressing the fire button - but there's a lot of variety in that process. Your team of four annelid soldiers faces off against up to three other teams of four in randomly generated levels. It’s up to you to figure out how to use your single-minute turn to inflict as much damage to your opposition as possible. Do you swing across the level on a rope and drop a grenade on them? Do you fire your bazooka into a high wind and hope it’s not strong enough to send the rocket back at you? Or do you just slink up to your enemy and lay a flaming punch on him? There are so many different options, and it’s just so easy to play, yet so deep and fun, there’s no reason for 360 owners not to buy it at this price.

Well, OK, there’s one reason. Worms is definitely meant to be a multiplayer game. Sure, there are a few single-player challenges to be found here, but if you don’t plan to play over Live or with a few friends in your own living room, you’re better off just skipping over this title.

Otherwise, it’s all good. Worms is devious in its simplicity. Just about anyone can pick up and play the game, but will quickly find that learning every detail of every weapon and how the wind speed and direction will affect some of them is the difference between a rookie and a great player. Expect to be totally schooled in online matches over and over again when you first pick this up. But stick to it and you’ll be pulling off spectacular, hilarious kills in no time. Just remember not to trigger the sheep anywhere near your soldiers (you'll see).