Worms Review [iPhone]
Anthony Barlow on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 5:31AM 
Team 17's premiere video game series Worms has finally hit the iPhone. The long running series has appeared on almost every platform imaginable, so it was only a matter of time before iPhone users got the chance to blow up some cartoon invertebrate. For those who don't know, Worms is a strategy game in which players control a "crack team" of worms fighting other teams with an array of over the top weapons. That said, I think Worms has been around long enough for most gamers to know what it is and with good reason, it's great. The gameplay formula is as good today as it was when it was first released back in 1995. Since then it has spawned a large number of iterations, the latest of which is on the iPhone.
Worms simple gameplay seems like it would make an almost perfect transition to Apple's device, this isn't the case. The iPhone's touch screen wasn't exactly built for pin point precision which makes tasks such as trowing the ninja rope or flying the jet pack pretty useless as you rarely get to where you need to go. The less said about the jumping controls the better really. I'm surprised my phone hasn't been smashed to pieces considering the amount of times I accidentally jumped into the water or onto a mine when I wanted to backflip. Now I realise some are going to call me out and say things like "you just aren't good at the game" but, believe me, I've played this game a ton and although I have acquired a bit of a nack for some things they're still not as they should be. The mechanics of a game like Worms should be simple, anybody should be able to pick it up and play it. It shouldn't require days of practice to get the simplest of moves to work right. The PC version of Worms is the best version (yes, my PC can run Worms without a hiccup!) and diving over obstacles, navigating the whole map to deliver the killer blow to your opponent is lost in the iPhone version and it's that type of thing that people love Worms for. I'm afraid that that those genius moments are absent from this version. A real shame in my opinion.
That said, I still think that if someone hasn't played the game before they'll be able to forgive the, rather annoying, control system because they'll be having too much fun with the rest of the game. Having played the game before i've seen what Worms has to offer. I think new players would definitely have some fun with this because it's so different to pretty much everything on the market.
Alongside the control issues there are two more things that have marred my experience with this latest iteration of Worms. The lack of online multiplayer is probably the biggest problem I have. A number of iPhone titles currently support online play and Worms seems like one of the best games to put this functionality in. Sadly it has been omitted and is something that has forced me to drag the score down. Local multiplayer has been included but that means passing the phone around and it just doesn't work. 'Pass the controller' gameplay might work, but 'pass the phone', I think not. I'm not saying that it doesn't work, it works quite well in fact, but the satisfaction of seeing your opponent blown to smithereens is lost. Online multiplayer is a series staple for Worms and it's a big loss for something that could've been a fantastic iPhone game.
The lack of 'real' multiplayer also helps emphasise how bad the AI is. The has three difficulty levels, all of which seem quite uneven. Playing on easy would probably be best for newcomers as there's nothing to it. You'll be kicking worm arse (do worms even have arses?) with no trouble at all. Picking the 'medium' difficulty has enemies becoming frustratingly good but also making really stupid mistakes. Something that became increasingly frustrating for me as one minute I'd be cruising and capitalising on the AI's mistakes when something would click and they'd become super worms and beat me to death. This type of gameplay switch doesn't help the experience whatsoever and I certainly got some odd looks on the bus whilst shouting at my phone. Then there's hard. Unless your a sadist, I'd steer well clear from this. The computer can pull of some stupidly amazing chain reactions and, pretty much, do everything to perfection. Despite the gameplay problems, Worms looks great on the iPhone. Anyone who's played Worms before will recognise it easily. The soundtrack is also as good as ever. You can replace it for the music stored on your phone, but it just isn't the same. It also drowns out the sound of your Worms, something I didn't want to do because the voices are still hilarious. Team17 have done a fairly good job with this. Alongside the main game they've included 50 single player challenges for players to battle through. Something which I particularly liked as, not only does it serve as somewhat of a campaign mode, it also works as a tutorial. You might find you need that more than you think.
Overall, I liked the game. It does have some pretty major issues but it's Worms on your phone and I think newcomers are going to love it. Die hard Worms fans will probably get a kick out of it too, just don't go in expecting something fantastic. Hopefully Team17 will fix some of the problems and Worms will be another great addition to the iPhone library. It's just a shame they couldn't get it right first time around.
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