Worms: Open Warfare 2 Review for the Nintendo DS
By David Mume
Yet another title to add to the "Worms" franchise. This 2D game combines battle, strategy, and craziness into one wild adventure! As a team of Worms, you use weapons such as Bazookas, Grenades, and a more to annihilate the other team of worms. Also, with the assistance of Utilities (such as Ninja ropes, Jet Packs, and more) you will be forced to duke it out with other worms. Trust me; this is not just another cheesy war game.
First off, there are so many things to do in this game! Where should I start? Before you read this review, you can keep in mind that you will not be bored for long with this game.
Just what are teams of "worms"? They are a group of 1-4 worms that have their own team name, name per worm, team flag, team gravestone, team victory dance, team worm color, team worm speech, and team fort. You will learn about most of these things later, so read on.
Veterans to Worms games will have no trouble getting used to the controls for moving, selecting weapons, aiming, and...firing. It's even similar to the control scheme in the previous Worms titles. However, as expected, it is harder to see the Worms on the DS screen compared to the screen of a PC, but it's still better than you might think; as you will eventually get used to it. Also the camera control can be tedious only because there is so much going on on such a small view. A great feature they have added is the ability to use both screens for seeing the terrain or one screen for the terrain and one screen for the entire map. The map makes it easier to navigate, eliminated the problem of getting lost with the camera almost completely. The DS touch screen gives a new feel when choosing your teams/team's worms names, selecting weapons, and choosing and editing schemes (schemes are are the items you can use, the amount you can use, and when you can use them. The different weapon and utility amount, variety and wait-time are varied in each scheme: you are even allowed to make your own custom schemes).
Since Worms: Armageddon, a few weapons/utilities have been replaced or taken out, but total to 31 weapons/utilities (not including "Surrender" and "Skip Go"). All the items make it fun to choose which one to use, and test your skills with them and decide which one you like best. Being a turn-based game, WOW2 makes it easy to aim and fire. But it isn't just as easy as that, as you must take note to check the wind, the gravity, and the terrain you are in. It is possible to make use of terrain for bouncing Grenades off of walls, getting to a higher point to make an easy get-away, and using the steep parts of terrain to your advantage.
Once you begin Worms: Open Warfare 2 they start you off with a tutorial that begins with the basic controls and combat, and also allows you to start your first team. This feature, was what I found to be quite lacking in Worms: Armageddon. This got you excited and ready to try and take what that game dished out to you. It also made a lot clearer how to operate the game, as in previous game titles, they give you hardly any tutorial, leaving you lost and forgetting how to use the controls. Definitely a thumbs up for this game's control explanation.
In Quick Game, it starts you off at a random terrain, using a random team of worms. They give you beginner scheme (see the end of the fourth paragraph to get more details on schemes), and a "easy" opposing team of worms to fight against (that are operated by the CPU of WOW2). Quick Game was made so that when you just feel like playing a good 'ol game of Worms, you don't have to set everything up priorly or choose the terrain. It's just turn on, and go. A for-sure second only to the firing ranges for a good practice.
In Custom Game, you are able to choose what teams are playing (from existing or custom made teams), what color they are (if two teams are on the same team for example), the amount of worms per team (from 1-4), the scheme that is being used (from existing or custom made schemes), and the landscape that you will battle on (from randomly generated landscapes to ones you've made yourself - We'll talk more about that later) (Few!). If you have a friend that wants to play with you, but does not have WOW2, you may use custom game as a sort of hot-seat multiplayer (a multiplayer using only one console, having players switch each turn). You can also have CPU teams battle you, ranging from easy to medium to hard difficulty.
In Single Player Puzzle mode, you are assigned objectives that require you to make use of your terrain, the wind, your resources, and weapons in order for you to complete them. They do not necessarily include you destroying worms, though some ask you to do strategic ways of doing so. From collecting crates, to getting your worm to the exit, you must do all you can to complete the objective (even if it means destroying your own worms!). Overall, very fun, and about medium difficulty.
In Single Player Campaign mode, you travel through various levels and terrain; defeating worm armies as you go. From Pirate Ships to Outer Space you will need to out-smart, out-weapon, and out-maneuver your opponent at all costs. Keeping a close eye on your HP is vital to survive: when it reaches zero, that worm blows himself up. There are many types of missions you are to undertake, whether it's destroying many worms, or just one worm with tons of HP. The weapons and utilities also vary according to the mission. The beginning was quite easy, but as you advanced throughout the many eras (worlds), it soon became very hard, and, I do think they went over-the-top on the difficulty on some levels. But overall, incredibly fun, and rewarding. You also develop a satisfaction to blast the worms into oblivion!
