Hall of Classics: Worms

The 1990's were golden years for PC gaming. A lot innovative ideas sprung up to compete with the economically and often times graphically superior console market that was thriving thanks to some stiff back-and-forth between companies like Nintendo, Sega, and Sony. The PC was the home of scrappy independent games, much like the Internet is today. With simple but immersive systems, games designed by relatively small groups of highly motivated individuals kept the computer gaming business alive until processors caught up with consoles to churn out mega-hits and breathe new life into the platform with MMORPG's.

One of these scrappy indie outfits was Team17. They were the very epitome of the idea. In the mid-80's they were known as 17-Bit Software, a subsidiary of a retail chain called Microbyte. They produced public domain games for the Amiga. By the time the original Worms was ready for release in late 1995, the gaming industry was in the midst of exploding thanks to advances in PC hardware and the successful launch of 32-bit console systems. Worms couldn't have been better positioned.

In format, Worms is a logical evolution from earlier PC classics. It combines the physics and sense of humor of Lemmings with the turn-based artillery combat of Scorched Earth. The elegance of the interface is a stroke of genius. Players create a team of slightly anthropomorphic earthworms whom they place in strategic positions throughout a large but limited 2-D battlefield with the sole intent of being the last team standing in a battle royale with other worms. An extensive menu of weapons and tools can be pulled up and minimized with a simple right-click and the individual worm in the player's control can scrunch across the map and jump to reposition itself for an optimal shot. The arsenal goes from more conventional weapons like machine guns and bazookas to wonderfully absurd attacks involving various farmyard animals. A worm with a bazooka is funny; a worm with an exploding sheep is even funnier.

Aside from the sense of humor and engagingly friendly combat, Worms really drew people in with its physics. Some weapons can be effected by wind and gravity, requiring players to estimate trajectories and compensate for directional interference. This sounds like a pain in the neck, but it actually lends a lot of extra depth and strategy to the gameplay. In addition, the landscape of the battlefields themselves is completely mutable. Explosions make holes in the ground and destroy bridges. Worms can use a series of power tools to dig through the dirt, creating new pathways and convenient shelters from incoming attacks.

By 1999, Worms was a full series with a very vibrant community of players. The graphical simplicity and small maps made the series ideal for early online multiplayer servers. The sequel to the original game, Worms 2 and its expansions Armageddon and World Party, updated the graphics, tweaked the physics and ultimately gave the game even more character than before. Even though the series continues to see updates, the most recent being 2008's Space Oddity for the Nintendo Wii, there is still a very active Armageddon multiplayer community. It has even hosted clever modifications to the original engine that exploit elements of the game's physics and alterable landscapes.

The Worms series and games like it, such as Hogs of War, have suffered a rocky transition to 3D. Physical depth adds a lot of issues with physics and sheer playability. On a three dimensional landscape, accurate targeting is often too much of a headache and it's much harder to view the entire battlefield. The graphical intensity of 3D turn-based combat also significantly reduces the available online multiplayer community. Still, Worms is a good enough series and Team17 is certainly a capable enough developer to see these issues addressed a little more with each iteration of the game. Let's hope we get to see the game's 20-year anniversary.