My thoughts on the game (PSP version), A mini-review plus some suggestions [Archive] - Team17 Forum

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Me!!!
23 Jul 2006, 16:37
So, I got W:OW for PSP a week ago. It didn't suck, it was just like WA/W3D/W4 all stuffed into a combination of 2D and 3D.
The Good Things
At first, when starting the game, the first thing I noticed were the nicely done FMV sequences (which seem very similiar to those in W3D/WF/W4). The menus were clear and simple. Once I got into the game, the gameplay felt the same as it was in 2D worms. Some of the weapons had been tweaked and their damage changed. Roping was very easy, especially in caverns. I first worried that the rope was too hard to handle in the console version, but it turned out to be as easy as it was on PC. Simply by tapping X you could navigate the levels without any trouble.
The level of customization was nearly the same as always- you get to name your team members, choose a soundset (all soundsets from WA + W3D included!) and choose a gravestone. No flags though, and only 4 worms per team, which is probadly because of smaller terrains. All human teams have their own rank that goes higher when you win matches, and amounts of worms killed/lost, games win/lost are always recorded.
3D backgrounds and water were a really nice addition and they really made the overall look of the game better. Worms looked more cartoony and pink, a little bit like the W4 ones. The performance in the game was smooth and there were NO slowdowns at all, even when zooming in and out. Oh yeah, and they brought back the replays, which were really funny (whenever you trigger a replay the sounds go to "slow-motion", which makes worms and explosions sound like cows 'mooing' like psychopaths). The loading times were acceptable, something like 5-10 seconds per generated terrain.
The music in the game was really good. Some of the tracks reminded me of the W3D ones (Artic + Tropical). My favourite was the hell theme, that one rocked. Sound quality was okay too, but some of the W3D soundsets were really quiet and low-quality, like they were compressed in bad quality or something. The space theme had an unique sound setting- all sounds echoed, including the speech of the worms, explosions, ect.
I played using the headphones, but the sound quality didn't suffer too much when using PSP's own stereo speakers.
Ah, yes, the terrains. Same as in WA, but there's no "terrain painter" program. You can always enter a random code of letters and numbers like in W3D and the game will generate a terrain. You can also press triangle to generate a random terrain, or select a terrain from the list of island/cave types. The terrains in W:OW are a bit smaller than in WA, but they are usually packed with interesting prefabs (i.e cars, huts, police hats, phone booths, skulls, ect.). The game has 6 themes, Space, London, Artic, Tropical, Tribal (?) and hell. I wish there were more, but at least they are done well.
The Bad Things
First of all, lots of weapons have been thrown out of the game. The weapon list seems much smaller than in other worms games- only the standard weapons are included plus an uzi, shotgun, blowtorch and a banana bomb. The back of the game cover mentions a huge arsenal but all I get is a small arsenal of weapons which have been seen thousands of times before. A little refreshment is what is needed.
Second, the biggest mistake is that there's no stuff to unlock. No, no, don't get me wrong- yes, you *can* unlock the next deathmatch challenge, but other than that, there's nothing. No weapons, landscapes, soundsets, gravestones, nothing...sadly, I was expecting to unlock a lot of things, but no matter how hard you play on singleplayer mode, you get nothing. The good thing is (at least for some players) that all the weapons in the game are unlocked right at start, so you can freely mess up with weapon settings when making a scheme.
Third, there's no fire effects- was it too hard to do even on 2D? When you blow up an oil barrel, you see no special effects, just a normal explosion. Seeing gas clouds like in W4 would have been nice, especially because it's a PSP game. PSP should be able to handle much more stuff on the screen without a loss in performance, unlike the DS version.
Other than that, I miss a good singleplayer campaign. There's lots of DM challenges and three tutorials but they're not enough. The challenges are easy to beat and often boring- sure, killing is fun, but how about objectives? A little quest to rescue worms from jail, perhaps?
=======
End of mini-review.
If I'd have to rate the game, I'd give it 9 out of 10. It's still great fun in multiplayer, but for a singleplayer person, I wouldn't recommend it unless you don't mind endless DM matches.

Fizz
24 Jul 2006, 02:34
Hi Me!!!,
Sound quality was okay too, but some of the W3D soundsets were really quiet and low-quality, like they were compressed in bad quality or something.
I agree, but I think thats the psp's fault for being too quiet since when I plug it into my computer speakers it's fine :).
Third, there's no fire effects- was it too hard to do even on 2D? When you blow up an oil barrel, you see no special effects, just a normal explosion. Seeing gas clouds like in W4 would have been nice, especially because it's a PSP game. PSP should be able to handle much more stuff on the screen without a loss in performance, unlike the DS version.
It would be nice for the psp to have more features, but it wouldn't be fair forcing people to buy the psp instead of the ds though.

