The names of some classic video games can take you back in time. Mention “Super Mario Bros” to us, and we’ll get fond recollections of playing it on the Super Nintendo in the early 1990s. Talk to us about “Sonic the Hedgehog,” and we’re in the same era, playing the Sega Genesis and marveling at the capabilities of the hardware. Jumping forward in time a little, you can remind us of the very first PlayStation by mentioning “WipeOut” or “Ridge Racer.” Classic games have a way of transcending the machine they’re played on and becoming an important part of your life. We know many of you feel the same way about “Worms.”
“Worms” was released on several platforms at the same time, so your memories of it might not be attached to any specific one. You were just as likely to play “Worms” on the first PlayStation as you were on your home PC. If you’re old enough to remember the game, though, you’ll surely have warm recollections of the cute characters making vows to get revenge in the moments before their doom, or frustrating your friends by calling in airstrikes at the worst possible moment for their strategy. It was a simple game, but its tongue-in-cheek style of humor and endless playability gave it serious staying power and make it a popular two, three, or even four-player choice when socializing.
We haven’t seen much of the “Worms” franchise for a while. Although many sequels have been released over the past twenty years, none of them quite captured the excitement of the original. In more recent years, it’s been more likely that you’ll have played a “Worms” game at an online slots website like Money Reels than on your video games console or laptop. Both the original “Worms” and “Worms Reloaded” have been recreated as online slots, and they’ve both been received well by players. It’s probably been a source of frustration to the people who own the intellectual property that they can attract money using the “Worms” brand name at online slots websites but haven’t been able to do so with a ‘real’ “Worms” game. All of that might be about to change – and just in time for Christmas, too.
During the past few weeks, video game development companies have been putting the finishing touches to the games that will be available close to the launch of the new PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Both platforms are likely to be popular Christmas present requests, and so that means any game released for them between now and Christmas stands a good chance of benefiting from the Christmas rush, too. We can now confirm that “Worms Rumble” is going to be one of those games. As things currently stand, the game will enter open beta testing at the start of November and will then become commercially available for both the PS4 and the PS5 as of the first of December. That’s right – you can get “Worms” for Christmas. Just make sure you fully explain what you’re asking for if you include it on your Christmas list!
If you’re a fan of the traditional versions of “Worms,” you might want to read this next piece of information before you get too excited about the impending release. The “Worms” games of the past have followed the same format of turn-based gameplay. You attack, and then your opponent attacks. “Worms Rumble” isn’t going to be played that way. Instead, it’s going to be the first “Worms” game in history to be played in real-time. Whether you choose to go with the solo mode, the deathmatch mode, or take things online and compete in a squad battle royale, you’ll be doing so in real-time. You’re open to attack while you’re planning attacks of your own, and as a result of that, the entire experience of playing “Worms” feels totally different.
The decision to include a battle royale mode shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been watching which way the wind is blowing in the gaming world recently. The ‘battle royale’ mode is what made “Fortnite” so popular. The same formula is what inspired Activision to come up with the “Warzone” version of “Call of Duty” – a game that is set to steal the ‘most played game in the world’ crown away from “Fortnite” in the not-too-distant future. Battle royale modes are, increasingly, the feature that sells the most games. We can understand why Team 17 decided to make the mode a focus in this latest “Worms” game, but the move hasn’t gone down well with everybody.
In the aftermath of the announcement of the game – which will be released just one month after the 25th anniversary of the original “Worms” – fans of the series took to social media to express their feelings. While there were plenty of people excited by the prospect of a brand-new “Worms” game to play with, others lamented the loss of the building blocks upon which the franchise is built. The strategic element of the turn-based gameplay is where the appeal lay for some people, whereas others felt that removing the ability to destroy the battle arena completely defeats the point of what “Worms” is about. One user even went as far as saying that without these elements, the game simply isn’t “Worms” anymore.
Team 17 hopes that these voices are in the minority. They’ll get to find out whether they’re right or not soon enough when they open the game up for beta testing. If they get enough people to conduct the tests, they’ll probably also have enough people ready to buy the game and try it out when the full version goes live at the beginning of December. The PS5 version of the game will offer cross-platform support with PC-based players, which makes for more entertaining multiplayer games online. It’s not currently clear whether PS4 users will have cross-party support, but that will presumably be cleared up between now and the day the game goes live. Will you be buying “Worms Rumble?” What do you think of the changes to the game’s classic formula? Let us know in the replies!