Worms 3D Review

By Martin Taylor Published 27 October, 2003

Pink and angry, Martin checks out Team 17's latest.

Version tested:

You owe me, Team 17. You owe me hours of lost youth, cooped up in my bedroom while my mother pleaded with me to come down and join the rest of the family in the garden for a barbeque. "Busy!" said I, hunched over my Amiga as the warm summer sun strained to make its way through the closed curtains. There were Worms to kill, you see. They all had to die, and die they did. Some nine years later and here I am, my better half nagging me from the living room. "You don't understand. There are Worms to kill, dear..."

Total Wormage

'Worms 3D' Screenshot 1

I'd wager the majority of you reading this are already quite aware of what a Worms game involves, so skip this paragraph if that includes you. The premise is deceptively simple, recalling golden oldies like Scorched Tanks and... some other things I can't remember right now. Two teams of worms are placed in random locations across a completely destructible level suspended above water. One member of a team picks a weapon from an occasionally bizarre arsenal ranging from bazookas, shotguns and Uzis to bananas, bouncing sheep and grannies. All of which explode, of course. Mass destruction ensues as each team takes its turn to knock shades out of the other, with both worms and the scenery suffering. The loser is the first to have all of his worms blown away.

The majority of the Worms charm comes from being able to crowd round one computer or console with your chums and devise the cruellest, most callous way of offing your mate's earth-dwellers. The 'playful' bickering that often ensues may result in hospital treatment, but at least you can laugh about it afterwards. It really does house one of the finest multiplayer experiences we've had to date, and one that remains largely unchanged. In fact, it's immediately clear once you've got the tutorial out of the way that the entire game is still fundamentally intact apart from the addition of a few new weapons (the gas grenades and nuclear attacks, for example), and this is probably to the relief of teary-eyed nostalgics and to the disgust of dismissive remake cynics.

Worms 3D looks great. It's not the most technically impressive title you'll ever see, certainly, but it's perfect for the franchise. The simple worm models manage to convey an impressive amount of character through facial expressions alone, with cartoon awe, delight, fear and cockiness brilliantly realised along with those trademark high-pitched vocals. Each level (both randomly generated and pre-designed) has a themed appearance, but is presented in an almost cel-shaded light, very close to the second generation Worms titles in style, and they are - for the first time - completely destructible 3D landscapes.

The Third Dimension

'Worms 3D' Screenshot 2

I'll have to admit that at first I was concerned; we needn't dwell on the incredible failure of 3D updates of classics in the past, but at least the original developers were behind this one. I negotiated through and took in the menus as fast as I could, as the licensed track "Shake Your Coconuts" from popular young person's beat combo Junior Senior playing in the background was doing its damnedest to aurally violate my eardrums.

This was when I stumbled into Videogame Creation Crime #3263: 'Having menus with pictures for buttons that require you to hover over each and every one to discover their function'. Worms 3D's front-end interface, while quite bouncy and pretty, irritates more than a game's front-end really should. More thought really should have been put into streamlining the interface since the player is forced to use it so much; all of your match and team customisation takes place through the use of big fat chunky cartoon buttons and, while less irritating on a PC with its mouse pointer, it's frustratingly cumbersome on a console.

After the surprisingly useful tutorial section, the best way to get to grips with the game is the quick start mode, which sets you up on a map with a random team of worms, default match settings (such as round time, move time and worms per team amongst other more detailed parameters) and an opposing AI team of average difficulty. This also serves as the game's perfect pick-up-and-play mode, since each quick start match will usually last between five and ten minutes, perfect for a quick rumble before work [or during, eh? -Ed].

The Lone Wormer

'Worms 3D' Screenshot 3

From quick start to campaign, then; the result of Team 17's determined quest to craft a half-decent single player Worms mode. This time, I dare say it's worked rather well. You're given objectives and sent off into the field to complete and unlock subsequent missions, which in turn unlock challenges to take part in elsewhere in the game. The missions are quite varied and occasionally memorable, such as the mock D-Day landing opener or the jet-pack task which forces you to hop from one exploding barrel to another attempting to pick up a set number of crates. Not all of the missions require the destruction of entire enemy teams, some don't even require the use of weapons, and the specially constructed maps on which they take place are brilliantly designed, full of the charm that characterises Worms. They are, for the most part, a pleasure to take part in.

