UPDATE: August 14th, 2009
When Worms first launched, it was plagued by a series of issues that made it feel like a pre-release build. Version 1.0.1 may not address all of our complaints, but it is definitely a vast improvement when it comes to the controls.
The major part of the update consists of performance upgrades. The power meter is much more stable and crosshair movement is instantaneous. Scrolling is also much less of pain. Not only was touch responsiveness improved, but a new mechanic for backflipping makes this necessary ability usable. Now quickly flicking up on a worm will cause him to do a backflip in the indicated direction. It works like a charm.
To expand upon this, those who have earlier devices can further improve performance by lowering the graphics setting. This hearkens back to the classic saying: gameplay over graphics. Other improvements include the ability to zoom in closer, change the screen orientation, and make easier use of the infamous Ninja Rope.
Complementing these fixes are some new features, the most substantial of these is the ability to create enemy teams, giving you full reign over quick matches. You can also use weapons from parachutes as well. One improvement we feel should have been expanded on is the enemy AI. Now they take less time to make their turns, but the balance issues remain.
This update did enough for us to bump our score up to a 2, but we still recommend taking caution before purchasing the game, as there are still some glaring omissions and AI issues.
We will be up front about it: Worms is one of our favorite series. Since its debut on the Amiga in 1994, we (and many other gamers) have been immersed in the game’s whimsical environments and characteristics. When Team17 announced that the game was going to be ported over to the iPhone, our excitement was inevitable. However, we were faced with a monumental letdown.
Aesthetically, the game is just as beautiful as we expected. The colorful and oddly-shaped environments ranging from conquered craters to icy expanses and a ghastly hell really make Worms stand out. Plus, every match is different due to randomly generated levels.
Oh, what a lovely tea party.
Worms is a game that thrives on personality, and this iteration has plenty of it. The worms make cute and occasionally hilarious remarks when acted upon, making even the crudest of weapons seem charming. There is also a large arsenal of unique and zany weapons (26 in total) including a worm-crushing donkey statue, exploding bananas, and a sheep. Oh, and the Holy Hand Grenade with its “hallelujah” voice effect is still in full swing.
Unfortunately, this layer of polish does not save the port from its deadly fate.
One of the best parts of Worms was the ability to swiftly jump, swing, and jetpack around while at the same time dropping bombs and bullets shamelessly on unsuspecting enemies. Due to a lot of lag and unresponsive touch controls, even jumping is next to impossible. While precision is tough given the small screen of the device, the game’s tendency to do the opposite of what you expect is a game-breaking flaw.
Shooting weapons controls slightly better, although it still suffers from the aforementioned slowdown. This generally involves placing a crosshair in the direction you want the worm to fire a weapon and then holding down a button to determine power. The power meter occasionally stuttered, resulting in us missing a shot. Also, the camera doesn’t always follow the weapon to the end of its trail, meaning you cannot savor each dying moment of your enemy.
Speaking of flaws with the camera, it is also extremely tedious to pan and zoom. The two finger swiping and pinching reacts slowly and, in turn, changes your perspective little. For example, even when zoomed into your worm as far as possible, everything is still very small. This means that initiating the perfect shot is more difficult than it should be.
They can put a worm on the moon, but no real multiplayer in this game...
Another major issue we encountered in this port is the unbalanced AI. Easy mode is like a win button, as enemy worms constantly make idiotic mistakes, while both Normal and Hard will have them landing almost every shot perfectly on your defenses. This means that you will end up facing off against an opponent that will one-shot kill you just about every time, which is no fun.
As far as single player goes, the game has a decent amount of content that, if you choose to pursue (and we would guess you wouldn’t), will last a while. With 50 “challenge” missions, quick play, and a sandbox for weapon testing, there is enough to justify a complete single player experience. However, we would like to see a level editor and fully customizable sessions in the future.
This said, the main draw of Worms is multiplayer. After all, crushing your friends with a cute, fluffy sheep is extremely satisfying. This iteration of the game is surprisingly missing this satisfaction. As it stands, the closest you get to this experience is pass-and-play, although then the appeal of watching your friends get destroyed is taken away. Even with tons of options for multiplayer on the system, including online, Bluetooth, and wifi, it was left out of the launch build. Team17 has stated that they plan to include it in some form in the future, but we find it hard to understand why it's missing in the first place.
