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With the Worms franchise having become a shell of
it’s former self in recent years, the Electronic Articles
staff writers have been waiting with baited breath to see how the
latest instalment, Worms 4: Mayhem held-up. Previous 3D
iterations of the title have been decidedly disappointing to say
the least, and so it’s left to Worms 4: Mayhem to perfect
the 2D gameplay in the 3D environment.
Much like fellow 80’s and early 90’s franchises CastleVania,
Street Fighter and Pitfall, Worms has had a
hard time re-founding itself in the third dimension.
Worms
4: Mayhem takes the title back to its roots – no more
flashy scenery or confusing weaponry – simplicity is once again
the order of the day.
The preview build that we’ve received is very limited. The
weaponry available includes the Bazooka, Grenades, Holy Hand
Grenade and Jet Pack amongst other classic weapons while the new
additions include a Bovine Barrage, Chattering Teeth and Poison
Arrows. There are also only two arenas available – however from
this incredibly limited selection it’s easy to see how the
developers have realised that as much as they wish they could
return to the 2D stylings, the three-dimensional presentation now
limits the creativity the developers can have with the maps. Rather
than having several pieces of terrain scattered about the arenas
are now solitary islands – which are totally
destructible.
The title touts some average visuals and sound, although I
would argue until I’m blue that this degree of display is
certainly acceptable when you consider the immensely complicated
maths that the system is calculating with every single attack.
The customisation options are the biggest selling feature of
the title.  Not only do you have the ability to design your own game
rules and levels, but also your own Worms and Weaponry! Although this mode is clearly the input that will
differentiate the title from it’s predecessors, it appears that
Team17 have made the ridiculous decision of only including two or
three options within this mode and so, at current, the one feature
that seems able to improve the 3D recreation over it’s 2D
forefather remains un-investigated, and while Worms 4: Mayhem
is clearly superior to any of it’s 3D brethren, this feature is
the only touch that can propel such a familiar rendition above the
standard that the first title created way back in 1993.
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