Worms Rumble – Review
Follow Genre: PvP Multiplayer arena combat
Developer: Team17 Digital Ltd
Publisher: Team17 Digital Ltd
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5
Tested on: PS4

Worms Rumble – Review

Site Score
8.8
Good: Fast, fun, and endlessly replayable
Bad: Feels smaller than other worms games
User Score
9.0
(1 votes)
Click to vote
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Worms Rumble, released December 1st, is the latest in the Worms series from Independent games developer and publisher Team17 Digital Ltd. Having ported to multiple systems in 1995, the series has been going strong for 25 years, while trying to adapt the standard formula of worms warfare by tapping into the mechanics of different genres, creating several spin-off titles. This latest game takes on the current trend of Battle Royale fast-paced action. Does the game soar through the sky like a super sheep, or go down like a concrete donkey?

Story

Not following a story in a traditional sense, the game operates on a very straightforward basis. Go through the training room, personalize your worm, choose your playstyle and let the chaos commence. Though this isn’t strictly an issue in any way, as it is very much the same with many Battle Royale games on the market; the primary focus is to get into the game and play as much and as often as possible. There isn’t much time for a story when you have to rocket across a map to deliver divine justice via a well-thrown grenade.

Graphics

Keeping more true to its origins than some of the more recent releases in the Worms series, the style has dropped 3D for the popular depth enhancing 2.5D effects. The overlapping layers of explosive effects are colorful and fill the screen, the bullet trails guide you to your enemies (if you survive) and the high contrast colors give a strong technicolor vibe that makes a nice-looking whole. Every movement, attack, backgrounds and arenas are bold, grabbing the players’ attention and keeping them invested for just one more round.

Sound

The sound is a well-designed aspect throughout the whole gaming experience. Whether old school voice-overs for the worms, or new explosions and bullet effects, the sounds are crisp, clean and perfectly timed. The nostalgia is strong for long time fans, and the entertainment value is high for players old and new alike. Additionally, the music selection for the rounds and loading screens has a very old school vibe, with tunes that take us back to afternoons and weekends playing Downhill Domination and SSX on tour.

Gameplay

The aim of Worms Rumble is to create a true successor to the strategic artillery genre that earlier games have represented, tailored to modern day Battle Royale popularity, creating the first-ever real time action Worms game. Whilst it does come across at first glance like a highly polished classic, the experience is actually very far from that. The games run (VERY) fast. The player gets two gun slots to swap out with pickups, a grenade slot and a mobility item, along with pickups for health and shielding. In the first match we played, it was a little overwhelming, but it was only a few minutes in before the rhythm of the chaos drew us in and we were flying around with reckless abandon, dropping bombs, spraying bullets, grabbing health and wiping out multiple opponents. It’s one of those cases where the more you play the better you get, the more you use a weapon, the more experience it gains. A formula that is simple, tried and true.

The overall impression is an intense adrenaline rush, but one we immediately had to dive in to repeat. Gone is the tactical planning, the desperate attempts to reach loot without falling, to drop dynamite and get away in time, and the clenching fearful moments of sudden death. Coming from long time fans of the Worms series ever since Armageddon, this new rendition is great! The change of pace is fun, refreshing and amusing, while keeping a lot of the themes and media that make it recognizable as a Worms game. The controls are simple, responsive and functional, making it hard to tell who is playing with the mouse or controller even in cross-play. The only real complaints we can consider are likely from long time players missing out on an extended inventory, even though there are a few new comical weapons. Others mught also miss having the patience and skill of judging the bazooka missile with wind and trajectory playing a part.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, this is a great take on the Worms franchise at a low price (and currently out as Decembers free PS Plus game) and we can’t recommend it enough for your library. It’ll either help pass a weekend, entertained by the new indie arena feel of a long time industry figure, or hours over months as you dive in to kill a little time. So, while the games go quickly, and the inventory has been a little thinned out, this is a Worms game that has reminded us of a long-running series that we still love. At the end of the day they deliver on what all we really want to hear; that heavenly chorus shortly followed by a screen shaking explosion.

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 0 (from 2 votes)
Worms Rumble - Review, 9.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating
Jayderlee


My Avatar is more accurate than I like to admit...

No Comments

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.