Worms (game series)

Worms
developer	Team17
Publisher	various
First title	Worms (1995)
Last title	Worms WMD (2016)
Platform (s)	Amiga , Windows , macOS , Mac OS , Windows CE , Game Boy , Sega Saturn , PlayStation , PlayStation 2 , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 , Atari Jaguar , Xbox , Xbox 360 , Xbox One , GameCube , Wii , Nintendo DS , SNES , iOS , Android , J2ME , N-Gage , Symbian
Genre (s)	Tactical game

Worms ( English worms [ wɜ: mz ] dt. Worms ) is a series of tactical turn-based multiplayer - computer games , which in the specialized programming language for games Blitz Basic by the company Team17 was developed. The program is based on the Artillery game principle. Worms Rumble, a real-time part of the game, has been announced for 2020 .

Classic Worms game principle

Warmux is a representative worms clone : in the middle of the playing field in a side view typical of the genre, the protagonists (here no worms) belong to four teams, the weapon selection menu is open on the right, the player selects "Firemonger" for team "Sonic", and the status display of the See the game with the remaining time in seconds for this round and the remaining life energy for each team.

In the "classic games", which are based on Worms 1, each player leads a team of up to eight heavily armed worms. The aim of the game is to eliminate all worms on all opposing teams. You can play against the computer, over the network or in front of a computer together. The latter is very popular due to the social factor. Figures and landscapes are designed in the style of a comic and are reminiscent of the game Lemmings , three of which were published by the same manufacturer.

Each player can act with one worm per round. During this round he can move and use a weapon or perform special actions (e.g. digging, using a ninja rope or the teleporter ). In addition to "normal" weapons such as shotgun, bazooka or machine gun, there are more exotic weapons such as sheep, holy grenades, mole bombs or banana bombs. All of them have tactical advantages and disadvantages, which arise in particular from (in) controllability, self-endangerment, range or forms of movement, amount of damage and the radius of the damage effect.

The more powerful weapons and actions (like Armageddon or Double Damage) are limited in number and time; H. the said weapon cannot be used as often as you like and only after a certain number of rounds. The number of possessions of a certain weapon can be increased by collecting boxes.

Since every play area in Worms is bordered by water at the bottom of the screen and worms cannot swim, there are appropriate tactical options. Otherwise, the worms' freedom of movement is usually restricted by rough terrain and mines . It is essential for many games in the series that the landscape is constantly " eroded " by the explosions that are caused .

The worms can die in two different ways: either by losing their life energy, e.g. B. by shelling, deep falls or by moving sideways out of the map or down into the water. If worms are still alive after the end of the game, the "Sudden Death" mode begins. The life energy falls to its minimum or sinks with each turn, and the water rises in each game round, whereby worms that are too deep drown.

Worms 4: Mayhem

Worms 4: Mayhem
Studio	Team17
Publisher	Codemasters Majesco Entertainment
Erstveröffent- lichung	July 29, 2005 October 4, 2005
platform	PC PlayStation 2 only in Europe Xbox
genre	Artillery game
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer
system advantages preconditions	Windows 98SE / ME / 2000 / XP CPU: 1000 MHz RAM: 256 MB Graphics card: 32 MB free memory: 500 MB
medium	DVD
language	including German, English
Age rating	USK PEGI

Worms 4: Mayhem is a 3D artillery game from the Worms series developed by Team17 . For the first time in this edition, the player can dress his worms in different hats, helmets, glasses, gloves and hairstyles. Another novelty is the additional weapons factory, in which the player can create a wide variety of weapons. In addition, you can buy new game types, worlds, voices and clothing in the Worms shop.

The game has a single player mode and a multiplayer mode in which the player can fight against computer-controlled worms or other players. There is also an online mode on the PC and Xbox versions.

Story mode

Unlike the previous Worms games, the story mode has a story with an expanded background, which is explained by many sequences and some film clips.

The story begins with a tutorial in which Professor Worminkle explains the use of various weapons. Then the Worms travel to the Middle Ages together with Professor Worminkle with the time machine he invented. There they are attacked by magicians and knights. After Professor Worminkle has repaired the damaged time machine, the Worms' journey continues. The next destination is the Wild West. There the Worms have to collect gold, which drives the machine. The next stop is ancient Arabia, where they have to kill Ali Baboon and his thieves. After completing this mission, Professor Worminkle will make some updates to the time machine. Meanwhile, the Worms read a letter stating that the government is planning to demolish Worminkle University. Then Professor Worminkle travels with the Worms to prehistoric times. There he tells them that he only used them to stop the government's plans. Then he gets into the time machine and flies away. Fortunately, Worminkle crash-lands in the mountains. After a few fights with cave worms, the Worms manage to catch Worminkle and fly to the present with the time machine. However, they leave the professor in the past.

Other versions and variants

There is also a pinball game and the arcade-like game Worms Blast .

A slightly newer edition of Worms, Worms Forts - Under Siege takes place in a slightly earlier era of the Worms, and in addition to the possibility of transporting all opposing Worms to the afterlife, the aim here is to destroy the enemy fortress. In addition to the well-known weapons such as bazooka or carrier pigeon, there are numerous new weapons such as refrigerator throwers, ballista and monkey gang. In a round you can build a building and fire a weapon. The size of the building determines which weapons you can fire. In order to build larger buildings, one must take places of victory. Instead of a tower, you can later build citadels from which you can fire far more powerful weapons. In Worms Forts, the landscapes are divided into four epochs: Egyptian, Roman, Oriental and Medieval. The buildings look different depending on the era.

The development of the game Worms Battle Rally , which was supposed to appear in 2004, had to be stopped due to an agreement between the developer Team17 and the publisher Sega for Worms Forts: Under Siege . It was supposed to be a kind of racing game with a shoot-'em-up element, with the aim of using the famous bizarre weapons of the Worms series to send your opponents into the afterlife.

Team 17 has announced a real-time variant of Worms with Battle Royal mode for 2020 . The game with the title Worms Rumble is to be released for PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 and PC. A closed beta will run in July 2020. Atypical for Worms, the environment should not be destructible.

Published titles

Games for PC and consoles

• 1995 - Worms (2D) for Amiga , Game Boy , Atari Jaguar , Macintosh , Sega Mega Drive , PC , PlayStation , Sega Saturn , SNES
• 1996 - Worms Reinforcements (2D) for PC
• 1996 - Worms United (2D) for PC
• 1997 - Worms - The Directors Cut (2D) for Amiga
• 1997 - Worms 2 (2D) for PC
• 1999 - Worms Pinball for PC, PlayStation
• 1999 - Worms Armageddon (2D) for Dreamcast , Game Boy Color , Nintendo 64 , PC, PlayStation
• 2001 - Worms World Party (2D) for Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance , Nokia N-Gage , PC, PocketPc, PlayStation
• 2002 - Worms Blast (2D) for GameCube , Macintosh, Game Boy Advance, PC, PlayStation 2
• 2003 - Worms 3D (3D) for GameCube, Macintosh, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox
• 2004 - Worms Battle Rally (3D) development stopped
• 2004 - Worms Forts: Under Siege (3D) for PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox
• 2005 - Worms 4: Mayhem (3D) for PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox
• 2006 - Worms Open Warfare (2D) for Nintendo DS , PlayStation Portable
• 2007 - Worms Open Warfare 2 (2D) for Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable
• 2008 - Worms Odyssey in the worm room (2D) for Wii
• 2008 - Worms HD (2D) for Xbox 360 (port of Worms Open Warfare )
• 2009 - Worms (2D) for PlayStation 3 PSN (port of Worms HD )
• 2009 - Worms 2: Armageddon (2D) for Xbox 360 (released July 1, 2009), PlayStation 3 (released September 8, 2010 - Europe and September 16, 2010 - USA), iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad (released on October 27, 2010)
• 2009 - Worms (2D) for iPhone and iPod Touch (ported from Worms PSN )
• 2010 - Worms Reloaded (2D) for Windows & Linux ( Steam ) (based on Worms 2: Armageddon )
• 2010 - Worms Battle Islands (2D) for Wii, PlayStation Portable
• 2011 - Worms Special Edition (2D) for macOS ( Mac App Store ) (port of Worms Reloaded )
• 2011 - Worms: Ultimate Mayhem (3D) for PC (Steam), PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360
• 2011 - Worms Crazy Golf (2D) for PC (Steam), PlayStation 3, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad
• 2012 - Worms Revolution (2D) for PC (Steam), PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
• 2013 - Worms Clan Wars (2D) for PC (Steam)
• 2014 - Worms Battlegrounds (2D) for PlayStation 4 , Xbox One
• 2015 - Worms World Party Remastered (2D) for PC (Steam)
• 2016 - Worms WMD (2D) for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Games for mobile phones

