Taking a classic 2D game franchise into that last known dimension of the space-time continuum labeled the third dimension is always a risk. For every Super Mario 64 game that brilliantly succeeds, there’s a Sonic game, which falls flat on its face. The good news: the Worms, those lovable militaristic invertebrates from British developers Team 17, aren’t Sonic; the bad news is that they aren’t exactly Mario either. The transition from 2D to 3D for the Worms had so much potential to expand upon and uplift the series, but unfortunately, its execution in Worms: Ultimate Mayhem for the Xbox 360 is more Sonic than Mario when it comes to how 3D contributes (or, in this case, makes a lack of contribution) to the overall fun factor. I loved the original Worms game when it came to Xbox Live Arcade, as I thought it was a perfect use for the platform, a revival of an old PC classic. I genuinely loved the game’s format of a combination of turn-based strategy and real-time combat – in Worms, during each player’s turn, that player can control one of his/her worms in real time by choosing a weapon and blasting/bludgeoning another one of the worms on the map with it.
Next turn, the other player does the same thing; rinse and repeat until there’s one player left. Add to this formula plenty of terrain deformation, occasional super-weapons, and of course that plague of rising water known as Sudden Death, and you had a game that despite coming out in the 90’s still stands the test of time even by today’s standards, and especially with the graphical update that freshly coated the XBLA release. At least, until you translate the same game to 3D. Admittedly, I was initially thrilled by the prospect of having to take another dimension into account when controlling my worms and aiming at other worms – which fan of Worms wouldn’t want to see real-time 3D terrain destruction every time they unleash a Bazooka blast or Air Strike against the enemy worm horde? But the execution of the 3D aspect in Worms: Ultimate Mayhem will reduce that number of fans wishing for 3D significantly, because it’s just so shoddy. First, there’s the fact that the graphics are really low-fi and low-tech, even by last generation’s standards. The graphical style of Worms: Ultimate Mayhem still has the series’ trademark cartoonish style, I’ll give it that, but the 3D look given to Worms: Ultimate Mayhem looks like the developers didn’t even try to program a decent-looking game.
One can clearly see the individual polygons of the worms and the terrain, the shadows are distractingly pixilated, and terrain doesn’t deform like it should when hit by blasts, especially the various structures littered about. I might’ve given a pass to these low-fi graphics since I know graphics aren’t everything, but these crappy graphics are disruptive to gameplay: it’s difficult to tell where your worm will land while jumping (especially when jumping across difficult terrain), ledges aren’t exactly where they appear to be, and it’s easy to get stuck. Then there is controlling one’s worm in the 3D environment. The 3D graphics interfering with movement aside, the camera controls leave a lot to be desired, and aiming weapons is a chore. The default controller configuration is not recommended for this purpose, as in order to aim in first-person I had to hold the controller in very weird positions. Even with other configurations there were still problems, as aiming in first-person is anything but smooth, and the camera otherwise makes third-person aiming difficult, as to aim in third-person you have to manually line up the camera before shooting or throwing. Try to aim and throw a grenade while the camera is facing your worm’s side if you want an exercise in frustration.
Pretty much the only weapon that was easy to use here was the Air Strike, and as per Worms tradition you can only use those sparingly. The only saving grace I can think of for Worms: Ultimate Mayhem is the ability to customize and deck out your own team of worms. There are a surprisingly diverse number of options for that, but still with the low-polygon count for the worms the diverse selection of outfits can only do so much to cover that up. And of course the game’s turn-based format is still online-friendly, as lag isn’t much of an issue. I also admit that having your Xbox Live Avatar cheer or cringe in dismay as the Worms action goes down is a nice touch, but at this point, it’s too little, too late. Team 17 had a golden opportunity to update the Worms formula to this generation with the addition of 3D, but I have to say it, in this case it seems like they didn’t even try to polish anything into a genuinely fun experience – they just dumped the worms into the third dimension and called it a day, which is a shame. With more work they could’ve made this game quite the gem, but instead it’s a turd the worms have to slog through. Stop torturing those poor worms, Team 17!