The unlocked challenges that serve as rewards your efforts in the campaign are a lot less satisfying. They come in the form of basic time games, like a quick-fire deathmatch against an opposing team, firing at targets with a shotgun or collecting target emblems while negotiating levels with a jet-pack, all the while a clock ticks down, only getting small boosts each time a target is shot/collected. There are more rewards for gaining a high-scoring time, but the challenges often felt such a chore that I didn't really make much of an effort with them.

But of course there still remains the reason everyone loved Worms in the first place: multiplayer. It's as compulsive as it ever was, simple enough to drag girlfriends, boyfriends, parents and siblings into the battle, and yet deep enough to allow some truly dastardly tactics. Going head to head against a pal with customised teams (and personalised flags and voices) to pursue long-fought personal vendettas hasn't ever been quite so dramatic as it is in Worms, especially since the outcome could be swayed dramatically in one direction or the other by the random level generator. This can be sidestepped in favour of pre-designed maps if you like, along with a lot of the other features - power-ups, time limits, falling damage etc - that you can alter to fit your specific requirements. It's remarkably detailed, this art of Wormage.

You're just not the same

'Worms 3D' Screenshot 4

But still, Worms has lost something in the translation to 3D. Firstly, the weapons feel less powerful than they should be, with a tiny amount of splash damage barely injuring worms only inches away from a huge explosion. The game also seems to be missing those wonderful chain reaction effects when worms and mines would ricochet off of exploding barrels to create spectacular displays of pyrotechnics, carnage and death. Worms now either flop into the water, land nastily, or roll about a bit. Come on Team 17, we want stuff flying about all over the place! It's sadly all too rare an occurrence these days.

Much of 2D Worms' beauty lay in its simplicity, and the 3D aspect creates complications that detract from that. For example, it's far trickier to judge projectile trajectories thanks to a number of factors, like scenery blocking your view and the way first-person aiming belies the distance and height of a shot - this wouldn't be a problem in a point-and-fire first-person shooter, but it is with Worms' one-shot, arcing projectiles, properly affected by gravity and wind.

Negotiating the scenery has become more difficult, with the blowtorch and drill digging tools sadly stripped from the game, forcing players to either climb, make use of the ninja rope or more likely the jet-pack or teleporter. The ninja rope is naturally the more entertaining option, but the 3D scenery rarely offers the opportunity to make proper use of that classic entry in the Worms toolbox.

Conclusion

Despite the criticisms, Team 17 has still managed to pull off an impressive evolution of a much-loved series. The core game has remained barely unchanged, but the 3D engine introduces a lot of unexpected elements to get used to, both good and bad. The PC remains the definitive Worms platform, as its version not only looks the best but features online and LAN play. The consoles versions are slightly less great, thanks to the cramped controls, rougher visuals (especially on the Cube) and - gasp! - there's no Xbox Live support. Nevertheless, Worms 3D remains one of the most satisfying, addictive and downright enjoyable multiplayer gaming experiences I've ever encountered, online or no, and for that it scores highly.

8 / 10

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About Martin Taylor

Read more articles from Martin by visiting the Martin Taylor archive page.

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Comments (42) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • striker #1 8 years ago

    You guys do know the hour has changed, don't you?... ;)

  • Razz #2 8 years ago

    Surprising result for, what is, a dead horse.

  • FWB #3 8 years ago

    rougher visuals (especially on the Cube)

    I don't suppose you could go into more details?

  • Soul_quake #4 8 years ago

    "You guys do know the hour has changed, don't you?... ;)"

    just what i thought....

    Hmm.. might try on the GAME 10days return policy

  • CerealKey #5 8 years ago

    "Surprising result for, what is, a dead horse."

    You could say the same about Rollercoaster Tycoon 2.

