I've been a die-hard fan of Worms since the beginning. Through its many sequels, ports, and spin-offs, I've followed the series with great interest. Worms World Party pretty much perfected the gameplay on the PC and it has finally been ported to our beloved Pocket PCs. Unfortunately, time is catching up with it quickly and much of the game was left on the cutting room floor.
The gameplay in this Hexacto's version is more or less exactly as it was on the desktop. Your team of worms battles the enemy's team of worms. Using everything from exploding sheep to Street Fighter style kung fu, you must not only survive but also destroy. This, as always, is where Worms really shines. The weapons and gameplay is fun and quirky, yet solid and balanced. This isn't a gore fest, but instead cartoon fun that can have you laughing the whole time through.
Innovations like the Ninja Rope and Jet Pack really help the game reach new levels of strategy and fun, and thankfully have been brought over to the Pocket PC. The worms are quite maneuverable; this combined with the strategic weaponry means you're rarely limited to a game of taking potshots at each other. Another big plus of the Worms' gameplay is off screen and water deaths. While it may seem simple, sending an entire group of worms to a watery demise is both vastly satisfying and highly amusing.
Sadly, the single player missions were completely cut from the game. What's left is the quick match mode, which gives a quick battle against the computer at the push of a button, and the Deathmatch mode. In Deathmatch mode, as you win battles your team gains in experience and the battles get tougher. In the start you'll vastly outnumber your opponents and soon enough the tables will be turned. It provides a sense of progress and challenge, but without the missions the game does feel rather limited. Multiplayer mode is included, but is limited to a “hot-seat" style of play. In other words, swapping the device back and forth.
The intelligence of the worms is quite impressive. They take their turns rather quickly and make decent decisions. The Worms AI has been tweaked for so long now that it really shows. Gone are the days when they would make near impossible shots repeatedly or take forever to calculate their turns. The enemies move quickly, fight accurately, and most importantly make mistakes. Even though the CPU handles the large array of weapons well, half of the fun playing this game comes from making mistakes and watching the mayhem.
The controls may turn off some gamers, but they stay true to the desktop tradition of key based movement. All movement, aiming, and firing are done via the hardware d-pad and keys, while the stylus is used only to move the camera and select your weapon. I only wish they would have done a little more with the stylus. Keeping it in hand simply to drag the camera or select a weapon seems like a waste of effort. Dragging the camera long distances is quite unfriendly with the lack of a mini map, but thankfully you won't need to do so all too often. The game does a pretty good job of camera control by itself.
Graphics are sadly mixed in this port. While the terrain and worms look incredible even in 320x240 resolution, the backgrounds are simply black voids. Worms has never been known for its detailed backdrops, but nonetheless it really makes you feel the age of the game compared to newer titles like Snails. The bubble like effect of explosions with the large comical “Biff!" that follows is still as good looking as ever, and the flames render quite nicely as well. The bad news is I repeatedly experienced a good deal of stuttering in the frame rate whenever the action got too heavy, and especially when flames were involved. Thankfully it's only momentary, and doesn't hurt the experience too much.
Sounds are every bit as mixed as the graphics. The sound effects are perfect; the explosions, gunfire, and everything are spot on from the desktop version. Most, if not all, of the default Worms voice bank has been ported as well, so you'll be able to enjoy all the amusing remarks that has become a staple of the series. The problem is that there's simply no in game music what so ever. This leaves things awful quiet, and would have really complimented the sound effects well. Players used to listening to Snails wonderful soundtrack will find this may leave them cold.
Worms World Party has both a lot of things going for it, and a lot of things against it. On the plus side, it has the nearly perfected gameplay of Worms, wonderful visuals, and perfect sounds. Yet, at the same time it's missing many of WWP best gameplay features such as the missions and the ability to make your own teams. The wonderful foreground graphics and impressive infinite terrain generation is slightly scarred by the black void of the backgrounds, and the sound effects are hurt in much the same way by the lack of music.
The port seems rather unfriendly to Pocket PCs and their gamers, using very little of the power of stylus control. There's not even a simple quit and save feature to return to a match mid way through… short of turning off the power and resuming later it's all or nothing. I've personally had it crash my device with an “Illegal operation" error no fewer than three times in the middle of a round, and I desperately hope this will be patched and fixed in the future. Despite its inperfection, WWP is still a great game and a blast to play. I know it'll have me playing it for many deathmatches to come.
Playing Hints and Tips
For more playing tips and hints than I could possibly list here, carefully read through the Wormopaedia included in game from the main menu. This well written document details the usage, controls, and strategies behind each of the game's weapons. Everything from damage amounts to insane strategies can be learned, so be sure and study it with care.
Never underestimate the power of water or off screen deaths. Worms isn't just about pecking away until the life counter runs out; it's about strategy and tactics. Make good use of weapons like Fire Punch, Dragon Ball, and the Baseball Bat. A well-placed punch can be more devastating than a bazooka blast, if you know how to use it.
Master the ninja rope. It has become a fan favorite and opens entire new realms of strategy and tactical possibilities. Besides that, it's just a heck of a lot of fun…
PdaLoyal
