Game Review: Worms W.M.D (Switch)

December 13, 2017 Nitro Comments 0 Comment

We’ve all played some form of 2D artillery game some point in our lives, be it a flash game or a console game. I’ve personally played Worms many years ago when I was young but years passed and 2D artillery games improved. So let’s take a look at how Worms W.M.D fare on the Nintendo Switch.

Gameplay

If you’ve played any artillery game, the gameplay is relatively the same. All you have to do is select from a range of weapons, each with their own properties, and shoot them at your enemies while accounting for other factors such as time, terrain, and wind. Sounds complicated? It really isn’t, it just boils down to the basic principle of killing your enemies but not yourself.

Still, there are some new things Worms W.M.D brought to the table, such as vehicles and Stationary Weapons. The introduction of vehicles in the game brings about new strategies to the table. While most of the vehicles will definitely give you an edge over the rest of your opponents, they happen to also be giant targets waiting to be hijacked or shot.

While Worms W.M.D. is largely a multiplayer game, I was quite delighted with it wide range of single-player content. The training section (tutorial) was especially well handled. Due to the scoring nature of the training section, this has got to be one of the few replayable tutorials in my life. And just when you finished the completionist “multi-hour” basic training, you’re ready to dip many more hours into the Campaign, Challenges, Extras, and Bonuses.

Controls

While I thoroughly enjoyed the premise of the game, the controls, however, felt like they needed a little more help. Back in the days when you played Worms on the keyboard (I’m not sure of the controls on PC now as I’ve not played Worms W.M.D. on the PC), it was either up-down-left-right or W-A-S-D to control the worm. It was alright as each of the keyboard keys are distinct from each other.

However, with the Switch, the controls fell on the joystick, especially so for the one Joy-con control scheme. This created a problem of accidentally moving while trying to aim or vice versa. As much as I would like to say that it’s a non-issue when you get used to it, it is not. Playing under a time constraint, the issue happens more often that I would actually like it to. As for the rest of the controls, it can be unwieldy with the single Joy-con but definitely adaptable. I don’t have any qualms with them.

The game also comes with HD rumble support, which can be felt in instances such as when your worm is in a vehicle.

Multiplayer and Customisation

Multiplayer is Worm W.M.D’s biggest attraction. Since the franchise began more than 20 years ago, multiplayer has been core to the franchise. With the luxury of the Internet, you can play a quick game with anyone around the world. Online play was alright, it was quite disappointing that you could not set up a private party for your friends only but to be honest, I much prefer to see the looks of my friends as I taunt my way to victory.

The customisation for the game is almost unparalleled. You get to control everything from the quantity of each weapon everyone gets, to the things that are on the field, every match has the potential to be something new for everyone. Even the maps are created with seed, meaning it is highly unlikely for you to play on the same map ever again. This gives everyone on the field an equal chance at victory (unless they are over the top lucky and have a tank spawn nearby).

On top of matchmaking customisations, I also appreciate the other minor customisation such as costume, victory pose, speech personality. The amount of customisability is endless. You can really tell how the developers are big on the customisation by giving it its own tab on the main menu.

Graphics

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With these many things on the screen, especially when you play 6 players, that’s about 24 worms on the field, you would think that Worms W.M.D may be on the laggy side. However, I’m pleased to say it is not. Save for the sometimes long load time to set up the field, the game runs smoothly from battle start to battle end. The game’s artworks were also colourful and high in resolution.

However, despite all these, there were a few minor overlooks with the graphical UI. The user interface is plagued with small words. It is not that bad if you sit two metres from the TV but from where the TV is from me, I find myself having to squint my eyes quite a bit to see what the game is trying to tell me. This problem compounds even more on the Nintendo Switch’s small screen. It’s not unreadable, it is just very hard to read.

When it comes to audio, I would be frank and say that there wasn’t any point that made me stop and think about the music. The music in the game gets the job done but is nothing to call home about, then again we do not play an artillery game to listen to the music.

TL;DR

Worms W.M.D is a game that is just as good, if not better than veterans will remember it. The inclusion of vehicles and stationary gun brings about new changes to the battlefield that even veterans should not underestimate the power of. Customisation of the game is also a strong suit of the game, you can always count on it to make every multiplayer match something new and fresh. Still, multiplayer is not your thing, you can always count on its huge single player content to give you hours of fun.