Worms 4: Mayhem

Last updated

Worms 4: Mayhem
W4m-ps2-cover.jpg
Developer(s) Team17
Publisher(s)
Composer(s) Bjørn Lynne
Series Worms
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows
Release
  • EU: 29 July 2005 [1]
  • AU: 16 August 2005 [2]
  • NA: 4 October 2005 (Xbox) [3]
  • NA: 11 October 2005 (PC) [3]
Genre(s) Artillery, [4] strategy
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Worms 4: Mayhem is a 3D artillery [4] turn-based tactics video game developed by Team17 and published by Codemasters and Majesco Entertainment. It is the eight installment in the Worms series, and the successor to Worms 3D. The game was released in 2005 for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Windows.

Contents

Plot

The player's team of worms arrives at Worminkle University, where they meet Professor Worminkle, who trains the team to use various weapons. Worminkle then sets the team assignments to sneak into enemy buildings and destroy their construction sites. To flee government agents, Worminkle and the team travel back in time to the Middle Ages using Worminkle's time machine, but the machine gets damaged as they are ambushed by wizards and knights. After fighting through them, the team proceed to the Wild West to find gold to keep the machine powered, fighting Boggy the Kid in the process, and to Ancient Arabia to recover jewels stolen by Ali Baboon and his pesky thieves and keep the machine's navigation controls balanced.

After recovering the jewels, Worminkle fixes the machine, but accidentally drops a letter. The team reads the letter, which reveals that the government was planning to build a new research laboratory to replace Worminkle University. Worminkle quickly takes the letter back and continues the journey with the team. However, they end up travelling far back to the Stone Age, where Worminkle betrays the team, revealing to them that he actually used them as part of his plan to escape from the Government. Planning to abandon the team in the Stone Age, he flees, but crashes into a mountain, forcing him to fix the time machine.

Determined to catch Worminkle, the team battle through caveworms and dinoworms. Once they manage to reach Worminkle on a volcano island, the team, having acknowledged what he did to them, steals the time machine and travels back to the present day, leaving Worminkle stranded in the Stone Age.

Gameplay

Gameplay follows on that of Worms 3D , in which teams of worms take turns to use a variety of weapons and items in order to eliminate the opposing team(s). New features include the ability to customize their worm's appearance as well as create their own unique weapons in a new feature called "The Weapon Factory". The game also contains a shop where players can buy various items, using points won by completing story missions, challenges, or unlocking trophies. Shop items include new maps, new accessories and attire, personality banks (voices) and game styles.

In a series first, Worms 4: Mayhem's story mode provides cutscenes before each mission to reveal background information. The game also has additional game modes, such as Challenge mode, which presents the player with various missions to complete. Multiplayer mode is available via Hotseat. Online mode is also available on the PC version and was available on Xbox through Xbox live prior to 2010.

Reception

Worms 4: Mayhem received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. The game was criticized for its lack of difference from previous 3D Worms games, difficult controls, and illogical AI. However, the range of weapons were praised for including both new and existing weapons, along with the level design.[ citation needed ]\

Related Research Articles

<i>Return to Castle Wolfenstein</i> 2001 video game

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a first-person shooter video game published by Activision, released on November 20, 2001, for Microsoft Windows and subsequently for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Linux and Macintosh. The game serves as a reboot of the Wolfenstein series. It was developed by Gray Matter Studios and Nerve Software developed its multiplayer mode. id Software, the creators of Wolfenstein 3D, oversaw the development and were credited as executive producers. The multiplayer side eventually became the most popular part of the game, and was influential in the genre. Splash Damage created some of the maps for the Game of the Year edition. A sequel, titled Wolfenstein, was released on August 18, 2009.

<i>Worms</i> (series) Artillery strategy computer game series

Worms is a series of artillery tactical video games developed by British company Team17. In these games, small platoons of anthropomorphic worms battle each other across a destructible landscape with the objective being to become the sole surviving team. The games are noted for their cartoony animation and extensive use of surrealism and slapstick humour.