Me!!!
24 Jul 2006, 09:42
It would be nice for the psp to have more features, but it wouldn't be fair forcing people to buy the psp instead of the ds though.
Well they both have their own specialities, like touchscreen on DS. :rolleyes:
I wouldn't call it "forcing people" to buy the PSP version, there's still plenty of reasons to buy the DS one...I guess? :-/
Thanks anyway.

Luther
25 Jul 2006, 15:05
I find it odd that no one from the forums noticed that on the PSP version of the game the clock tower in the background of the London levels tells the correct time.
I thought you guys had an eye for detail ;}

vmanc
25 Jul 2006, 15:24
Really?
I'll have to check that...

Me!!!
25 Jul 2006, 18:47
Whoa, nice feature. :eek: Gotta check it out the next time I play. The reason why I didn't pay attention was because I've never seen real-time clocks like those in games. Usually they're just static entities which do not move in any way (or at least they don't tell the correct time) :)

bonz
25 Jul 2006, 19:02
Monkey Island 3 had a real-time clock on one of the islands.
With a funny comment by Guybrush if you looked at it.

Mr.cosmico
25 Jul 2006, 20:36
I find it odd that no one from the forums noticed that on the PSP version of the game the clock tower in the background of the London levels tells the correct time.
I thought you guys had an eye for detail ;}
Woah, must check that out!

Cyclaws
26 Jul 2006, 03:53
I find it odd that no one from the forums noticed that on the PSP version of the game the clock tower in the background of the London levels tells the correct time.
I thought you guys had an eye for detail ;}
And all of a sudden, your signature makes sense. :)

Luther
27 Jul 2006, 12:21
And all of a sudden, your signature makes sense. :)
Hehe yes. I'll have to be a little more obvious next time.

Me!!!
31 Jul 2006, 18:57
Forgot to mention: The AI is great! So much better than on PC. Sometimes I even feel like I'm playing against a human opponent (although the AI doesn't rope :)). They even use the full arsenal this time! I've seen them use darksider tactics like using blowtorch as well. I just don't like one thing- Lv5 AI sometimes overuse the kamikaze :confused:
I've found no bugs so far on the PSP version. Seems like the game was fully worth the price (which was really high, about 59.99 €- same in £/dollars, if I remember correctly).

AndrewTaylor
31 Jul 2006, 19:58
Sometimes I even feel like I'm playing against a human opponent (although the AI doesn't rope :)).
So it's like playing me, then.

Kel
1 Aug 2006, 17:11
Sometimes I even feel like I'm playing against a human opponent (although the AI doesn't rope :)).
It does :)
The AI in PSP W:OW will use the Ninja Rope to gain access to crates which are unreachable on foot / tail.
Kel

bonz
1 Aug 2006, 21:02
It does :)
The AI in PSP W:OW will use the Ninja Rope to gain access to crates which are unreachable on foot / tail.
Wow! :eek:
Is that a world premiere?
Does the AI in W3D, WF and W4M use the rope?

Me!!!
2 Aug 2006, 07:39
Gotta try playing a shopping scheme with the AI then :p Just ninja ropes...and maybe mines and something else because it takes time for crates to start falling.
@bonz- No. I've never seen them use the rope in any 3D worms. There was no rope in WF.

Vader
2 Aug 2006, 16:19
The clock tower in the background of the London levels tells the correct time.
Is that based on the PSP's internal clock?
If so, someone in California might think it's the same time there as it is in London. They'd get all confused and cry.

quakerworm
6 Aug 2006, 12:47
it shows the same time as the psp system clock, so yes, it doesn't show the right time for london. it would have been easy enough to fix, since the psp does have a time zone setting.

Plasma
6 Aug 2006, 13:45
it shows the same time as the psp system clock, so yes, it doesn't show the right time for london. it would have been easy enough to fix, since the psp does have a time zone setting.
It may be easy to do. However, it wouldn't really be worth anyone's time to put it in.

Vader
6 Aug 2006, 13:54
It would be just as worth doing as having the clock tell the PSP's time, surely?

AndrewTaylor
6 Aug 2006, 13:57
It would be just as worth doing as having the clock tell the PSP's time, surely?
Idunno, it'd be a little more work for something that probably, in the end, less people would actually notice -- the clock being always six hours behind the correct time isn't the kind of thing you'd spot.

Vader
6 Aug 2006, 15:06
True enough.
It'd be more accurate, though.
I guess you can just pretend that you're in London when you're playing on that map, sort of thing.

quakerworm
6 Aug 2006, 15:32
Idunno, it'd be a little more work for something that probably, in the end, less people would actually notice
point. not that it would add any complexity to the programming, but it is more notticable this way.

Me!!!
6 Aug 2006, 18:19
Actually, I think I like it better this way, although it's not realistic...at least I'm able to check the exact current time anytime I play on that theme.

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