Customization is shallow in this port of Worms. The only options you have are to name your worms and team. Other iterations of the game included options such as hats for your worms, which is something we feel could easily be implemented here as downloadable content.
Worms has potential, but its glaring omissions and game-breaking flaws make it feel like a quick cash-in as opposed to a worthy and well-crafted port. Until these issues are addressed, this game will both anger fans of the series and turn off newcomers immediately.
28 Comments
This is the first review that made ne cry out in utter disgust. Is it worse then grind? Or urban tycoon? I've been really addicted to this version of the iPhone and can't believe that you would say that. On 3/5 devices it plays fine and the controls are pretty simple but not as good as playstation controls obviously because it can't be as good. Worms is well worth the money. And how can not having multiplayer be a major flaw? Fieldrunners and HoS lacked content but they got a four. To anyone that cares: Worms is a great game that deserves to be bought. 3/4
Multiplayer would be nice but not gonna make me rate it a one. If you have first gen. iPod or first gen. iPhone get star hogs, but to everyone else, buy worms.
Anyhoo, I'm off to enjoy more worms!
I partly second donb036 comment!
Still I send a big "BOOO" to Team 17 for ruining our hype for worms and releasing an unfinished product just to prevent Star Hogs from being bought or played too much and becoming a serious competitor to worms in round based strategy.
And a huge "BOOO" to Tim Rattray for absolutely misrating a flawed game as an unacceptable one.
Sure...one should be cautious b4 buying this game...one should make sure not to have too much jb-caused lack of ram and one should be aware that this game is partly difficult to control and either super-easy or incredibly hard...ok...aand if you want to play multiplayer, you'll have to pass around the device (at least for now)...
Still, rating this game as one which should be avoided from the scratch is simply not fair.
There is too much hard work, creativity and fun potential behind worms to be totally avoided!!
Let's make one thing clear, I bought the game and I don't like it that much either...but it's WORMS...finally...it's not one of those other cheap crappy apps getting "Avoid" ratings!
I just wonder whether you guys at STP take the time to hold a rating conference or if your ratings are based on one rewievers single subjective oppinion.
rima,
After purchasing the game, and then pointing out your agreement with the AI balance issues and control difficulties, you write, "I don't like it that much either." But you give it the benefit of the doubt because it has the "Worms" name attached to it? Come on.
We don't give "A's for effort" " A game should stand on its own.
You're rating it off the flaws. Sure it has a lot, but the core gameplay is much better than other apps that have gotten a 1 from you guys. You can't just "subtract" a rating for every flaw, you have to take into account how good it is even with its flaws. Sure it's disappointing, but it's still worms. In fact, I like it much better than Star Hogs, which lacks that certain chaotic elements and a variety of truly different weapons. Yes it has online multi which is nice, but since there's only 2-4 players on the field at the same time, it seems like a glorified version of bowman. Oh, and the graphics are terrible. Honestly, though Worms is certainly flawed, for me, its gameplay pushes it far ahead of Star Hogs.
Ok...maybe that sounded like the name deserves a better rating...I noticed that after posting too...
I just say that although it has issues and although I don't like it that much (like I like Star Hogs) it's not thaaat bad to get a D...it still has those things ppl (me included) love about worms and thats not the controls or tha A.I. it's those cute lil' worms, their voices, their weapons, the level architecture and the game mechanics in general. No matter how much they screwed up on controls, multiplayer and A.I. those positive aspects remain the same. Just because of them the game deserves cautious consideration from gamers and not to be avoided from the scratch.
It is unacceptable that developers think that they can just throw up a shoddy iPhone game and slap a beloved label on it and expect nobody to notice. There are so many feature-rich, well-polished games on the AppStore in this price range. A substantially flawed game has no leg to stand on, whether or not it has Worms in the title.
Worms is (obviously!) one of those games that inspires high emotion from its fans; it's got a hell of a track record over the years, too. This is a rotten port of an awesome game, and as such, we're telling you to avoid it for now.
We fully expect Team17 to fix some of the issues outlined in the review, and after they do, we'll revisit our score.
In fact I think the name "worms" in the title caused you guys to give it a lower rating because it was dissapointing.
I will have to disagree with your review as well. I find the controls to be pretty good for the most part. I will say that the ninja rope needs to be totally revamped. I think if they did a up and down button to control pulling in or pushing out and then tilt controls to swing you. But other than that the controls are just fine. hold the left or right of the screen to move left and right and tap your worm to jump or double tap to backwards jump...easy.