    /Runs away/

  • CerealKey #6 8 years ago

    Oh and I should mention that I really enjoyed this when I had a go.

    But when I played it on the PS2, there seemed to be no option to each have individual controllers, it was more of a hot-controller dynamic. Has this been added?

  • Killerbee #7 8 years ago

    licensed track "Shake Your Coconuts" from popular young person's beat combo Junior Senior playing in the background

    Dear god, no. :(

    You should've docked a point for that kind of crime against music.

    Shame the console versions don't match up to the PC as I was thinking of this more as a console buy precisely because of the multi-player angle. And what did they do to the Cube visuals?

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #8 8 years ago

    I don't suppose you could go into more details?

    Lower res textures, basically and a generally sort of... cheaper look. It's a bit hard to describe, but it really does have a detrimental effect when lined up against the Xbox and especially the PC version.

  • ssuellid #9 8 years ago

    "Junior Senior playing in the background "

    Is there a custom soundtrack option on the XBox version?

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #10 8 years ago

    Nope.

  • Khab #11 8 years ago

    The consoles versions are slightly less great, thanks to the cramped controls

    I was under the impression that the thing had been designed with a 'pad in mind...? What are the problems?

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #12 8 years ago

    Well you're quoting me from when I hadn't played any console code. The worms move better with an analogue stick certainly, but the rest of the controls such as weapon selection and use feel more roomy and easier with a keyboard/mouse setup. You couldn't, for example, use the analogue stick to navihate menus/select weapons on the Xbox version, you had to keep switching to the d-pad. Annoying!

    Also, the analogue aiming isn't terribly precise, feeling a bit twitchy and not very analogue.

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #13 8 years ago

    They're the recommended specs.

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #14 8 years ago

    Hi Spadge. I apologise if I'm wrong about the Cube graphics, but the Xbox version definitely looked a lot better on the exact same TV, and the Cube code gave me the impression of blurrier textures.

    I thought the camera might be your reason for dropping the digging tools, and I didn't make too much of an issue out of it for that reason. Still, sad to see them go.

    I hope you felt the review was pretty fair, you've clearly all made a grand effort translating Worms into 3D. Nice work :)

  • DDevil #15 8 years ago

    SPADGE! How I enjoyed blowing up your namesake again and again in the original Worms!

  • Chris_C #16 8 years ago

    Spadge: I am just wondering if Worms 3D has some kind of weapon customisation (eg. make the rocket have far far more splash damage.) Mouse's complain about the lack of chain reactions seems quite valid, and it sounds to me to be quite easy to correct! If this issue cannot be avoided by the customisation option existing already, is it possible to be added in via a patch?

    Btw, great job Team 17...played the demo, and it's kick ass! Shall be getting the full game as soon as it comes out. It's a brave job making the translation to 3D, and I am certain you will take some flank from people who can't cope with 3D gaming. :p

  • Slim #17 8 years ago

    "This was when I stumbled into Videogame Creation Crime #3263: 'Having menus with pictures for buttons that require you to hover over each and every one to discover their function'."

    Menus with pictures? That'll be an icon then? Catch up mouse, they're quite the rage these days!

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #18 8 years ago

    Icons tend to have labels underneath that tell you what they're for without having to roll over them.

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #19 8 years ago

    It's not that the icons were confusing, it's just that their functions weren't always terribly obvious until you rolled over them to find out what they were. Admittedly there are only a handful per screen apart from the heavily populated ones you mentioned, but still - text labels would have gone a long way to getting the player to where he wants to go quickly. It probably seems a petty issue, but I had both my girlfriend and housemate after me fumbling over the interface so I knew it wasn't just me who had issues with it :)

    Thinking about the 3D maps, they do seem to rely more on the vertical landscapes/tall scenery suspended above water than the horizontal design of the 2D games and this isn't terribly condusive to stuff flying about all over the shop, but surely a large not-quite flat piece of land with a few raised/floating areas isn't too hard to put together in this engine, and might allow some more spectacular 'chain reactions', as we seem to be calling them now?