Another amusing feature in WOW2 are the cut-scenes that frequently occur in between each era. They were well designed: the cool 3D graphics in these cut-scenes excite you, and give a new life to those worms you control on the screen. They don't talk much, other than an occasional "Hey!" or a laugh, but what the worms do are usually funny and interesting to watch. Cut-scenes are just some of the many small details this game has.
In Single Player Laboratory, your primary weapon is not a bazooka or grenade, but your DS assets. In "Blow", your worm is equipped with a parachute that you use for falling and rising, using your DS mic to blow into. It is quite sensitive, so it wouldn't take much effort for the game to register you blowing. I was gratified that I did not have to have the wind nearly knocked out of me like in one of The NEW Super Mario Bros. mini games. Courses were very easy in the beginning, but then got slightly challenging. In "Blast", you use your stylus to blow up your worm; sending him to the goal. The longer you hold the stylus on the screen, the more powerful the explosion becomes, and depending on the angle, it can send your worm flying: in the right direction or in the wrong one! This was a bit frustrating at times because of the difficulty, and the sensitivity of where you stylus touched was not so effective. In "Draw", you use your stylus to draw paths or walls with the limited supply of ink you have in each level, trying to get your worm to the goal. You must not only make walls and paths for your worm, but also occasionally for obstacles that may be keeping your worm from the goal. For those puzzle guys, this is the mode for you to try! However, these were some of the hardest levels to accomplish.
Though it is thought that training is only intended for the beginning and beginners, it is actually quite useful no matter how good you are at WOW2: if you need a refresher, you can always go over to tutorials again. More importantly, however, there are also firing ranges you can go to and practice your aiming skills. In the three different firing ranges, you are allowed to place targets and "dummies" throughout the course and use the weapons on them you need practice on.
In Multiplayer, you are allowed to play in three different ways. First, you can do a DS Download Play, where it can temporarily download data to another DS, so two can play the equivalent of a custom game with two players. Second, normal Multiplayer, where you require a second Nintendo DS and WOW2 game card. You can do the equivalent of a custom game with two players. Third, there is the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection multiplayer that uses your wireless Internet or broadband connection to battle with other WOW2 players around the world! Registering friend codes with friends will allow you to battle and use your own custom team, team names, schemes, and landscapes (the regular Wi-Fi connection will prohibit use of everything listed, as it only will let you put out your team flag, and a online name). I could talk for ages about what you can do with Wi-Fi, but this review can't go on forever! There have been problems with the functionality of the Wi-Fi feature, however, as some annoying freezing and miss-communication has occurred, with no faults to the internet connection itself.
In one of my favorites, Custom, you are allowed to customize all of your teams of worms (including everything listed on paragraph two), schemes, landscapes, and team flags.
Wait you can "customize" landscapes? YES! That's right! You can actually make your own landscape to fight on! For me, this was probably the funnest asset to the game. You can make three very intense places, or maybe 5 or 6 more simple places (it has about 650 points of memory). I can't tell you how fun it is to make your own Landscape! You can use your stylus to draw, erase, and further edit your own terrain. After drawing out your landscape, you can add where the worms will start out (according to their teams), place oil drums, sentry guns, mines, magnets, and exits on your landscape as well. You can do so many things, I can't describe them all!
Also, editing flags is really fun. You can draw your own designs, using multiple colors, design types, or edit existing designs to create your own. They can be customized to fit a team, to which you can then assign them when you edit the team you choose. The flag can show a design, a weapon, a worm in action, or even writing.
Keeping this game's hard single player in mind, luckily, the requirements needed to unlock things at the shop are quite small. Each time you beat a single player mission for the first time, you are rewarded with a number of credits which will allow you to "purchase" unlock-ables, such as team colors, gravestones, victory dances, new weapons, and more.
Where you would least expect it, there are even some minor things that can be done in Options. You can view your medal cabinet that contains all of your medals that you have earned by progressing through certain areas of the game, wirelessly download a demo of WOW2 to another Nintendo DS, have a complete Help guide (it explains everything!), and Movies (to view those oh-so-famous cut-scenes).
The violence in this game is mild, however there is rapid shooting, lots of blowing up and some self-exploding. Absolutely no blood or gore, as it is only an E10+ rating.
To rate this game a 10/10 would be slightly exaggerating, but to say an 8 would be an understatement. I would rate this game an 8.6/10 for excellent game play, fun custom modes, but a slightly too difficult, yet beatable, single player.
To some Worms veterans, this game may have some complaints as to replaced weapons, or not enough worms per team (as the original amount was 1-8), but if you ask me, I think that WOW2 is the best Worms title to date. I say to those particular Worms veterans: 'Hey, at least they kept most, and, brought many new features as well'. And I also say to those tough-lovin' Nintendo Power reviewers (who only rated WOW2 an 7.5): 'Try again!!'.