The graphics are great and so is the audio. Both are true to the original Worms games. The randomly created maps are also a plus. The camera could use a good update so that you can easily zoom in and out. I will say that the AI is slightly unbalanced but that just means you have to think better than the AI. They don't know to hide under cover. I often find myself placing the girders in order to cover myself. Once covered I then come out of hiding fire what I can and then go back to hiding.
What really disappoints me is the fact that you guys are comparing Worms on a PC or PS3 to the iphone. Of course it won't stack up to those pieces of equipment that have superior control techniques. Not to mention that you fail to recognize that for a game of this magnitude there are bound to be flaws. I am just glad I got to test it. The devs will fix the bugs (as Team17 does) and things will be better. Not to mention the price is very good for the game. I would have bought it if it were 9.99 and I expected said price before it came out. I was highly happy because of the 4.99 price.
WOW, go go go independent developers! go away big companies with lousy products trying to get an easy buck!!
And the review is fair.
From a big company you HAVE to expect a quality product, especially with a 5 dollar pricetag and taking into account that these companies have a LOT of money to invest.
The same goes for Mass Effect Galaxies, these companies deserve a 1 rating for being greedy and not caring about living up to the name of the game they are trying to release.
Let's not forget that when Puzzle Quest first was released, that it was so glitchy and problematic that STP had to give it a 1. However, the dev really stepped up over the next few relases and before you know it, it turned into a Must Have. Let's hope for the devs here to accomplish a similar task.
As I said before, you should review the app as a stand alone title rather than as a comparison of the franchise.
And whoever said that the big have to make great games, that's a load of BS.
So Javier, big companies should be rated lower and indies rated higher? Not only is that unfair to big devs, who are essentially being punished for being successful but also undervalues games from indies that might actually be good.
watever486.
They are charging 5 dollars for an inferior product to others available at lower prices. The rating says 'Avoid' which is what you need to do and not be fooled by the greed of these companies labeling garbage with popular names.
Javier
I have this game, and I greatly prefer it to iShoot, Snails Reloaded, and it's about tied with Star Hogs for me. Worth $5 to me. Definitely not garbage.
Also: Javier, $5 is not a lot of money. It's not greed, they just want to make money; like anyone else on the App Store.
Guess my last comment was deleted. Javier, love your game but disagree with you. No point in debating as it will change neither of our minds. Love worms and think it's worth it.
Sorry Tim, if you felt that was insulting although none of it was. Hope this passes your quality standards
"On 3/5 devices it plays fine "...
Yeah, and on 2/5 it plays horribly. You think you get a refund if you have a device it barely runs on?
"In fact I think the name "worms" in the title caused you guys to give it a lower rating because it was dissapointing."
That's completely fair for them to do, because the game is being sold based on the Worms name. That's what comes with being part of a series or franchise; you're using the name to bring in customers-- and a lot of them-- so you'd better live up to their expectations.
I bought the game because I like the Worms experience and this didn't live up to it (and I've played it on maybe 4 platforms now, all great but this one.)
I'm sorry I bought the game as it is right now but I do have faith they will correct the issues and make it a classic because there is a lot that can be improved with relatively minor tweaks. That's pretty much what the reviewer says as well.
Like I said, we each have different opinions. No point in debating as it won't change anyones mind. I just feel worms deserves a rating of a three or two compared to other one ratings on STP
I would say keep on debating.
We don't write these reviews for people who have already bought the game " What would be the point in that? We write these reviews for people who are considering a purchase, and the more information they have " that most definitely includes comments from our informed audience " the better off they'll be when they make their decision.
Here's my final feeling: If you own an iPod touch 2G, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, then go download worms! If not, Star Hogs is the way to go
DonB: I actually tested this game on a 3G and it was very choppy.
i recon i would go with the ipgn review -.5 of a star.
I seriously disagree with this review. It fixed every bug for me, gameplay is silky smooth, and every thing is a lot more fast. I'd at least give it a 3 till multiplayer.
Tim_R: I've been testing this on a 3G, and it's not choppy. Something wrong with your iPhone?
Nope... we only had performance issues with the original version of the game. The latest update (which we cover under "Update" at the top of this story) addressed our concerns as far as framerate, responsiveness, and overall speed go.
The app has been updated since this review and currently on sale " is it worth a purchase?
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