    I'm always interested to hear back from developers who have something interesting and reasoned to say about my articles, as - I'm sure - are the other guys on the team. We tend to be a bit more hands on with the post-review side of things than most sites out there, and I personally find it quite interesting when there are issues to be raised and points to be expanded upon, good or bad. Fair play to you for coming along and raising them. You lot deserve your say as much as we deserve ours :)

  • striker #20 8 years ago

    And may I add that for us readers, seeing in the comments section both reviewers and developers really makes this site stand from the crowd.

  • Soul_quake #21 8 years ago

    Like to add my agreement to that with Striker! Really makes this Site and forum stand out from the piles of dross out there!

    Spadge thanks for input! Really looking forward to slaughtering worms again!

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #22 8 years ago

    Poor Dave. I feel guilty now :/

  • Smugglarn #23 8 years ago

    Nice to see some developers take notice of us struggling commentators, and this wonderful site. :)

    Now all EG has to do is to incorporate it's graphical design to the EGShop and I'll be a happy camper/graphicswhore. :D

  • Khab #24 8 years ago

    Actually UPDATING the EGShop would be my preference. Oh, mooouuuse?

    Nice review, though - I shall be getting this eventually. I had planned on getting it for the 'Cube (for four-player goodness), but I think I shall hang back a while and wait 'til the fans' verdict is in. :) Maybe I'll go PS2... probably not PC, huddling around that monitor just isn't the same thing as lounging in the couch.

    Oh, and big fat applause to spadge and mouse for the very nice and polite clarifications!

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #25 8 years ago

    Actually UPDATING the EGShop would be my preference. Oh, mooouuuse?

    Sorry, Gameplay's end is still busted!

  • howboring #26 8 years ago

    Oh no.... cube or PS2........... which one should I buy :(

  • Smugglarn #27 8 years ago

    Tried the demo and found the floating camera a bit dodgy, but with first person- and blimpview it wasn't too bad. All in all, it seems like a decent evolution of the franchise.

  • minkyqueen #28 8 years ago

    This game is ace, I could spend many an hour blowing mouseh's wriggly bits to smitherines. On the christmas list already, I do believe!

  • Blerk #29 8 years ago

    I could spend many an hour blowing mouseh's wriggly bits to smitherines

    O_O *cough*

  • minkyqueen #30 8 years ago

    (mua)haha. Sorry :o

  • Khab #31 8 years ago

    More like blowing up in your crotch, I'd say.

  • minkyqueen #32 8 years ago

    Oh the subtlety!

  • #33 8 years ago

    Haha. Nice one minkster.

  • Zee-Zed-Zipster #34 8 years ago

    any chance of the 2D version on the GBA? Or is it already in the pipeline / out in Japan ;) ?

  • RiZlA #35 8 years ago

    Got the XBox version yesterday. Has a slightly different feel to the 2D game, but still great fun to play.

    One minor niggle tho - where is the invert aim option? It's mentioned in the manual, but isn't anywhere to be found in the game...

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #36 8 years ago

    Told you! ;)
    Edited by 1 at 31/10/03 @ 13:09

  • RiZlA #37 8 years ago

    Would be great if you could Spadge.

    It's not a major probelm, but does cost me a few seconds each round as my brain struggles to remember that up is actually up and vice versa.

    Damn all those FPS's warping my fragile little mind ;-)

  • Blerk #38 8 years ago

    I also hope one day we may see you return to your roots with the up coming release of the AmigaOne/OS4

    I also hope that we will see those flying pigs that everyone keeps going on about. And Satan - I'm sure I saw him with some ice skates yesterday?

  • RiZlA #39 8 years ago


    No sound problems on my XBox version as yet, though I've only played it for a couple of hours (damn this work lark!).

    Agree with you on the turn time thing, 90 seconds just isn't enough time to expose an inebriated worm novice to the finer points of the game.