<i>Soulcalibur II</i> 2002 video game

Soulcalibur II is a 2002 fighting game developed by Project Soul and published by Namco and the third installment in the Soulcalibur series of weapon-based fighting games. It is the sequel to Soulcalibur, which was released in July 1998. Originally intended to be released on Sega's NAOMI board, the game was released on the Namco System 246 arcade board before being ported to the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox in 2003.

<i>Driver 3</i> 2004 video game

Driver 3 is a 2004 action-adventure game, the third installment in the Driver series. It was developed by Reflections Interactive, published by Atari, and released on PlayStation 2, Xbox and mobile phones in June 2004, Microsoft Windows in March 2005, and Game Boy Advance in October 2005. The game's story focuses on players assuming the role of John Tanner, an undercover FBI agent, as he investigates a car-smuggling ring across three countries, in order to identify and arrest its boss and learn who they are planning to sell a cache of stolen cars to. The game expanded upon its predecessors with on-foot sections, gun combat, and drive-by shooting, with virtual recreations of three major cities - Miami, Nice, and Istanbul - free-roam game mode, and an improvement to the series' film-making "director mode".

<i>TimeSplitters: Future Perfect</i> 2005 video game

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect is a 2005 first-person shooter video game developed by Free Radical Design and published by Electronic Arts for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox video game consoles.

<i>Worms World Party</i> 2001 video game

Worms World Party is a 2001 artillery turn-based tactics video game developed by Team17, and is the sequel to Worms Armageddon in the Worms series. As with the previous games in the series, players take turns controlling their teams and using available projectiles, firearms, explosives, and equipment to destroy all opposing teams and manoeuvre across a specified and highly destructible map.

<i>Worms 3D</i> 2003 video game

Worms 3D is a 2003 3D artillery turn-based tactical video game developed by Team17 and published by Sega, Acclaim Entertainment, and Feral Interactive. It is the sixth installment in the Worms series, and was released for GameCube, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Notably, the game was the first in the series to be fully 3D. Additionally, it featured several new weapons, with some weapon operations being substantially different from previous Worms titles.

<i>Samurai Warriors</i> 2004 video game

Samurai Warriors is the first title in the series of hack and slash video games created by Koei's Omega Force team based closely around the Sengoku period of Japanese history and is a sister series of the Dynasty Warriors series, released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2004. A port of this game called Samurai Warriors: State of War has been released for the PlayStation Portable, which includes additional multiplayer features.

<i>Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter</i> 2002 video game

Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter is a 2002 action video game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, developed and published by LucasArts. It is the sequel to Star Wars: Starfighter. Jedi Starfighter takes place just prior to the events of Attack of the Clones and during the Battle of Geonosis. On November 17, 2015 it was re-released for the PlayStation 4 in North America as part of the Star Wars Battlefront limited edition console bundle.

<i>Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven</i> 2003 action-adventure stealth video game

Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven is an action-adventure stealth video game developed by K2 and published by Activision for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. FromSoftware published the game in Japan as Tenchu 3. It was later ported to the Xbox in 2004 under the title Tenchu: Return from Darkness and to the PlayStation Portable in 2009 by FromSoftware under the title Tenchu 3 Portable. A mobile version featuring 2D side-scrolling action gameplay was developed by TKO Software and released in 2005.

<i>Hunter: The Reckoning</i> (video game) 2002 hack-and-slash video game

Hunter: The Reckoning is a 2002 hack-and-slash third-person shooter video game developed by High Voltage Software and published by Interplay Entertainment for the Xbox and GameCube. It is based on the tabletop role-playing game of the same name, and is part of the larger World of Darkness series. Two sequels, Wayward and Redeemer, were both released in 2003.

<i>Overlord</i> (2007 video game) 2007 action role-playing video game

Overlord is an action role-playing video game developed by Triumph Studios and published by Codemasters for Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Linux and PlayStation 3. It was released in 2007 in North America on 26 June, in Europe on 29 June and Australia on 6 July.

