Because people are more inclined to complain and offer negative criticism than to praise and offer positive criticism (and I'm not speaking about the forum specifically here, but about the human racer as a whole - people would much rather have a moan than say "Yes, this is good" because moaning is easier) I'm going to offer my opinion of Worms XBLA. And here it is:

It's bloody good fun. The simpler weapon set strips out a lot of the complexities that Team 17 have added in over the years, and while the limited speech and landscape styles are a bit of a bugger they've already said these will be made available as extra content. Worms XBLA is very quickly shaping up to be a very, very good remake of the original Worms. It's by no means a step forward for the 2D games - that may well come in the future - but for what it is, it's sublime. Easily the best game available on XBLA right now.

You'd be surprised to hear that this is also the opinion of people on the Penny Arcade Forums, as well as pretty much everyone I have played the game with so far. To date, the only moaning I've seen going on is on this forum, where people are saying "WEHR AM TEH HOLY HAND GERNAD?!!1". If you want that stuff, you can pick up Worms 2, Worms Armageddon, Worms World Party and Worms 3D for just under a tenner from Sold Out Software - do feel free to knock yourselves out there. Worms XBLA is a simple game released on a simple games distribution network for a budget price, and it excels in its area.

I do have some minor criticisms, and this is specifically aimed at the grenades, the Firebal, and the Ninja Ropel. Grenades have no bounce setting, and appear to be a lot stickier than in previous games (but, like the transition between Worms and Worms 2, this is something I can get used to). And the Fireball doesn't seem to fling worms as far as it used to, in addition to the minor irritation of having your worm leap about half a worms' height in the air before unleashing its fury.

The rope is, so far as I have been able to tell, identical to the one in Worms Open Warfare (which in turn was based on code from W2/WA/WWP, I believe). The only difference here is that the rope in Worms XBLA is faster. A lot faster. It's a little unwieldy at times, rather similar to the rope from Worms on the Amiga, which will take some getting used to.

Besides these minor niggles, Worms XBLA is superb. I can't wait for the extra content that will follow, although I would appreciate the inclusion of "Team17 Test" in the first Speechbank Pack. Oh, and some more Challenges wouldn't go amiss either :)

I totally agree with you. I especially LOVE the effects of the dragon ball and the teleport. It's so shiny...

After some years of blowing stuff up, it was actually the skills you developed in the game that made it fun. Like being proud of yourself beating the hardest AI for example. I do like big explosions and worms flying everywhere, and it's still possible! They only don't fly into the water every time. I think most people want to see easy kills. They like easy kills. That's why they complain about the game. Come on... The worms are more fun than ever (They even look at each other, pound their heads when they miss a shot or roll away when they fall) And the weapons really involve skill!

The game really reminds me of worms: united and that was the first worms game that I played. I that game there weren't so much weapons either. But hey, I didn't know that there were going to be alot more weapons in the following games. That didn't spoil the fun for me. And now it doesn't either. I enjoy playing against 3 CPU's in SP, and it's great fun. I'm also dying to see the good old Dutch worms back. (''Jou krijg ik nog wel!!'')

Thanks for the kind words guys... it's refreshing to hear this sort of thing.

Squirm - I haven't had the chance to play against you yet though after hearing abot defconsoft's last melee with you I can't wait... (I'm sure he said he let you win in the end btw ;))

This is an absolute gem of a game, for about the equivalent cost of 2 pints of beer!

Honestly, I've looked foward to this game more than any other relases on the 360 (all games, not just XBLA) - the game reminds me of some good days gone by and the latest version doesn't fail to dissappoint! Well done Team 17!

The funniest thing is just seeing people make stupid mistakes (myself included). Many times i've thought it was all over only to be surprised by a crazy move. Some of these can be owed to the controller, backflip sharing the same button as jump, a slight mistake and you go the wrong direction but players also just misjudge shots and hit their own worm or they go for a health crate that is on a mine and don't get away in time.

Yeah this game is great as all :) But it needs a little bit fine tuning and modifications then it could be perfect ^^

What I even forgot to say, is that the reduced weapons really balances AI to humans... In WWP you could notice that the AI would be stuck in a corner because he couldn't use tools properly. Now they can use every weapon!