    Actually, that is one worry I have with this new 3D version - in an effort to make the game supposedly more 'mainstream' (i.e. not 2D), I feel the initial difficulty curve has increased dramatically, which may ironically do more to harm the franchise in the long run :-(

    Shame, cos it's really well put together and deserves to do well this Xmas amongst a slew of 'style over substance' me-too games.

  • LFace #40 8 years ago

    Ive been playing the PC version now and done all the training and unlocked a few challenge modes and stuff and it is a fun game but it isnt polished and feels rushed in some areas.

    Problems ive encountered are..

    * Mouse sensitivity really needs an option. In FPS view its perfect, but in 3PS its waaaaay too sensitive and the slightest nudge on the mouse sends the camera over 90 degrees. Blimp view its waaaaay too insensitive and you find yourself moving the mouse and picking it up back at the beginning and moving again just to move it about 3 inches on screen.

    * Command line options to do the simplest of things like inverting mouse in certain views? Smells like Cheap console port there.

    * Buggy engine. When i tried the leaked demo weeks ago i managed to get a worm stuck in a skidding animation between scenery and it stayed that way with the game not responding properly as it was waiting for the sliding to stop. It never did. I thought this could be cleared up in the final version but alas its still there as well as the ability to get stuck in scenery during your turn and you cant get back out so you have to blow yourself up just to move.

    * Camera is dire. Really dire. Using mouse to move the camera when walking can cause you to commit suicide when carefully manouvering around objects next to water. You wal kforward with camera behind you and suddenly the camera "hits" an object you cant see and spins it round so you walk forward in the direction its facing which just might be water and you dont have time to react so plop in you go for a swim. Camera should be locked IMO and if it encounters an object, the object should go transparent and "fly" through it.

    * You use WASD for moving your worm yet when you fire the ninja rope you have to switch and use cursor keys to move it - why not stick with WASD.

    * Whats the use in jumping up straight. Last couple of Worms games you were able to fire ninja rope whilst jumping so the jumping straight up let you fire above you to reach something you couldnt when stood on the ground so why remove that feature.

    The game is fun but these problems seriously harm it for me. I always knew Worms in 3D would lose a lot of gameplay and be nowhere near as good as the 2D incarnations and these problems enforce that.

    Nice try Spadge/Team 17 but this is just a sloppy 3D version that shouldnt have been released/created until the engine and gameplay were up to scratch of previous worms. As it stands its just an ok game that tarnishes the Worms brand which is a shame as ive loved every previous Worms game (even WWP which stank as a cash in cos there is barely any difference from W:A but i still bought it to play on WinXP)

    Hopefully the previously mentioned problems can be fixed with a patch but with the past record of patches for Worms games (how long have people waited for a Win2k/XP fix for W:A - dont even know if its out yet as i havent checked) i wont hold my breath.

    Edit: Found another bug. Did a campaign succesfully and on the menu when it showed what the next one is i clicked the Return icon to go back to single player menu.. it said mission succesfull and unlocked the next campaign. Everytime i clicked the icon it unlocked the next campaign so i now have access to every campaign level without even playing them. Brilliant playtesting *claps*
    Edited by 1 at 01/11/03 @ 20:03

  • suj #41 8 years ago

    lol, the Worms Armageddon Win2k/XP patch has been out for ages.

  • LFace #42 8 years ago

    Out now then is it lol. It did take a damn long time though and the old worms forums were full of people wanting the Win2k patch which never arrived. For lots of people, WWP was a slap in the face because it was barely different enough to W:A yet it worked on Win2k so they felt (me included) that WWP was a cash in on the fact people couldnt play W:A on Win2k and XP.

  • WarpSpeed #43 8 years ago

    I also have Xbox version. The game is not perfect, but I'm appreciated for what Team17 has done to the series and to Worms 3D itself. I do have a list of comments posted on other webboard (gamefaqs.com), but it's very long one. To keep it short, Worms 3D deserved at least 8/10 for the first impression.

    I still have 3 other worms games on my PC (W2,WA and WWP -- only WWP works though). I started WWP, played it for a while and I have decided that there will be no going back. Worms 3D is now my favorite :-)

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