I made this my team's flag in the flag editor. Mr. Destructoid FTMFW!

I’ve been a Worms fan ever since Worms 2 came out for PC way back in 1998. Since then there have been numerous sequels and spin offs to the series and unlike most fans, I think it’s really been improving. Just the other day, Gamestop was having a “Game Day” sale were select titles were 50% off. I noticed Worms: Open Warfare 2 for $15 and thought, “What the hell, it can’t be any worse than the first Open Warfare.”

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of the first Open Warfare. I even reviewed it. It’s just that the original Open Warfare had its fair share of problems. To begin with, the graphics in the game were lousy. The static backgrounds were ok but the worms looked like they were made up of 4 pixels and they seemed to only have one eye. The single player game consisted of 20 challenge levels and quickplay and that’s it. I finished that game quicker than it took me to buy it. The weapons also had strange physics and felt odd to use, especially the ninja rope and homing missile. Don’t even get me started on the lousy weapon selection.

Thankfully, Open Warfare 2 seems to improve on most of these areas. The graphics are much more eye catching. The worms no longer look like a pile of pixels and they even have two eyes. The backgrounds move and the land that the worms fight on is much more textured. Also, the game features cut scenes that are on par with Metroid Prime: Hunters. The typical Worms brand of humor is present in these cut scenes as well. Graphics aren’t the only thing that’s improved; the weapon physics feel much more like they are supposed to. The ninja rope is a joy to use in this iteration. There are also more than twice the weapons as in the original Open Warfare. Although they didn’t bring back my beloved baseball bat, the Holy hand grenade and the concrete donkey make their presence known.


This trailer is a great showcase for the games improved graphics.

The single player game is also much more fleshed out this time around. In addition to the campaign there is a puzzle mode and laboratory mode. Puzzle mode is interesting. None of the enemy worms attack you, instead you are tasked with eliminating them while facing such challenges as indestructible environments, limited weapon selection and immobile worms. Puzzle mode provides much more of a challenge than I had anticipated, given that the original Open Warfare was really quite easy. Campaign mode is more along the lines of what I was expecting. I’ve only played the first three missions or so and so far it’s on par with the original Open Warfare. The laboratory is really an interesting inclusion. It consists of three different “Experiments” or mini games for you to play. The first one, “Blow” is my favorite. The object of all the Experiments is to guide you worm from the start to an exit portal. In Blow, you do this by steering your worm (who is on a parachute) and blowing into the DS microphone to increase your altitude. It’s the easiest of the Experiments but also the most fun. “Blast” is similar to blow only instead of your worm constantly being airborne, you have to send him rocketing into the air by taping the touch screen and creating explosions. You can also charge up your explosions by holding down the stylus on the screen. Blast is fun but challenging, the levels often have pitfalls that are very easy to blow your worm into. The third Experiment, “Draw” is a bit of a let down. You draw lines in the environment so that when your worm is propelled forward by mines, your lines guide him towards the exit portal. It’s creative and challenging, just slightly boring.

With so much to do in single player I should be as happy as a pig in shit and I am. But I’m not done. Quite possibly the biggest and most needed addition to Open Warfare 2 is the level editor. I was incredulous when I realized the first Open Warfare didn’t include a level editor. The touch screen on the DS seemed made for this kind of application. Thankfully, Open Warfare steps up to the plate and smacks a homerun with its level editor. I’ve only made one level so far but I am extremely pleased with the amount of options I have. I really don’t know what I would have done if this feature wasn’t included in Open Warfare 2, but it wouldn’t have been pretty, I’ll tell you that much.

Open Warfare 2 provides a couple of good reasons to keep playing. The first being the shop. As you play the game you earn credits. These credits can be spent at the shop on nearly everything; weapons, skins, voice sets. Even entire single player missions and puzzles can be unlocked via the store. The other reason to keep playing is the medal cabinet. Similar to Microsoft’s Achievement system on XBL, you earn various medals as you complete aspects of the game. The medals don’t do anything, I just really love meta-games like this.

Overall I couldn’t be more pleased with this game. The only real complaint I have is there is some slowdown that wasn’t present in the original title. It’s not game crippling by any means and its even slightly understandable, given how much the graphics have improved. After having played Open Warfare 2, I must say the original feels like a demo version of what I have here. This is a literal ton on content here and I can’t wait to see it all. Once I do, I’ll be sure to post a review up here on Destructoid. I’ll give you a quick spoiler, it will be scoring much higher than the 7/10 that I gave the original.