The Worms franchise has been around for quite a while now and has churned out as many quality titles as better-known franchises. The series has spanned countless systems and even more unique titles; some dabbled into the realm of 3D, while most stuck with the traditional and highly successful turn-based gameplay mechanic. Now the Wii gets it’s first taste of the Worms series, and while there is tons of potential here, I’m sorry to say that Worms: A Space Oddity just doesn’t live up to its extensive pedigree.
For those of you who have (unfortunately) missed out on the Worms series up until now, it’s actually a fairly simple game. In fact, you may have even played similar games online that have essentially simplified the Worms mechanic: you take to a map with at least two opposing teams and attempt to blast the other team to smithereens using a variety of weapons and abilities. The maps in A Space Oddity are all two-dimensional, and you take turns with the other teams moving your worms and having them perform specific actions in an effort to annihilate everyone else on the map.
Team 17, the title’s developer, has included something of a story mode in A Space Oddity. However, it’s unimpressive and really just serves as a motivation to engage in the mildly fun campaign mode. The campaign mode consists of 36 levels including a scattering of Wii-specific mini-games and a decent amount of the old-school Worms fun that many of us have come to know and love. The only reason I really bring up the campaign, aside from the gameplay that it offers, is because it really shows off some nice cutscenes. These are brief and there aren’t very many, but they look nice.
On the topic of visuals, it’s worth mentioning that Worms: A Space Oddity looks pretty good on the Wii. This title employs the typical cartoony graphics that fans of the series have come to expect, and while they’re not going to please those who are looking for a photorealistic title (of course if you were searching for a game like that, you likely wouldn’t be interested in a game about cartoon worms blowing each other up), they do look great on the Wii. Environments are dripping with color, vibrancy, and life. The game’s frequent explosions are pretty awesome-looking, and the game runs along at a steady clip even with the massive effects occurring on the screen.
The game’s subtitle actually gives quite an insight to one of the biggest twists to this Worms game: all of this is taking place in space. So as you’d expect, the fact that you’re fighting on various planets in a fictional galaxy is going to affect the way that you play. Specifically, each planet has a different gravity that will screw with the actions you perform. For example, the gravity may pull a missile the wrong way or the occasional winds will blow you around as you jetpack from one location to another. It’s an interesting twist, and while it’s nothing groundbreaking, it’s an addition that definitely adds to the strategy aspect of this game.
At its core Worms is really a game about causing lots of destruction to your environment and your foes, and in that respect the Wii seems custom-made for this franchise. Every weapon is controlled directly with the Wii Remote, and it feels like the game was built from the ground up to fit this functionality. It works really well, and controlling your worms with the Remote is not only intuitive and fun, it also genuinely improves the play experience. Jetpacking over gaps or unleashing a self-guided missile involves guiding the item with the Wii remote; this heightened sense of control is complemented nicely by the sense of unpredictability given by the gravity system. Detonating explosives, using assist items, and even controlling deadly robos are all taken care of with well-designed use of the Wii Remote.
Yes, Worms: A Space Oddity is a lot of fun to play at first. The problem is that it’s an experience that is disappointingly shallow and just doesn’t last as long as it should. To begin with, the title features fewer weapons and items than past games. They’re all fun to use and controlling them with the Wii Remote is a blast, but the fact that you’ll probably use — and use well — all the items that the game has to offer fairly early on in your experience is not a good thing. 36 levels may seem like a lot, but because there’s a 60 second time limit on each turn and games don’t last an incredibly long time, those 36 levels will breeze by. To add insult to injury, some of these levels are even taken up by one of a few poorly-done mini-game involving your worms. There are also some bonus features such as unlockable content and a map editor, but these just aren’t as engaging as they should be.
But there’s always the multiplayer, right? Well, not exactly. While the game does feature a fully fleshed-out local multiplayer mode, online multiplayer is conspicuously missing from this package. When we first got word of this game, there was the promise of online matches, downloadable content, map-swapping, and the like. But for whatever reason, the developers have decided to omit that online component, and as a result A Space Oddity just isn’t all that great. Four player local matches are fun and hectic, but I’ll be honest: most of the people I play with would much rather engage in a bout of Brawl than play Worms. The lack of a multiplayer mode really hurts the game and it’s a real pity that the development team couldn’t have delayed this game a bit longer to include a feature that may have potentially made this game a must-have.
Unless you’re a long-time Worms fan and really love the franchise, you should probably take a pass on A Space Oddity. The game gets the controls right, and it’s to be commended for that; too many times a game is ruined by tacked-on Wii controls, but such is not the case with A Space Oddity. What it has in control, however, it lacks in depth and replayability. Worms: A Space Oddity is worth a weekend rent as there is some fun to be had here, but you’re better off sticking with the far-superior second DS iteration of the franchise for some long-lasting Worms fun.
RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.8 Graphics
Cartoon-like visuals and some nice cutscenes take decent advantage of the Wii’s graphical capabilities. 4.5 Control
The best part of the game! The Wii Remote controls are integrated seamlessly with the hectic Worms action we’ve come to know and love. 3.4 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Decent sound effects, but nothing much more than that. The game’s music is forgettable and doesn’t serve to improve the game experience. 2.4
Play Value
Here’s where the game really suffers: The story mode will be over soon and the lack of online multiplayer prevents you from having fun with this game for any significant length of time
3.4 Overall Rating – Fair
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.
Game Features: