Whereas before a stick of dynamite (say) would always deal a fixed amount of damage, in A Space Oddity, once you've slithered your way out of the blast radius, you simply flip the remote sideways (as though holding a plunger), and then determine the amount of damage dealt by plunging it down as fast as you can.
The roster of weapons brings back the traditional Worms bazooka - aimed by tilting the remote vertically to determine the shot strength, and selecting the shot trajectory with the D-pad. Homing missiles are directed toward their target by guiding them with the pointer. The UFO strike replaces the air strike from earlier games. Upon selection, a UFO pops up on screen. Shaking the remote causes bombs to rain down upon the worms below - the more vigorous the shaking, the more comes out. The shotgun now has you aiming with the remote, of course, and the bullets spread as they travel, ensuring you can't just aim at someone on the other side of the screen and blast their brains out. Girders are easier to place than ever before, but the fantastically irritating ninja rope thankfully fails to make an appearance. You can still tunnel into the scenery, but between the giganto explosions and the rising water level, it's generally not a good idea.
Speaking of explosions, this time they're massive. A Space Oddity is Team 17's attempt to create a Worms title on Wii that retains all the good points of previous games, but one that's accessible to newcomers in the same breath. The Yorkshire-based outfit has decided that the best way to do this is to ramp up the size of the worms and the explosions they absorb, shortening the average game length from 30 minutes to somewhere around ten, a positive approach that also makes it very difficult for "dark side" players to bury themselves into the scenery and hold out for a draw. Elsewhere, if you get your jollies from dressing your worms up in little helmets and masks, you'll be happy to note that these are present and correct - your reward for hunting out special crates in the Campaign mode.
So, everything's good, except for one thing. And it's quite a thing. Actually firing a normal bazooka shotÂ- the meat and potatoes of WormsÂ- is the stuff of nightmares. As we said earlier, you have to tilt the remote to set shot strength and tweak the trajectory using the directional pad - it's possible to learn it, but in the process we ended up becoming The Angriest Thing Ever. Sort this one problem out, and we're sure A Space Oddity will be great.
Feb 20, 2008