Authors Note: My WOW2 friend code is: 386660552176
By David Mume
Yet another title to add to the "Worms" franchise. This 2D game combines battle, strategy, and craziness into one wild adventure! As a team of Worms, you use weapons such as Bazookas, Grenades, and a more to annihilate the other team of worms. Also, with the assistance of Utilities (such as Ninja ropes, Jet Packs, and more) you will be forced to duke it out with other worms. Trust me; this is not just another cheesy war game.
First off, there are so many things to do in this game! Where should I start? Before you read this review, you can keep in mind that you will not be bored for long with this game.
Just what are teams of "worms"? They are a group of 1-4 worms that have their own team name, name per worm, team flag, team gravestone, team victory dance, team worm color, team worm speech, and team fort. You will learn about most of these things later, so read on.
Veterans to Worms games will have no trouble getting used to the controls for moving, selecting weapons, aiming, and...firing. It's even similar to the control scheme in the previous Worms titles. However, as expected, it is harder to see the Worms on the DS screen compared to the screen of a PC, but it's still better than you might think; as you will eventually get used to it. Also the camera control can be tedious only because there is so much going on on such a small view. A great feature they have added is the ability to use both screens for seeing the terrain or one screen for the terrain and one screen for the entire map. The map makes it easier to navigate, eliminated the problem of getting lost with the camera almost completely. The DS touch screen gives a new feel when choosing your teams/team's worms names, selecting weapons, and choosing and editing schemes (schemes are are the items you can use, the amount you can use, and when you can use them. The different weapon and utility amount, variety and wait-time are varied in each scheme: you are even allowed to make your own custom schemes).
Since Worms: Armageddon, a few weapons/utilities have been replaced or taken out, but total to 31 weapons/utilities (not including "Surrender" and "Skip Go"). All the items make it fun to choose which one to use, and test your skills with them and decide which one you like best. Being a turn-based game, WOW2 makes it easy to aim and fire. But it isn't just as easy as that, as you must take note to check the wind, the gravity, and the terrain you are in. It is possible to make use of terrain for bouncing Grenades off of walls, getting to a higher point to make an easy get-away, and using the steep parts of terrain to your advantage.
Once you begin Worms: Open Warfare 2 they start you off with a tutorial that begins with the basic controls and combat, and also allows you to start your first team. This feature, was what I found to be quite lacking in Worms: Armageddon. This got you excited and ready to try and take what that game dished out to you. It also made a lot clearer how to operate the game, as in previous game titles, they give you hardly any tutorial, leaving you lost and forgetting how to use the controls. Definitely a thumbs up for this game's control explanation.
In Quick Game, it starts you off at a random terrain, using a random team of worms. They give you beginner scheme (see the end of the fourth paragraph to get more details on schemes), and a "easy" opposing team of worms to fight against (that are operated by the CPU of WOW2). Quick Game was made so that when you just feel like playing a good 'ol game of Worms, you don't have to set everything up priorly or choose the terrain. It's just turn on, and go. A for-sure second only to the firing ranges for a good practice.
In Custom Game, you are able to choose what teams are playing (from existing or custom made teams), what color they are (if two teams are on the same team for example), the amount of worms per team (from 1-4), the scheme that is being used (from existing or custom made schemes), and the landscape that you will battle on (from randomly generated landscapes to ones you've made yourself - We'll talk more about that later) (Few!). If you have a friend that wants to play with you, but does not have WOW2, you may use custom game as a sort of hot-seat multiplayer (a multiplayer using only one console, having players switch each turn). You can also have CPU teams battle you, ranging from easy to medium to hard difficulty.
In Single Player Puzzle mode, you are assigned objectives that require you to make use of your terrain, the wind, your resources, and weapons in order for you to complete them. They do not necessarily include you destroying worms, though some ask you to do strategic ways of doing so. From collecting crates, to getting your worm to the exit, you must do all you can to complete the objective (even if it means destroying your own worms!). Overall, very fun, and about medium difficulty.
In Single Player Campaign mode, you travel through various levels and terrain; defeating worm armies as you go. From Pirate Ships to Outer Space you will need to out-smart, out-weapon, and out-maneuver your opponent at all costs. Keeping a close eye on your HP is vital to survive: when it reaches zero, that worm blows himself up. There are many types of missions you are to undertake, whether it's destroying many worms, or just one worm with tons of HP. The weapons and utilities also vary according to the mission. The beginning was quite easy, but as you advanced throughout the many eras (worlds), it soon became very hard, and, I do think they went over-the-top on the difficulty on some levels. But overall, incredibly fun, and rewarding. You also develop a satisfaction to blast the worms into oblivion!
