Worms 4: Mayhem

While it isn't perfect, most of its flaws are forgivable because of the style and the price tag.

Worms 4 Mayhem won't rock your world with its refinement and it won't keep you on the edge of your seat with excitement, but it's certainly an entertaining and interesting diversion, if nothing else.

Few things in this world will compare to the sort of manic glee that arises from sighting an enemy worm, targeting it through a gun's scope, and then pausing to watch the intended victim cower in abject terror.

The 3D view tends to slow the pace of the game as you struggle to find your targets, resulting in play that's not as frantic as it should be. But aside from this frustration, Worms still has a magic touch.

It's good fun, but the novelty of these funky worms waving goodbye in surreal style can wear off pretty quickly.

Awkward controls and unbalanced AI aside, this is still a Worms title at heart, so fans are sure to enjoy. One or two coats of polish are needed on the overall production, but there is plenty of fun to be had.

A fun multiplayer game, but when you play as a single-player, you will just find a very slow moving progression of a watered down classic gameplay that was lost oh so long ago.

Addictive, but the gameplay and tired humor makes this series a knuckle dragging Cro-Magnon compared to the telekinetic flying super-ape it should've been. [Dec 2005, p.112]

In the audio-visual department, the game shows how little it has matured since Worms 3D yet is still bearable, and the cartoony feel draws comparisons to Saturday morning cartoons.

To best experience this game it's definitely worthwhile to gather together a few friends or take your game on to Xbox Live.

Even though it's being offered at a budget price, there just isn't any reason to play Worms 4: Mayhem if you've played either of the last two games in the series.

The series still doesn't quite work in 3D; you'd need a lot of patience and considerable tolerance to truly enjoy this game. [Aug 2005, p.112]

Now that the game is established in a 3-D world, it has, for me at least, lost a little of its gripping intensity - an option to switch action between 2-D and 3-D would have been a nice touch.

As the rest of the games in the series, Worms 4 is a blast when played with other people. Single player experience is mostly training for multiplayer, but still quite entertaining. The games biggest flaw is the usual sequel curse: there's really not enough new content that you'd have to get this game, if you own the previous one in the series. [June 2005, p.72]

Adding platforming elements is good idea but the poor controls made it a nightmare.