Worms Revolution (XBLA): "Wacky Worm Hijinks Displayed in Brilliant 2.5D!!!"

Your favorite bunch of segmented cephalopods return in all their humorous glory as a fellow British nature enthusiast guides them to their ultimate doom, or perhaps their glorious destiny. Equipped with a wide array  of one liners, and wacky weaponry these creepy crawlies and their negative narrator are prepared for a battle of the fittest. There is no doubt there will be plenty of cartoon-like casualties as the worms blast, beat, and dragon ball their way to victory. This time around the usual crew of worms are joined by some new teammates further swaying the possible outcome of the fray at hand. Through hard training, and mayhem induced puzzle solving the new recruits will be able to dish out proper demise, or at least die trying.

Worms Revolution takes what was great about the first games in the series, and amplifies it with fresh new 2.5D graphics, a few new worm types, and several different modes of gameplay. At the heart of this wacky turn based skirmish is a narrator who could be best described as a British nature film photographer with an odd interest in the bizarre aspects of nature. Throughout the game's various modes (Campaign, Puzzle, Versus, Xbox Live) this negative narrator will guide you with his off-the-wall banter about non-worm related subjects, and in-your-face combat strategies. With his somewhat helpful guidance you, the worm cadet will be better prepared for the many tasks at hand.

If you choose to start things off properly as I did you will head directly to the "Campaign" in order to familiarize yourself with the gameplay mechanics. With that being said though any veteran Worms players will be very familiar with the setup at hand, and can go directly to the online options if that's your cup of tea. If you go for the campaign as I did though you will be guided by the narrator's heavy accented dialogue as he informs you on the best ways to take out your wormy opponents via guided deathmatches. There are a total of four different levels (Sewer, Beach ...) within the "Campaign" that each contain 8 deathmatches. In the end you will have to conquer 32 stages of campaign carnage. Each given deathmatch in campaign varies, and will often times include different level designs as well as different number of worm enemies. Deathmatches in the campaign are timed (30 mins.), and give the player ample time with which to dispatch their adversaries. Completing each deathmatch in a set time will reward you with a Bronze, Silver, or Gold medal accordingly. You'll also earn a certain amount of tokens (40, 80) with each victory that in turn can be spent on more worms for your team.

As with any Worms game you are given a certain number of worm soldiers (4) that each have a limited amount of life. Your worms' life is displayed underneath their given name in the form of highlighted numbers (75-100). Once the numbers are depleted to zero via the various attack methods (Holy Hand Grenade, Bazooka, Cluster Bomb, Super Sheep ...) in the game the defeated worm will blast themselves into oblivion with a detenator leaving only a gravestone behind. Alongside these life, and death dealings is a set of customization options that allow you (The Player) to make your team your own. You will be able to change various features of your worms including accessories (glasses, hats, facial hair ...), trinkets (cane, teddy bear, umbrella, tennis racket ...), names, worm types (scout, heavy, scientist, soldier), voice options/sound bank (soccer mom, Australian, Angry Scot ...), gravestones, forts, and victory dances. Worm types, and extra customization items can be unlocked by purchasing new worms with the earned tokens you get for completing deathmatches, and solving puzzles within the singleplayer/multiplayer portions of the game.

As I briefly mentioned in the initial paragraph of this review, there are three new worm types with which you can destroy your opponents. The "Scientist" is what I would call the healer of the group. If you purchase one of these worms, and add it to your team you will gain +5 hit points each time it takes a turn. This offers a small chance of possible longevity to the game. The longer the scientist stays alive the longer your surviving team members will last. I should also note that this brainiac of a worm deals with the more tachnical weaponry available in the game (turrets, magnets ...). When it comes to brute strength, and overall defense the "Heavy" worm takes the cake though. This over-sized worm can clear terrain more easily as well as withstand, and dish out attacks better than the other worm types. The only downside to having this worm on your team is that it's movement is slow, and using modes of transportation like the jetpack will not go over so smoothly. The final addition to the new worm army is the "Scout". This tiny terror is probably the weakest of the bunch, but what it loses in size it gains in possible terrain coverage. Basically this worm type will grant you speed, agility, and the ability to make your way through otherwise unreachable crevices withinin the terrain. Choosing the types of worms, and how many of each you have on your four worm team will ultimately affect your play style, and the outcome of your battles. In my experience it's usually best to go with two soldiers (standard worms), and two of the new worm types.

The puzzle mode in worms seems to be a unique feature to the series, but I honestly can't be for certain since this is actually the first classic worms style game I've played. The main purpose of the puzzle mode in Worms Revolution is to introduce you (the player) to more in-depth strategies for the online, and offline modes. Some of the puzzles are more obvious, and only require that you avoid a few traps while others take a good bit more thinking to solve. Like "Campaign", "Puzzle" features the base objective/s of ridding the terrain of all your worm adversaries. In this mode however there is only one solution for victory, and it is up to you (the player) to figure the proper way of ridding yourself of the onscreen foes.There are a total of 20 puzzles to play through, and like campaign you will be rewarded with medals and tokens for your victories.

After completing the campaign, and puzzle modes you will be well set to dish out some digital demise via Xbox Live, or local versus. In these multiplayer modes you can play a few different game types (Deathmatch, Fort, Classic) with the option to play a quick, casual (Player), or ranked match. As of this review I was unable to properly test out the online multiplayer, but I will say that the match setup is chock full of options pertaining to difficulty level (beginner, intermediate, pro), time length (30 mins ...), rounds required to win, and the number of players allowed. You can even invite friends to play via Xbox Live if you so desire. There is no doubt that the fans of this series will have hours upon hours of fun playing online, or with friends at home in the multiplayer modes that are offered.

After spending some quality time with the singleplayer portions of Worms Revolution I found myself lost in it's gameplay. The soothing music, and the fun loving characteristics really made this battle hardened game a delight to play. I could easily see myself playing this game for hours on end if I had the spare time to do so. As far as the core singleplayer gameplay goes the game was superb. I found no flaws during my playthrough of the campaign, and puzzle modes. I think I loved setting up my team of worms most of all, and naming each individual one as I purchased them with my hard earned tokens made for some fun in itself. As any true reviewer would do I tested the boundaries of the name making system with some naughty names of my own. I was glad to see that Team17, and Warner Bros. had some dignity about them. They replaced the somewhat perverse titles with humerous names of their own which appeared during my online match setups keeping innocent eyes from viewing such distasteful material. If you are playing offline though the names are a no-holes-barred situation, and as such any name under the sun will be allowed. Without giving bad advice I will say that there are ways around the naughty name making restraints. It's up to you if you want to go that route though. I'm not in any way suggesting that you do.

Overall each part of this game was delivered with the highest of quality in mind. The British narrator provided some well performed humor from some well scripted dialogue. In retrospect it was like witnessing a really good animated Disney film unfold right before my eyes, only better. The animated worm expressions also added a hint of humor themselves making the portrayed tale all the more engaging. Seeing the sometimes brutalized, and bandaged worms go about their duties put a proper smile on my face. As such I have to say I enjoyed the heck out of this game! Games like Worms Revolution offer a much needed escape from the more serious/intense world of gaming that myself, and many other gamers often endure. If you're looking for a relaxing game that you can enjoy with friends, and online gamers without all the stress then this is definitely a game worth adding to your collection. 1200 msp is a small price to pay for the wholesome entertainment value this game provides.