<i>Worms Forts: Under Siege</i> 2004 video game

Worms Forts: Under Siege is a 3D artillery tactical game developed by Team17. A follow-up to the previous Worms game, Worms 3D, Forts showcases new features. While the primary method of victory is to destroy the opposing team, victory can also be achieved by destroying the opposing "Stronghold", the most important building in the game.

<i>Worms 2: Armageddon</i> 2009 video game

Worms 2: Armageddon is a 2D artillery turn-based tactics video game developed by Team17 and part of the Worms series, released on July 1, 2009 on Xbox Live Arcade. The game is a follow-up to the 2007 Worms game, which in-turn was a port of 2006's Worms: Open Warfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First-person shooter</span> Video game genre

A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through the eyes of the main character. This genre shares multiple common traits with other shooter games, and in turn falls under the action games category. Since the genre's inception, advanced 3D and pseudo-3D graphics have proven fundamental to allow a reasonable level of immersion in the game world, and this type of game helped pushing technology progressively further, challenging hardware developers worldwide to introduce numerous innovations in the field of graphics processing units. Multiplayer gaming has been an integral part of the experience, and became even more prominent with the diffusion of internet connectivity in recent years.

<i>Spy vs. Spy</i> (2005 video game) 2005 video game

Spy vs. Spy is a video game developed by Vicious Cycle Software and published by Global Star Software. The game is based on the MAD magazine's titular comic strip. The game features the two spies in a unique story mode, plus two other game modes, and a multiplayer mode for up to 4 players. A GameCube version was planned, but it was cancelled. The overall gameplay is a modernized version of the older Spy vs. Spy series of games in 3D environments.

<i>Worms Ultimate Mayhem</i> 2011 video game

Worms Ultimate Mayhem is a 3D artillery turn-based tactics video game developed by Team17. The game is a re-release of Worms 4: Mayhem with improved graphics. It features all-new content, story mode voice acting by Guy Harris, and other gameplay fixes such as reworked camera controls. The game features turn-based gameplay, a single-player campaign, and both local and online multiplayer. While primarily based on Worms 4: Mayhem, Ultimate Mayhem also includes content from Worms 3D, with its campaign and multiplayer maps included in the game.

<i>Worms Battlegrounds</i> 2014 video game

Worms Battlegrounds is a 2D artillery turn-based tactics video game developed and published by Team17 and was released on 30 May 2014 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

<i>Worms W.M.D</i> 2016 video game

Worms W.M.D is a 2D artillery turn-based tactics video game developed and published by Team17. It is the nineteenth installment in the Worms series, and was released on 23 August 2016 for Linux, OS X, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox One. It was later released on 23 November 2017 for Switch, and on 1 July 2022 for Stadia. Its gameplay resembles that of Worms Armageddon more than subsequent installments, while adding new features that range from interactive vehicles such as tanks, to buildings that the worms can enter for protection. It is also notable for being the first major redesign the worm characters have received since Worms 3D.

<i>Worms Rumble</i> 2020 video game

Worms Rumble is a 2020 action game developed and published by Team17. As a spin-off of the long-running Worms series, the game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in December 2020 and for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in June 2021.

References

  1. Bramwell, Tom (29 July 2005). "What's New (29th July 2005)". Eurogamer . Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  2. "Released Tuesday, 16th August". Gameplanet . Archived from the original on 20 August 2005. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  3. 1 2 Surette, Tim (4 October 2005). "Worms 4 crawls onto Xbox". GameSpot . Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  4. 1 2 "GameSpot Summary for Worms 4: Mayhem". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  5. "Worms 4: Mayhem". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 24 August 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  6. "Worms 4: Mayhem (PC)". 1Up. Archived from the original on 6 March 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  7. Tom Bramwell (29 July 2005). "Worms 4: Mayhem". EuroGamer. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  8. Greg Mueller. "Worms 4: Mayhem". Gamespot. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013.
  9. Charles Onyett. "Worms 4: Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 24 October 2005.
  10. "G4 - X-Play - Episodes". G4 Media Inc. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 17 September 2008.