• Worms (based on Worms 2 )
• Worms 2006 (based on Worms Open Warfare )
• Worms 2007 (based on Worms Open Warfare 2 )
• Worms 2008 (based on Worms Odyssey in the worm room )
• Worms Golf
• Worms Forts (both a 2D and a 3D version, based on Worms Forts: Under Siege ).
• Worms 2010 (based on Worms Battle Islands )
• Worms 2011 (based on Worms 2: Armageddon )
• Worms 3 2013 (iOS, Android)
• Worms 2: Armageddon 2014 (Android)
• Worms 4 (iOS, Android)

In 1997, the Ukrainian company Silicon Brains published a CGA version for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer.

Multiplayer game modes

In the growing online fan community of Worms Armageddon (or in part also of Worms World Party), game types have been invented over the years that were not originally planned and programmed by Team17. This presupposed that the players obeyed certain rules of the game. Here some examples:

• Shopper : game dominated by three rules. CBA (Crates Before Attack = box before the attack), AFR (Attack From Rope = Attack from rope only) and KTL / ATL (Kill / Attack The Leader = attack by the leading team)
• Bombsurf : Based on a shopper map and shopper mode. The gods and 10-second modes set for the weapon boxes complete the mode. The aim is to get the opposing team into the water.
• Rope and Crates : (German = rope and boxes) You start with the rope as your starting weapon and you have to work your way through collected boxes in order to be able to attack.

Probably the most famous type of game of all is probably the rope race . In landscapes specially created for the rope race and drawn by players in programs such as Paint, the players mostly have to swing nothing other than the ninja rope from the marked starting point to the finish. This type of game has most variations, but most of the time the rules are simple:

• At the beginning of the game, all players have to go to the start using teleporters.
• Then you are free to choose how you want to go through the level. Occasionally, however, the freedom of movement is implicitly restricted in that forbidden abbreviations are graphically highlighted.
• It is not allowed to knock other players off by knocking (= pushing: pushing another player away with a skilful swing of the rope, but a maneuver that is quite dangerous without a parachute, as you can quickly be dragged into the abyss), but here too there is Variations. For example, rope races with weapons are also possible.

The gameplay with the tool, for which you probably need the most skill and training in the game, has proven so popular that it got its own server called Ropersheaven in the Worms Armageddon online forum . In addition, Team17 intentionally programmed and refined the game principle in the 2007 Worms Open Warfare 2 for the first time. So it is not the one who reaches the goal first who wins, but the one who achieves it in the shortest possible time. This scheme is also included in Worms 2: Armageddon.

weapons

Classic worms weapons are:

• Firearms: bazooka, precision rifle, shotgun, uzi
• Explosives: Grenade, Holy Hand Grenade, Banana Bomb, Dynamite, Cluster Grenade, Super Banana, Gas Grenade
• Melee weapons: baseball bat, nudge, flamefist, dragon ball
• Other weapons: air attack, bunker bomb, deluge, sheep, super sheep, kamikaze, grandma, mad cow, guided missile, napalm attack, poison attack, crate attack
• Tools: Jetpack, platform, drill, ninja rope, teleporter, jump rope, "surrender" flag, mole, parachute, guard cannon, lightning attack
• Secret weapons: concrete donkey, sheep clone, atomic bomb, mad sheep attack, Mike's bomb carpet, UFO, super sheep, Armageddon

Others

Team17 named the first worm ever created to test the game Worms "BoggyB", which appeared repeatedly in subsequent games in various variations. For example, a piece of music (the composer was Bjorn Lynne) by Worms 2 was called "Bad Boy BoggyB" and in Worms 3D you can find another name modification for the mission villain "Boggy Pete". Also in Worms: 4 Mayhem there is a certain western hero "Boggy the Kid", as well as the name "Boggy" on the western tombstones. In addition, in Worms World Party and Worms Armageddon , you have to fight the Team 17 team in the Deathmatches, where BoggyB is the second worm in the team.

In most parts of the Worms series, the player has the opportunity to put his team together individually by choosing costumes and the team flag (e.g. Afro, Germany, etc.) and the team graves (e.g. statue, mystical Rocks, etc.). You can also create your own weapon (team weapon). You can also choose the language and the victory anthem of the team.

Since the game is quite humorous and does not always take itself seriously, the developers were able to let off steam imaginatively with most of the weapons - that is, programming in oblique weapons, which do not really exist, with various allusions. Examples:

• The "Holy Hand Grenade" alludes to the film The Knights of the Coconut , in which this weapon is also used. It works like a normal grenade, but has enormous explosive power and only explodes after it comes to rest with a " Hallelujah ".
• The "French Sheep Attack" that appeared in Worms Armageddon alluded to the current events in France-England in 1999: French sheep farmers burned their sheep in protest instead of sending them to Great Britain as planned. The weapon works like an air strike in the game, but instead of rockets, burning sheep fall from the sky, dropped by a cattle truck.
• The "banana bomb" was one of the first exotic weapons, it even appeared in the first Worms. It is an allusion to gorilla , the original programming of the artillery games: two monkeys pelted each other with bananas from a fixed position and you had to adjust the throwing force and the angle, taking into account the wind. In the game it works like a fragmentation bomb, but bounces more when it pops up. After the explosion, it splits into five smaller fragments, similar to the fragmentation bomb, but all of which have the strength of dynamite.
• The "concrete donkey" was actually invented by Andy Davidson, the original developer of the game "Worms", at that time still "Total Wormage". Although he had sold the rights to Team17, he came up with one or the other little extra for the games and sometimes even coded it. Andy used to have a statue of a donkey in his parents' garden, which his parents kept telling him that it was a real donkey and that it could only get rid of its concrete shell if he wanted to. In the game, the donkey is thrown from the air, destroying everything that is not air: landscape, mines, oil barrels, boxes and of course worms, until it reaches the water on the lower screen. Since you can use it from any position and thus can often rule out self-harm and since it inflicts a lot of damage on opponents, it is a powerful weapon.

See also

• In addition to the original Artillery and numerous remakes of the game principle, there are also game clones by Worms, such as Liero , NiL , Wörms of Prey and Carnage Contest .
• The best-known clones of the first Worms parts are the two free and platform-independent games Wormux and Hedgewars .

Web links

• Website of the manufacturer Team17 (English)
• Overview website for various Worms parts (English)
• Podcast on Worms Armageddon with technical background information (German)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Peter Steinlechner: The new worms fight in real time. In: Golem.de . July 2, 2020, accessed July 4, 2020 . 
2. ^ Worms on Spectrum Computing