NDS Emulation - Roms, Games, Reviews - Home

Worms Open Warfare 2
Score 9.2/10

If you played the original Worms Open Warfare on the Nintendo DS then you probably think this game isn’t worth looking at. Lets face it, the first attempt, if you can call it that was poor at best. However I am delighted to say that Worms Open Warfare 2 is a magnificent game, in fact I would go so far as to say its one of the best games I have played on.

For those of you that have been living in a cave for the last decade, the Worms franchise is a large one with countless variations of the game on multiple systems. The plot is simple, you have 4 worms each and you take it in turn trying to kill each other. Think Lemmings with guns.

This game has been completely rebuilt from the ground up and it shows. Beautiful, smooth running graphics with fantastic game play is a winning combination. There are a large assortment of weapons from your usual bazookas and mines to the more unusual, and much more dangerous super-sheep, donkeys and holy hand grenades. What really makes this game so great is the sheer amount of variation: there are loads of weapons and levels, but more importantly there’s a large assortment of game modes. Believe it or not, the 1 player mode is actually very good, something I have yet to see on another version of the game. As well as various change modes there are also some game modes that are unique to the Nintendo DS. In particular, I really enjoyed the “Laboratory” mode where you have to get your worm to the target point using hand drawn lines and explosives.

The game described above is an amazing one, but add the amazing wireless modes and we are laughing. This must be the first online game that comes anywhere close to the experience on home consoles such as the Xbox 360. As well as your friends list there is also a rivals list which you can add to immediately after a match with some random person, there’s no bits of paper with 10 digit codes, just the press of a button – now why don’t more games work like this?

As mentioned above what makes this game great is the sheer amount of variation and customisability. You earn points from completing tasks which you can exchange for rewards. For example you can by new voices and weapons. Talking of voices, there’s a load of them including classic, brummie, scouser, redneck, Irish and cyberworms to name just a few.

This level of charm and dedicated attention to detail is rare in a game, and part of me thinks this is an apology from Team 17, the makers of the first Worms Open Warefare game. I have a copy of Worms on my Xbox 360, and sure its only the Xbox Live Arcade version, but its nowhere near as good as the one on my DS. Worms Open Warfare 2 is an amazing game. If you don’t own a copy already, you are missing out big time!