Worms wiggles wantonly onto XBLA next Wednesday

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Mar 2nd 2007 at 5:30AM }

With Worms withhheld no more, we wildly wish to wager whether the wait was worth it. Whither the -- okay, forget this. Worms HD is releasing next Wednesday on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 MS Points ($10). Featuring four-player battles over Xbox Live, twenty single-player challenges and, perhaps most importantly, a large force of invertebrates intent on causing as much destruction as possible, Worms HD is one of the more anticipated XBLA titles this side of Dracula's castle.

The range of weapons appears to be more limited than previous Worms iterations (the absence of the Holy Hand Grenade is difficult to comprehend), but the online play should provide more than enough justification for the franchise's appearance on Xbox Live Arcade. Get hooked on it beginning March 7, 8AM GMT (1AM PST).

Tags: Team 17, Team17, Worms, Worms HD, WormsHd, XBLA, Xbox Live Arcade, XboxLiveArcade

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

stubbymonkey @ Mar 2nd 2007 5:46AM

Nooo it's worms 2, what a pile of crap.

Original worms FTW!

KC @ Mar 2nd 2007 5:47AM

I love Worms, and I'd buy this in a heartbeat. BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT I need a few questions answered.

#1- Can I play multiplayer locally? And if I can, do I have to play pass the controller? I want 4 players, in the same room, 4 controllers.

#2- Can I name my worms. Do my worms keep stats? Can I have JukeyJoe and CaptainInsano(my main worms in EVERY worms I play), rock with my most kills?

#3- Will there be more weapons through patches? and will they cost me money?

Seriousl, I DO NOT want this game to be halfassed. If it is in anyway(ditching weapons is cutting it close), I will not buy. There is NO excuse not to add local multiplayer, more weapons, and customized worm names/accents/death stones.

Worms World Party(Dreamcast) so far has been the best Worms ever.

I just need to know if this one will surpass it.

KineticOnline @ Mar 2nd 2007 6:31AM

@ KC there is local multiplayer

GAME FEATURES
A mix of strategy and arcade action that, although simple to understand, contains real depth and massive replayability
Turn-based multiplayer action for up to four players locally or over Xbox Live
An assortment of game options:
o Landscape on which to do battle
o Turn and round times
o Starting weapon arsenal for each team
Three detailed tutorials to introduce the mechanics to first-time players
Twenty increasingly difficult single-player challenges
Three graphical themes for play
A random landscape generator to ensure that no two landscapes are ever the same
Twenty-two weapons and utilities to deploy against your enemies
Many customizable elements, including what worms and teams are named, what worms say, and which gravestone they have when they die
High-definition visuals and many graphical improvements throughout the game
Twelve achievements
Weekly, monthly and overall leaderboards

ZenGaijin @ Mar 2nd 2007 7:11AM

Maybe now I can see what the big deal is. This game just looks like nothing special to me......

KC @ Mar 2nd 2007 7:12AM

Nice.

Looks good to me :)

Thanks for the info, I'm getting it.

Only concern would be if the weapons in future downloads cost us money. That would blow, and would we be able to play with those that downloaded new weapons? Will they even do it that way? Hopefully it'll all be a patch that everyone must download. HOPEFULLY.

Valaris @ Mar 2nd 2007 7:14AM

Ah, this makes me want to go buy an Xbox360 even more. Come'on pricedrop or bigger hard drive.

ssuk @ Mar 2nd 2007 8:21AM

If people cannot see how special a worms game is, then you obviously do not know what worms is. And if you don't, what rock have you been living under?
Also, don't be fooled, Worms 2D is nothing like Worms 3D, Worms 2D > Worms 3D in every way, shape and form. Can't wait for the XBLA ver.

kevinski @ Mar 2nd 2007 8:22AM

No pneumatic drill? That sucks. :(

It's nice to see that the ninja rope is still there, though. Worms just isn't Worms without the ninja rope.

kevinski @ Mar 2nd 2007 8:38AM

What?! They included the poke (?) ability, but not the baseball bat? Ouch.

Still, I suppose that this will make the game more strategic. I'm glad that there's no Select Worm feature. I never use it, personally, and people need to learn to use their other worms, no matter where they're placed on the map. It just makes you a better player. And it prevents people from making one worm's stats ridiculously high (unless they plan on losing a lot).

MosquitoControl @ Mar 2nd 2007 8:45AM

I still don't understand the lack of a baseball bat. As I've said in other threads, most of the single player missions involved little more than the bat.

Also looks like no super sheep. No holy hand grenade. No old lady.

I played a lot of Worms in college. A lot. We purchased it on the DC but only played once as the options were too limited. This seems more limited.

Worms is most fun when you play a 3 or 4 player game with superweapons and massive destruction, but still to the point that you need to conserve and use some skill (ie few air raids.)
Worms is not fun when it's just regular grenades and the bazooka. When you have that it's just Gorillas.

At least the banana is there, but I can promise you that this massive Worms fan will pass. I'll just reinstall WWP. Even with its flaws you could customize that game to be exactly what you want.

Virtua Fanboy @ Mar 2nd 2007 8:46AM

yay now maybe everone will shut up. lol

Pip @ Mar 2nd 2007 9:14AM

No, now you'll hear how something is missing that the entire game depends on.

As much as I hate the ninja rope, I'm glad they included it because you would see 10 pages of people moaning about it. It just takes to long to wait for someone to rope around the level. Drives me nuts. Hopefully they have weapon options in the game to turn it off when creating a game.

