Worms Rumble

This absence does feel like a massive oversight especially for a release commemorating the 25th anniversary of the franchise. Overall, the package is kind of a mixed bag of really fun frenetic gameplay and just as many missed opportunities that could've been something special for longtime fans.

It’s been over four years since the last Worms game, and Team17 has delivered their latest take on the 25-year old franchise with Worms Rumble. While it has all the style, weapons, and attitude of a Worms game, it eschews a core mechanic of all main Worms games – battles now occur in real-time! What we’re looking at here, then, is effectively a side-scrolling shooter mixed with Worms. Is this such a good idea, or should Team17 not have taken such a liberty with a winning formula? Time to find out in our Worms Rumble PS5 review.

Worms Rumble proves that worms don't need to take turns to sentence one another to a sheepy death. Not only that, but Worms Rumble succeeds in giving us an accessibly fun shooter with a decent amount of nuance for the competitive to wrestle with. The real-time combat and traversal work very well, and with speedy matchmaking, you'll always be up for one more game. The levels are well designed for a fun experience, although we would hope for more options in the future.

Worms Rumble takes the long-running turn-based series into the world of real-time online action for the first time.

Worms Rumble is an extremely imaginative and fun riff on multiplayer shooters, and manages to transition the classic franchise to an entirely new genre and format extremely well.

A surprisingly successful reinvention of the Worms formula that turns the more slow-paced originals into an engagingly silly multiplayer free-for-all.

Although purists may balk at Worms Rumble, I found Team17’s reinvention to be a welcome change in direction for the series. Real-time action wrapped around the battle royale genre works a treat here when combined with the zany, explosive world of Worms, but in order to become a multiple mainstay it needs more depth both in terms of strategy and player progression.

Team17’s Worms franchise has been going strong for well over 20 years at this stage. As such, perhaps it was overdue for a bit of a change-up. The Worms games have previously been strategic turn-based affairs, featuring teams of worms chipping away at each other with various crazy weaponry. This latest instalment, Worms Rumble, jettisons that tactical element in favour of a 32-player, 2D multiplayer-focused arena shooter with a distinct Battle Royale flavour.

This review is on the short side because there isn’t a whole lot to Worms Rumble as is. You queue up for your mode of choice (which will probably be battle royale solo queue more often than not), you try your best to rank, unlock a few cosmetics you may or may not use; then repeat. Like the hundreds of games on the market like it, it can be a joy to play, but you’ll likely want to wash it out with something else later that afternoon.

The very first Worms game was released over 20 years ago in 1995, and birthed a very popular franchise beloved by millions. The original Worms was a turn-based,

Credit where credit is due to Team17 for trying something different. While not necessarily a roaring success nor an abject failure, Worms Rumble guarantees enjoyment in the short-term, but its long-term prospects don't seem as promising. After a few hours, Worms Rumble does prove a bit wearisome and may not worm its way into your affections.