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Some of the most addictive games in history have involved sending small, cute creatures to their graves, whether on purpose or by accident. Take Lemmings for example, which put you in control of hundreds of green-haired animals that quite often got drowned, squashed or decapitated on their quest to get to the exit of each level. However, whereas in Lemmings you were meant to be saving your suicidal little followers, the original Worms took things to a new level when it hit store shelves back in 1995 by actively encouraging you to torture them. Armed with bazookas, uzis, shotguns and loads of other weapons, you had to send the squirmy things into battle in order to beat other, competing teams of worms.
While the original game was an instant hit, since then the series has been up and down more times than a yo-yo. The sequel, Worms 2, changed the look of the franchise by giving everything a more cartoony style and added some new features, while in comparision the third game, Worms Armageddon, bought few innovations, instead opting to provide more weapons and levels. The forth title, Worms World Party, took the series where it played best, online, but still looked remarkably similar to previous titles, while the fifth game, Worms Blast, is a completely different concept similar to the 'Bust-A-Move' games, but using the worms franchise. So, in the five incarnations of Worms, not to mention the numerous add-on packs for each, while the gameplay has been carefully refined over the years, the graphics haven't moved much further than those in the original; until now.
Team 17 have put off the leap to 3D for a long time, saying that it would compromise the game's playability, but finally they're taking the plunge with the franchise's latest instalment, titled Worms 3. Little is known about how they hope to recreate the same ease of aiming weapons that the previous 2D titles managed so well, but expect some sort of aiming help that will tell you the general area in which your shots will land, but you'll have to take into account wind speed and direction to work out the precise spot. We do know, however, that the game will feature both single-player and multi-player modes, and will be available for PC, Xbox, GameCube and PlayStation 2, with at least one of those versions set for release this year. Whether it will take advantage of online services such as Xbox Live is currently unclear, but considering how fun the previous games were online they'd be fools if it didn't.
We are thrilled to be introducing Worms onto the next-generation console systems," states Kathy Vrabeck, executive vice president, global publishing and brand management for Activision. "The franchise has sold more than seven million units worldwide since its inception in 1995. Worms' unique humour, instant playability and addictive gameplay have remained popular across two generations of hardware with the franchise appearing on almost every platform. Now delivered in 3D, the game is sure to be even more popular than its predecessors drawing in a new generation of gamers around the globe."
We hope to hear much more about this potential big-hitter in the near future, but until then why not check out these early screenshots from the PC version that we've managed to smuggle out of Activision.
Marc Hull
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