Worms, for many gamers, is a love or hate series. Not much has changed over the years, despite the attempt to revitalize it with a few 3D titles. Although for fans of the series, this definitely is not a bad thing. Worms 2: Armageddon finds its way to the PlayStation Network after being out on Xbox Live Arcade for over a year, and if you’re a fan of the series, it probably has been worth the wait.
The same crazy weapons, levels, and different styles of play are all available here that you remember from the previous 2D Worms games. There is a single player campaign that takes you through 40 different levels full of very odd and sometimes demanding challenges. They start off simple, but once you get towards the later levels you find the challenge ramping to the point where it just no longer enjoyable.
Your A.I. opponents always find ways to make just the right moves that will constantly mess you up no matter what difficulty you are on. The challenge here begins to increase as you find most of your worms starting off in very inconvenient locations which reduces a lot of the levels to trial and error. It removes a lot of the fun you may remember having with a Worms title. And aside from the campaign, there isn’t much reason to ever play this game solo.
The big plus is the multiplayer is as solid as ever, and the basic turn-based gameplay mechanics still work just as well as they always have with a group of friends. Local multiplayer is a blast and there are plenty of options in terms of game customization, rule sets, and maps. The online is fine as well, but fairly often you will find yourself running into very laggy matches that turn a simple game of Worms into something much more tedious and unplayable.
Worms 2: Armageddon is still a solid game that will keep fans of the series busy for some time. However, it is held back by some technical issues and poor single player options that may hamper the experience for some players. You probably already know if you’re a fan of this series or not; that alone is enough to determine whether this downloadable title will be worth your money.
Pros: The basic gameplay still holds up very well; plenty of multiplayer options
Cons: The single player modes are lacking; A.I. opponents are almost too accurate at times; online can be very laggy