I also like how the AI worms are independent of each other... For example, if Worm1 wants to shoot your worm, which is standing next to another AI's worm, and he hits them both, then the rest of the AI team will react to Worm1 as a traitor and even target him untill he's dead?! That was really funny to watch today as I won a challenge because of it ^^

Squirm - I haven't had the chance to play against you yet though after hearing abot defconsoft's last melee with you I can't wait... (I'm sure he said he let you win in the end btw ;))
Have I added you? Have you added me? I'm not even sure. My gamertag is "squirminator" (someone else snagged Squirminator2k, the wretched cur!) so feel free to add me if you haven't already.

Defcon will choke on his words! I will personally see to it :D

I agree that this game is great! This is the first arcade game wich i'm going to play for a long time. The grafics are great, especially the light effect that teleport and fire punch have. It look really cool. Also the Big Ben in the background that gives the actual time... it's a small feature but a cool one. This game is more challenging with these weapons then with all those super weapons. In for example wwp, I just blew things up with the best weapons and every thing was a piece of cake. Now i really have too use some skills to kill people with te more basic things. It is actually a lot more fun this way.

This arcade game is really ownes and I think it is a must have.

I tried to DL some other arcade games, but they aren't so fun as worms. Compare them to worms and you find it a must-have.

w00t!

I too am very happy with Worms XBLA, having been a fan since the Amiga days. Played a few Live games with my mate and it was a riot as always.

How are sales, boys? Going good?

My guess, as Worms is currently the most played XBLA arcade game, is that sales are rather good. I will admit that I don't know much about... well, anything, mind.

I'm glad there's a thread like this on this board, people are too easy to slag something off and less inclined to praise.

I have never played such a tense game of Worms in my life. Online, it's amazing. The weapon set is nigh on perfect, not over complicating it and giving the players just the right amount without the game being overly silly.

I though i would miss the baseball bat, but I use the punch instead! It's alot more satisfying/gutting to kill/lose a worm and thats why it makes this version of the worms the most harcore yet IMO.

Awesome job, although the online code is a bit rough.

Thanks T17!

Big Thanks from me too, the Game is great. More Voices and Theme Levels in the Future and the Game is going to be the best Arcade Game on XBLive.

I'm glad there's a thread like this on this board, people are too easy to slag something off and less inclined to praise.

I have never played such a tense game of Worms in my life. Online, it's amazing. The weapon set is nigh on perfect, not over complicating it and giving the players just the right amount without the game being overly silly.

I though i would miss the baseball bat, but I use the punch instead! It's alot more satisfying/gutting to kill/lose a worm and thats why it makes this version of the worms the most harcore yet IMO.

But "hardcore" is not what Team17 were aiming for with this game. :(

No, it's not. Team 17 were aiming to get more people into the game by making it simpler. If you only make each game more and more complex then you limit the number of people likely to play it. You alienate people who haven't played the earlier games or casual/occasional gamers (who make up a large number of people who play XBLA games).

No, it's not. Team 17 were aiming to get more people into the game by making it simpler. If you only make each game more and more complex then you limit the number of people likely to play it.

Didn't seem to be a problem for Worms 2 and W:A.

The real problem here is that by "simplifying", Team17 made this version of Worms harder for casual players! The weapons now require more 'skill' because of the need for greater accuracy due to the reduced area-of-effect. It's ended up being better for the hardcore players than for the novice players.

w00t!

I too am very happy with Worms XBLA, having been a fan since the Amiga days. Played a few Live games with my mate and it was a riot as always.

How are sales, boys? Going good?

Cheers for the good feedback!

Regarding sales: I know the Challenge 1 leaderboard goes as low as position 67,000. As for actual sales we don't know yet (or at least i haven't been told) :)

Kel

Didn't seem to be a problem for Worms 2 and W:A.
Ah, I didn't realise you were from that parallel dimension where Worms 2 didn't have all of those slides, dials, tick-boxes, radio buttons, text fields for a variety of different weapon attributes, nor did I realise that you copy of Worms Armageddon has just one option toggle: "Fun" or "Not Fun".

The real problem here is that by "simplifying", Team17 made this version of Worms harder for casual players! The weapons now require more 'skill' because of the need for greater accuracy due to the reduced area-of-effect. It's ended up being better for the hardcore players than for the novice players.
So what you are saying is big explosions are better. Bravo.

The reduced weapon sets now means that players have to actually be good at the game, and from what I've seen of playing people online the majority are fairly good. I'm not, though. I'm rubbish.

