If you’ve been playing games for a month, or several decades, you will most likely have heard of – and probably played some version of – Worms. Beginning in the early 90’s with an homebrew title created by Andy Davidson in his spare time, the series would go on to not only dominate multiplayer gaming sessions following the launch, but for decades after. It’ll make you laugh, cry, rage, and want to do it all over again, and – Worms 3D aside – has barely put a foot (well, tail) wrong in all these years.
What makes it so compelling is the sheer simplicity of the concept; several teams load into a randomly generated level and fight in turns to be the last one standing. Where the joy comes in is in the mixture of randomness and super tight strategy, where we’re as likely to win by a fluke bazooka shot as we are a carefully crafted set of chess-like moves. Worms is, quite simply, the ultimate party game.
So, with last years re-release of the incredibly popular Worms Armageddon, Digital Eclipse yet again did their thing in bringing back and celebrating a great game complete with the back story straight from the annelids mouth. Seriously, for those of us that have been there since the beginning, the look back over the years is super interesting stuff. DE have gone all in, from scans of instruction manuals to internal documents, photos, and a series of video interviews with people both on the inside and fans (such as Geralt voice actor Doug Cockle). I really enjoyed reading through and watching all of this content, and it helped give a big more context to what was just a game my brothers and friends would just pop on and get angry at each other over.
Part of the reason we’re only now getting to Worms Armageddon Anniversary Edition now is the ‘Backworms Compatible Update’. This only improves the core content offering as, via a free update, we now have access to Worms on both the SNES, Mega Drive, Game Boy Advance, and Gameboy Color. Each version looks and feels unique, and though they might not be as all singing and dancing as Armageddon, it’s still a fantastic addition to the game and even more reason to pick it up if you haven’t before now. We also get a cheat code in the main menu to unlock all content, labelled as the ‘Boggy B’ mode which is another awesome addition.
Honestly though, even without all of this extra goodness, Worms Armageddon Anniversary Edition remains incredible value. Documentary aside, simply getting access to one of the greatest multiplayer games ever is worth the entry fee. Armageddon was pitched as the ultimate Worms game, and rightly so. Everything from weapon choice to game modes, online play and customisation is present and correct, and it really has the potential to be a forever game. I know I’ll still be booting it up long into my late life for a few rounds with friends, even if they will likely beat me…
Conclusion
Worms Armageddon Anniversary Edition was already packed with enough game to last forever, but the recent update adding even more wormage to the deal is too hard a deal to pass up. An excellent game packaged in a loving way by Digital Eclipse as only they can.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
