Worms Rumble (2020)

Worms Rumble is a fun time for anyone familiar with fast paced action shooters. It’s a shallow experience but it’s aiming to be fun, not to tell a story and it does a pretty good job with it. Although not a first person shooter or a true battle royale game, there are plenty of notes here for fans of those genres to enjoy, and it might scratch a part of your brain that’s been missing the flow state of a simple arena shooter. Worth a try if nothing else.

Worms Rumble can be an enjoyable ride, and it is certainly a bold, fresh take on the franchise. However,  it is ultimately a step in the wrong direction. Worms Rumble fails to capture the essence of previous games, and adopting this style of gameplay causes it to grow stale quickly.

It just isn’t as fun as any of its turn-based counterparts. In a sea of multiplayer shooters with way more content out there, some of them not requiring an upfront payment in order to access them, this game just doesn’t have what it takes in order to stand out.

Worms Rumble is credited with bringing a new perspective to this beloved franchise. However, the gains from the inclusion of multiplayer modes with real-time action neutralize the charms of Worms: we don't have the humor, brutal destruction and tension of turn-based combat titles. Despite this, it is a game made with quality and attention to detail. Fans of classic style will certainly have a harder time digesting the changes, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a try. After all, the constant updates and the inclusion of new modes show that Team17 is involved with the evolution and improvement of the title, which can become more and more polished and interesting.

Worms Rumble is a reasonably fun game in its own right; the battles feel fast, the weapons pack a decent punch, and the addition of zip wires make traversal a blast. The problem is that in transitioning to a multiplayer-focused battle royale style game, much of what made Worms so iconic in the past is now gone, with far fewer weapons and absolutely no destructible environments. Add to this a rather limited selection of levels, and you've got an experience that may well be fun for a short while, but certainly won't keep you engaged for the long haul.