Ah, I didn't realise you were from that parallel dimension where Worms 2 didn't have all of those slides, dials, tick-boxes, radio buttons, text fields for a variety of different weapon attributes, nor did I realise that you copy of Worms Armageddon has just one option toggle: "Fun" or "Not Fun".

My "Didn't seem to be a problem for Worms 2 and W:A" was in response to your "If you only make each game more and more complex then you limit the number of people likely to play it."

Worms 2 and Worms: Armageddon had a lot of customization options, so whether you were a casual players or a hardcore player, you could play the game that was most fun for you. That choice is gone in the XBLA release.



So what you are saying is big explosions are better. Bravo.

The reduced weapon sets now means that players have to actually be good at the game, and from what I've seen of playing people online the majority are fairly good. I'm not, though. I'm rubbish.

Yes, like I said, it now takes a lot more skill to play the game. But that's contrary to Team17's stated goals for the XBLA release (a game for casual players). If the game had the options that the older 2D games had, all players could be satisfied.

For myself, the older games were more fun. I was never a hardcore "grenades and bazookas only" kind of player even though I've been playing Worms since the original 13 years ago. The bigger issue is that the non- or casual-gamers that I used to have fun playing W:A with are having a very hard time with the XBLA release. It used to be simple: If I wanted to play a fun game with them, I'd limit myself to the weaker weapons and let them go crazy with mad cows, old ladies, and salvation armies. They had a lot of fun and so did I. Now, I'm trying to explain the wind effect on arc-based ballistic weapons and the casual players are getting frustrated. You no longer have the option to play the way that's most fun for them. The option could have been retained while still letting the hardcore gamers play the way they want to.

Worms has changed back from the over-the-top action game that was fun for everyone from casual gamers to hardcore gamers that it was at the peak of its popularity, to a hardcore turn-based strategy game. It's lost its vision.

If the game had the options that the older 2D games had, all players could be satisfied.
I am dumbfounded by your ignorance. I really am. It's astounding. I can only assume you had to send away for some Learn at Home courses or something because I highly doubt that someone could be this ignorant out of sheer force of will.

Then again, we're talking about a videogame. On the Internet. So there we go.

The long and the short of it is this: I started this thread as a counter-balance to people like you who wanted chocolate milk but ended up with regular milk and are now throwing their dummy out of their pram. If you want to moan about how the game has let you down, do it in your own thread. Frankly, as I've said before, you won't be missed.

I am dumbfounded by your ignorance. I really am. It's astounding. I can only assume you had to send away for some Learn at Home courses or something because I highly doubt that someone could be this ignorant out of sheer force of will.

Apparently, you must have realized that you don't have a valid argument or something since you've resorted to personal insults. I've been trying to have a constructive debate. If all you are interested in is flaming people, then I guess I was wasting my time.

I hardly think the post above (S2K's post) warrants a report - I've read and not removed a lot worse things here.

Try to keep things nice though, but if you can't cope with your "beliefs" being ripped apart, then posting on an internet forum isn't the best thing to do.


<End of this particular discussion, please return to the original thread topic - if you wish to continue the topic of this post use PM's - any further discussion on this post will be removed>


Edit:

Making wide generalising statements like this:
If the game had the options that the older 2D games had, all players could be satisfied.
... is only asking for flaming, unless you can back it up with proof. And lots of it

Cheers for the good feedback!

Regarding sales: I know the Challenge 1 leaderboard goes as low as position 67,000. As for actual sales we don't know yet (or at least i haven't been told) :)

Kel

Even more than what the actual sales are, I'd love to know how you guys are doing with sales. For example, are you making more money per sale of Worms XBLA (developed by Team 17 and published by Team 17), than you did with each sale of Worms Armageddon (developed by Team 17 and published by Microprose)?

Is XBLA really a good way for smaller developers like yourselves to publish a game, and really make some good money from it? Do you guys see yourselves making more games for XBLA?

I put Worms to the test at the weekend, and had a couple of people round (who weren't regular worm players). Showing them how everything (and I mean everything) worked took all of a turn.

Had several games and everyone had a laugh.

That is the reason why I wanted Worms for so long, and it does exactly what I wanted.

Same here. I'm more than happy with Worms XBLA as I was always a BnG freak back in the day anyhow. Hopefully it sells enough to warrant further versions (not just DLC) which will satisfy the want more super weapons brigade and will also have the 150MB cap to work with too.

Nice one T17.