Worms on the DS - a classic worm warfare game! (Worms (DS))

Member Name: julwhite

Product:	Worms (DS)
Date:	02/05/09 (27 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to pick up and play

Disadvantages: Some programming glitches

Worms - Open Warfare is a game for the Nintendo DS. The premise is similar to its predecessors on other consoles, where you control a team of worms which have a series of weapons and must blow your opponent's worms of the 2D landscape.

The graphics are very good, inevitably concessions have had to be made from previous console versions given the size of the screen, but I found everything to be very workable. You use the stylus to pick which weapon you want to use, and I found it all very intuitive. It does take time to become really accurate when firing the weapons, but I did soon pick this up.

I was also quite pleased that this version of the game was in 2D, as it's an easier format to play in my mind for this game. Although likely this was a necessity because of the Nintendo DS's limitation, it was a positive for me to play the game in a similar way to the ones I played over ten years ago!

There did seem to be quite a few glitches in the programming however, with the computer opponent making really erratic decisions. There seemed to be a few graphic glitches which I couldn't understand, and the game did give the impression of possibly being released before all of the bugs were removed. this didn't majorly affect the game play, but it would have been a slightly better and more polished game if these problems had been fixed.

The problem when games are taken from other consoles, such as the Amiga, PC and Playstation versions is that fans of the game expect certain things to stay the same. This game does have quite a lot taken out, so there are less weapons to choose from (although the sheep weapon is still there!), less control over the characters and this, to me at least, does all give a rather negative impression of the game to those who have played it before.

There are a number of different modes that you can play the game in. You can play a random game against random opponents if you just want some quick game play, or create your own custom game, although some of the variables such as time aren't very customisable. There is also the challenge mode where you play against more and more difficult opponents. This option is the likely the one you'd pick when you start playing the game, and as your interest wanes, you're likely to return to just playing some one off games.

As with the originals, I think this game is best played between two people, and the DS version is no different. The amount of time you might want to play against the computer may be limited, but two player mode does extend the interest in the game quite a lot, and indeed, it's a good game to get back out after a while to play in two player mode.

The game is currently available on Amazon for 13.89 pounds (which is actually more than the second game in the series) against a recommended retail price of 18 pounds. Cheaper second-hand copies can at the moment be found much cheaper on eBay. The game is 7+ so is suitable for most children.

Overall, the game is playable for a while and is quite fun, but there are some quirks in the game play seemingly caused by poor planning, which do limit the game's fun. In two player mode it's a lot better, so if you can pick this game up at a reasonable price it is unlikely to disappoint.

Summary: Very reasonable, but can tire quite quickly in one-player mode