Farseer @ Mar 2nd 2007 9:36AM

Pip:

The best way to avoid Ninja rope abuse is to set the round timer to 1 min. Not only does that keep someone from trying to move their Worm all the way across the board, it adds a sense of urgency to the whole game. You'll become a lot better with all your weapons if you only have a minute to decide and act. And you can then use the Ninja rope how it was intended - quick moves to higher ground or for dropping dynamite or a banana on a group of worms and then vacating the area.

Jason @ Mar 2nd 2007 9:46AM

I'm totally stoked for Worms. WORMS!

Skwurl @ Mar 2nd 2007 10:06AM

This is a game that needs to come out on Wii.

polly @ Mar 2nd 2007 10:21AM

Fuck yeah!

...so...happy...(tear)

Virtua Fanboy @ Mar 2nd 2007 10:22AM

@ Skwurl:

Screw the Wii. You have R type and all kinds of other cool games, lol.

Judd @ Mar 2nd 2007 10:42AM

I'm really pumped for this. I know that I'll play it quite often.

That being said it seems as if it's more of a port of the PSP version. It looks like the weapon selection is the same and well it too was a widescreen worms.

Good luck to all on Wed. :)

ackmondual @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:06AM

Anyone know if "hao-dou-kens" and dragon punches made it to this version?

@ #4
""Maybe now I can see what the big deal is. This game just looks like nothing special to me......""

looks are usually deceiving. I've seen ppl scoff at screenshots of Tetris, saying a game with just "a bunch of stupid falling blocks" can't be any fun.
I've also seen ppl think GoW is just another FPS (tech. not I know since the cam is behind the shoulder), but then they play it and acknowledge that the game is truly unique with it's own atmosphere and style.

gwangi @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:27AM

@ MosquitoControl

Super Sheep is in the game, however no old lady or Holy Hand grenade ;(

@ ackmondual

It looks like Dragon Punch is in the game.

Pag @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:37AM

The limited number of weapons seem to be because it's the original Worms with the new graphics. Besides the drill being replaces by the jet-pack - which I applaud, since it'll reduce the number of boring underground wars - it's the original list of weapons.

R2DEVO @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:38AM

from: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/w/wormsxboxlivearcade/

* Strategy and action: The game is a cleverly balanced mix of strategy and arcade action that is not only simple and easy to understand but contains real depth and massive replay-ability.

* Multiplayer modes: Play offline turn-based play for up to four players, or go online for turn-based play for up to four players over Xbox Live®.

* Game options: An assortment of game options abound, from the landscape on which to battle on, to turn time, round time, and the starting weapon arsenal of each team.

* Tutorials: Three detailed tutorials are included to introduce the mechanics to those who haven't played the game before.

* Variety of challenges: With 20 increasingly difficult single player challenges and three graphical themes on which to play, a random landscape generator means no two landscapes generated are ever the same.

* Weapon selection: Choose from 22 weapons and utilities to deploy against your enemies.

* Customization: Make the game your own, from worm and team names, to what they say and the gravestone they leave behind when they die.

excellent.

ALH @ Mar 2nd 2007 12:13PM

all i need to know is wether this is worth the offline play. i can only theoretically gain acess to the net to download this and not to play it :(

mike @ Mar 2nd 2007 1:53PM

Im probably not gonna buy it. 800 points is like $15 or more cause its not like you can just buy 800 points. They seem to be missing the old lady, holy hand grenade, and baseball bat (3 of my favorite weapons) + im sure they are missing more.

Only 4 players? I remember worms being 8 players? And from the looks of every screenshot, it appears that we can only have 2 teams. read and blue. What happened to every man for himself?

Also, are we still gonna be able to customiz everything in the game options, like round time, worm health, drop frequency, weapons power, availability? What about full worm team customization and the simple map editor? I doubt the game will have any of this.

As a worms fan, I am extremely dissapointed in this. Actually Im dissapointed in every XBLA game. seems they are all trimmed down or have flaws. Why couldent they just port WWP to XBLA?

Virtua Fanboy @ Mar 2nd 2007 2:00PM

@ 24 Mike: "Actually Im dissapointed in every XBLA game. seems they are all trimmed down or have flaws. Why couldent they just port WWP to XBLA?"

Mike, do you why your disapointted in every XBLA game? Sorry to just act like I know you but I think it's a very safe assumption that if you weren't dissapointed all the time you would never be happy any of the time, lol. Or in laymans terms: sorry man but your a whiner.

Get over it. :)

polly @ Mar 2nd 2007 3:41PM

$15? Math much? Go pick up a Best Buy Gamers Gift Card, use the coupon and voila, 1600 pts for about $16. That's an $8 game. Sorry if you're not excited for Worms though. Tis a pity.

mike @ Mar 2nd 2007 10:29PM

Yes I do my math just fine thank you.

1400 Points = $30 So that means the game costs a bit over $16.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10083945&catid=23562

TheChaz @ Mar 3rd 2007 12:05PM

test post

mr.blonde @ Mar 3rd 2007 12:15PM

It's basically a port of Worms: Open Warfare thats on the DS/PSP, it is nowhere near as good as worms Armageddon.

9mmPreacher @ Mar 4th 2007 3:46AM

If anyone is interested, SonsofGod Clan is hosting a $2.00 Worms Tournament. The Tourney is limited to only 100 players and it will be ladder based. Half of the donation/registration fee will be donated to charity while the other will go towards the prize and administration.
The prize is a $59.99 gift certificate to Amazon.com. Please visit www.sonsofgodclan.net to register and obtain more info.
Preacher