Worms 2 – Armageddon / Worms Reloaded

Digital Download Cover

(Screenshots are taken from Worms Reloaded.)

Very much not to be confused with Worms Armageddon, this game’s title seems to be nothing more than a brazen attempt to fool people into thinking they’re getting that particular game. It actually takes much more after the Open Warfare games, combining content from both with some new weapons and landscapes of its own. The physics are taken straight from those games as well, which will be an instant turnoff for those who were hoping for something close to what the title might have suggested. If you’re looking for new weapons and tools, there’s several to pick from, at least. Some, like the iconic baseball bat and Worm Select, make a return appearance after a notable absence in the Open Warfare games. Others are new, like a pack of ferrets that can scale walls and ceilings as they hopefully scamper towards a target.

Plenty of choice, at least.

Several features are missing since Open Warfare 2, however, making the package feel a little paltrier than usual. The usual campaign mode dispenses with any sort of cutscenes to reward your progress, which while understandable for a downloadable title, feels like a downgrade. Without a handheld’s limitations to keep in mind, a lot of the missing options should have their absence called into question, as well. While the many game options that Armageddon allowed you to tweak aren’t devastating in their absence, one has to wonder if a purely 2D game would suffer for having more than four worms per team. The random events from Open Warfare 2 are missing as well, although how much you may miss them will be a matter of opinion.

Overall, the worth of Reloaded will likely depend on how much you enjoyed Open Warfare 2 and just how badly you need to play it in your own home. It’s functional, but with so many other games that try to do more with the series, and likely with bigger playerbases, there’s little need to go for this one in particular. There’s little you’d miss in its absence, aside from a few weapons that would never see a return appearance. In the long run, the game’s appearance on consoles also serves as somewhat of a quiet admission that the series’ adventures in 3D just weren’t meant to be, for better or worse.

In 2010, the game was released on Steam under the title Worms Reloaded. It features a few weapons that were only available on consoles as DLC, along with a few extra exclusive missions. (The fact that the game kept weapons as paid downloadable content is worrisome enough, but even worse, is something that’ll be seen in future games as well.) There’s also an assortment of new customization items, most of which are there to advertise Valve’s Team Fortress 2. Unless it’s on sale for particularly cheap, better options and a slim playerbase still mean you can safely pass over it.

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