Worms Ultimate Mayhem is no doubt an evolution to not just Worms 3D (the game that brought the iconic strategic series featuring the charming worms full of character from the 2D realm over into the fancy new 3D world) but also further improving what the series has to offer as far as campaign story missions and character creation goes alongside other nifty features!

To start off here, seeing as this is the 8th game in the well-established series, (or 10th if you include the spin-offs Worms Blast and Worms Golf) Ultimate Mayhem brings out a whole new host of levels set across five different timelines in twenty five unique missions alongside three crafty tutorials and a bunch of extra challenges to boot, whereby the goal is as it's always been: To destroy the enemy worm team by any means necessary!

Though given that the story here has been given something of a 'make-over', seeing how the missions in all previous Worms campaigns had you do random stuff strewn across a multitude of different landscapes without any narrative coherence between one and the next, as Ultimate Mayhem brings time-travelling into the equation as you start off in 'modern' (though the game contextualizes it as the 'construction' period) where the game goes relatively easy on you at first before throwing in the harder challenges once you get into the four other time periods, that being Medieval, Wild West, Arabian and Prehistoric.

Now seeing as the gameplay transition from 2D to 3D was always going to be a bit of a challenge for Team 17 to rework here, I can hardly fault them for making it a tad on the easier side of things (believe me, I've tried the original Worms on Steam here and it's FAR more unforgiving even when you just have the 2D gameplay to worry about!) as I've always gotten the impression that both Worms 3D and this game were aimed at a more casual audience, people who enjoy the vast strategies offered in a destructive turn-based game such as the Worms series but often preferred to be introduced at a more 'gentle slope' so to speak!

Given how there is a lot more freedom when it comes to the exploration and navigation side of things, the AI still holds up well enough for the most part (although I say this primarily as an amateur Worms enthusiast) but experienced strategy gamers may find themselves disappointed when they put the AI to the test as opposed to messing around for fun since a key part of success in Worms games is positioning your worms in the best places for attacking the enemy as well as keeping them safe from as many types of attacks as possible, with how a safe tactic to winning many of this game's missions here is finding the quickest way for the enemy to be introduced to the blue depths of the water for a quick and easy kill! (Baseball bats are the easiest by far, with fire punches trading horizontal distance for vertical height and shotguns being weaker on the push side of things but granting you two shots instead of one)

Touching upon the character creation itself, Ultimate Mayhem adds more depth to the already improved formula of Worms 3D by allowing the player to fully customize their team members, going further than just the team's flag, voicebank and grave by presenting a wide variety of hats and wigs for worms to don on their heads, various gloves/glasses and moustaches/beards to don and even having their very own unique 'team weapon' that was introduced in this game which lets you create either a firearm, grenade or air strike of your own making, letting you adjust the damage to worms/land and strength of the blast itself alongside other various elements that are either positive or negative, seeing as Team 17 thankfully made a good job of balancing it so that you didn't make a god-tier weapon that could easily be made more accessible than the ultimate weapons featured in this game!

Speaking of which, the variety offered in this game is a point of contention for some as there is a smaller total of 39 unique weapons and tools compared to Worms 3D's more substantial 46, though given the new inclusions here such as Starburst that acts as a more versatile Kamikaze, Sentry Gun that acts as an automated turret that shoots at any moving worms within range with multiple cartridges per turret and Alien Abduction that puts a spin on the old Battle Axe by throwing in random teleportation and health gain/loss effects that can either benefit or harm the affected worms, it is debatable as to whether the loss of classics like the Homing Pigeon and Scales of Justice among others is worth the new weapons for some.

On the note of remasters, seeing as I have been referring to this game as 'Ultimate Mayhem' and not the original game's title 'Worms 4: Mayhem', the changes made to this version of Ultimate Mayhem include improvements to the graphics by updating them to High Definition standards, online multiplayer to take the strategic gameplay of Worms to the next level with real human players and a whole assortment of new challenges not previously in the original Mayhem game on the PS2 and Xbox alongside all the missions from Worms 3D! (Plus various Quality of Life updates to further refine the tried-and-tested gameplay of the series)

Truth be told, the game itself does hold up pretty well for the most part though, alongside the aforementioned issue of difficulty and less weapon variety compared to Worms 3D, I do have some problems with the AI not being as capable or as smart as they were in the 2D games which, whilst contradictory to a point I made about this and Worms 3D being more accessible due to being easier to find success in through it's less complex (and competent) enemy AI, I find ultimately detracts from any serious competitive gameplay as the only challenge you'll find outside of beating some of Team 17's own personal times on each mission is to play online with other players.

Sadly the online itself is it's own issue as, despite trying for well over an hour of constant waiting and fiddling about, I was only ever able to get one single match and no more, which itself is a shame as Worms Ultimate Mayhem has plenty to offer with it's 3D take on the dynamic strategic gameplay that this game provides, though it would seem that Worms Armageddon has the most popularity when it comes down to the overall fanbase.

In conclusion, Worms Ultimate Mayhem is well-worth revisiting here in 2024, seeing as it still has plenty of the iconic tactical gameplay that is rather unique to this series and, when combined with that charming Worms humour and all the new bonuses and additional content provided in the remaster, it holds up surprisingly well for a game that originally released almost two whole decades back in 2004.

Definitely worth a purchase in my eyes here!

TLDR Version:

• A return to 3D Worms gameplay with the remaster featuring HD graphics, online matches and the whole compaign from Worms 3D alongside new challenges being added (+)
• Fully customizable worms with dozens of hats, glasses, facial hair and gloves to make your team stand out alongside a creative 'team weapon' system exclusive for your team's use with balanced customizable parameters (+)
• Improved story with voiced cutscenes telling the wacky story of a 25 mission long adventure travelling across 5 unique time periods (+)
• Worms Ultimate Mayhem is more accessible to casual players as a result of the AI not being so aggressive coupled with more options to tackle opponents in the 3D world (+)

• The variety of weapons in Mayhem (39) is less than it's predecessor (46) which the remaster sadly does not fix with bringing classic weapons from the prequel (-)
• Ultimate Mayhem's AI is not as competent as it could be, resulting in less of a fun challenge for experienced veterans of the Worms series (-)
• Online is close to dead as finding matches with other players can take a long time without friends who also play the game (-)

I enjoy Worms 3D campaign to this day. It's just this style and music which creates this wacky but cozy feeling that i like. I tried multiplayer as well and it's really fun too!

Если вы раздумываете брать или нет, я советую взять, игра не такая уж и легкая, но веселая и стильная, с классной музыкой

Good and funny game