Another amusing feature in WOW2 are the cut-scenes that frequently occur in between each era. They were well designed: the cool 3D graphics in these cut-scenes excite you, and give a new life to those worms you control on the screen. They don't talk much, other than an occasional "Hey!" or a laugh, but what the worms do are usually funny and interesting to watch. Cut-scenes are just some of the many small details this game has.
In Single Player Laboratory, your primary weapon is not a bazooka or grenade, but your DS assets. In "Blow", your worm is equipped with a parachute that you use for falling and rising, using your DS mic to blow into. It is quite sensitive, so it wouldn't take much effort for the game to register you blowing. I was gratified that I did not have to have the wind nearly knocked out of me like in one of The NEW Super Mario Bros. mini games. Courses were very easy in the beginning, but then got slightly challenging. In "Blast", you use your stylus to blow up your worm; sending him to the goal. The longer you hold the stylus on the screen, the more powerful the explosion becomes, and depending on the angle, it can send your worm flying: in the right direction or in the wrong one! This was a bit frustrating at times because of the difficulty, and the sensitivity of where you stylus touched was not so effective. In "Draw", you use your stylus to draw paths or walls with the limited supply of ink you have in each level, trying to get your worm to the goal. You must not only make walls and paths for your worm, but also occasionally for obstacles that may be keeping your worm from the goal. For those puzzle guys, this is the mode for you to try! However, these were some of the hardest levels to accomplish.
Though it is thought that training is only intended for the beginning and beginners, it is actually quite useful no matter how good you are at WOW2: if you need a refresher, you can always go over to tutorials again. More importantly, however, there are also firing ranges you can go to and practice your aiming skills. In the three different firing ranges, you are allowed to place targets and "dummies" throughout the course and use the weapons on them you need practice on.
In Multiplayer, you are allowed to play in three different ways. First, you can do a DS Download Play, where it can temporarily download data to another DS, so two can play the equivalent of a custom game with two players. Second, normal Multiplayer, where you require a second Nintendo DS and WOW2 game card. You can do the equivalent of a custom game with two players. Third, there is the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection multiplayer that uses your wireless Internet or broadband connection to battle with other WOW2 players around the world! Registering friend codes with friends will allow you to battle and use your own custom team, team names, schemes, and landscapes (the regular Wi-Fi connection will prohibit use of everything listed, as it only will let you put out your team flag, and a online name). I could talk for ages about what you can do with Wi-Fi, but this review can't go on forever! There have been problems with the functionality of the Wi-Fi feature, however, as some annoying freezing and miss-communication has occurred, with no faults to the internet connection itself.
In one of my favorites, Custom, you are allowed to customize all of your teams of worms (including everything listed on paragraph two), schemes, landscapes, and team flags.
Wait you can "customize" landscapes? YES! That's right! You can actually make your own landscape to fight on! For me, this was probably the funnest asset to the game. You can make three very intense places, or maybe 5 or 6 more simple places (it has about 650 points of memory). I can't tell you how fun it is to make your own Landscape! You can use your stylus to draw, erase, and further edit your own terrain. After drawing out your landscape, you can add where the worms will start out (according to their teams), place oil drums, sentry guns, mines, magnets, and exits on your landscape as well. You can do so many things, I can't describe them all!
Also, editing flags is really fun. You can draw your own designs, using multiple colors, design types, or edit existing designs to create your own. They can be customized to fit a team, to which you can then assign them when you edit the team you choose. The flag can show a design, a weapon, a worm in action, or even writing.
Keeping this game's hard single player in mind, luckily, the requirements needed to unlock things at the shop are quite small. Each time you beat a single player mission for the first time, you are rewarded with a number of credits which will allow you to "purchase" unlock-ables, such as team colors, gravestones, victory dances, new weapons, and more.
Where you would least expect it, there are even some minor things that can be done in Options. You can view your medal cabinet that contains all of your medals that you have earned by progressing through certain areas of the game, wirelessly download a demo of WOW2 to another Nintendo DS, have a complete Help guide (it explains everything!), and Movies (to view those oh-so-famous cut-scenes).
The violence in this game is mild, however there is rapid shooting, lots of blowing up and some self-exploding. Absolutely no blood or gore, as it is only an E10+ rating.
To rate this game a 10/10 would be slightly exaggerating, but to say an 8 would be an understatement. I would rate this game an 8.6/10 for excellent game play, fun custom modes, but a slightly too difficult, yet beatable, single player.
To some Worms veterans, this game may have some complaints as to replaced weapons, or not enough worms per team (as the original amount was 1-8), but if you ask me, I think that WOW2 is the best Worms title to date. I say to those particular Worms veterans: 'Hey, at least they kept most, and, brought many new features as well'. And I also say to those tough-lovin' Nintendo Power reviewers (who only rated WOW2 an 7.5): 'Try again!!'.
Authors Note: My WOW2 friend code is: 386660552176
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