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Worms: Open Warfare 2

Worms: Open Warfare 2 is a 2007 2D tactical artillery and strategy video game developed by Team17 and Two Tribes, and published by THQ. The game is a direct sequel to Worms: Open Warfare and was released for the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS in 2007.

Strategy

Time to beat: about 10 hours

Overview

The gameplay of Open Warfare 2 is similar to that of previous games in the series. The game is viewed from a side-scrolling perspective. The player takes control of a team of several worms, and is pitted against other teams of worms under the control of AI (if in Singleplayer) or another Human (if in Multiplayer). Actions are performed in time-limited turns that cycle through each team. The winning team is that which can kill the opposing teams' worms; this can be achieved by using various types of weaponry and tools, availability of which depends on the game mode being played.

Both versions of the game were praised by the gaming critic community. GameSpy called it the best Worms game to date and, comparing it to Worms: Open Warfare, said it "improves on the previous title in every way imaginable". They did note that the game was essentially unchanged and that the series, to some extent, is starting to get stale. They also noted that connectivity was buggy in the DS' single-card two-player mode, but that this did not seem to be a problem if multiple games were used. IGN's major complaint, about the Worms series in general, as much as Open Warfare 2, was that battles proceed slowly.

For the PSP version, GameSpy appreciated the sharper graphics and ability to zoom the camera out, making it feel "less cramped" than its Nintendo counterpart. One IGN reviewer noted that the DS version made good use of the DS' special features in its "Laboratory" mode and added that they helped to add variety to a stale series.