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Worms: Open Warfare 2 Review
Written by Robert Falcon on Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Crazy weapons; nice presentation; fun multiplayer options; excellent gameplay; customizable options galore.
Occasional graphic glitches; slight pacing issues.
When the Worms struck on the PSP in last year's Open Warfare, they struck with a mighty blow. Although the game wasn't everything it could've been, it did end up being a pretty good strategy action game -- just what the PSP needed at the time. Now those worried that Worms: Open Warfare 2 wouldn't be expanding on the theme should understand the logic of a sequel -- it was released with the thought in mind of improving on a formula by adding stuff in a variety of categories. But no one probably ever expected Open Warfare 2 to be THIS good. It's a phenomenal sequel and could be one of the best handheld games of 2007.
The gameplay remains the same as previous entries. Worm teams have to take to a variety of battlefields to engage war with the enemy, using all kinds of weapons to blast them into oblivion. These weapons include normal hardware such as uzis, shotguns and grenades, along with not-so-typical weapons like cluster bombs and up-close attacks that originated in Street Fighter. But it's the true silly nature of Worms that really shine through here, like with an exploding sheep, an out-of-control boomerang, or a stampeding buffalo that rampages everything in his path (called the Buffalo of Lies here). This diversity in weaponry continues to make Worms a fun effort after all these years...but there's more than fun gameplay here.
The presentation looks pretty good, for the most part. Some occasional graphic glitches do occur that make the game a little overwhelming at times, but overall the worms and the backdrops look equally convincing, amongst Team 17's finer work with the franchise. The 3-D effects look outstanding (especially on the big screen via slim PSP). The worms' voices are extraordinary and really go off the charts in terms of dialect, something that users have the option of modifying with their individual teams. The music's pretty good, too. Not amazing, by any means, but not bad either.
Players have several options on hand when it comes to playing the game. They can create their own team, flag and tombstones, using a cavalcade of options on hand. They can also purchase new items in the gift shop if they feel like doing further modifications, with hundreds of different items to choose from. This adds wonderfully to the overall replay value, as do the various modes in the game. Tutorial Mode walks newcomers through the basics, and then it's on to the likes of the Campaign Mode and Puzzle Mode. Both of these really expand the theme of Worms, outside of the Quick Play option, as players will have to use their skills and noggins to survive. Oh, and that awesome ninja rope never hurts either. Team 17 put that in the game for a reason. Trust us, USE IT.
The game would be nothing, though, without competition. Along with being able to utilize the system for strong pass-around play, you can also hook up in Ad-Hoc for some serious local battles. Sadly, Game Sharing doesn't work as well here as it does on the Nintendo DS, but there's still lots of fighting fun to be had with fellow disc owners. Infrastructure options are available as well, allowing players to hook up in battle with ease and rank themselves on leaderboards, updated daily. It would've been great to have downloadable content, but that would've been a lot easier than earning those hidden goodies in the shop, right? Of course.
With online options, fun gameplay, hilarious presentation and a can-of-worms full of extras, Open Warfare 2 shouldn't be missed by anyone. It's overflowing with silly goodness and strategic action and even those who have never touched a Worms game in their life should feel compelled to give it a couple of tries. Who knows? Maybe this wormy action might be just the thing to loosen you up. Who can resist the pirate worm?!
