#worms crazy golf

Worms Crazy Golf

With Worms as a series so often being about reiterating and improving on the same basic mechanics, the times when it breaks out of that mold are often particularly refreshing. Although they’re not always gold, such in the case of Worms Blast, it’s always good to see the franchise try something new just for variety’s sake. Such is the case with Crazy Golf – far from brilliant, but an entertaining spinoff that makes use of the series “aim, launch and fire” in a unique new way. It’s actually somewhat of a remake of several games released in the past for Java phones, with far more mechanics to make use of and content to play through. With that in mind, it’s a little simplistic, and makes for what’s generally a very light and fluffy, “pick up and play” game – not that such things are unappreciated. 

Such a simple, cheerful game, full of sassy worms! ;)

Developer: Team 17 Genre: Artillery Strategy Price: £6.29

Worms Crazy Golf takes the 2D worms engine and applies to to the comparatively peaceful pursuits of golf. Keeping in line with the traditional worms games, the game is set on a series of semi-abstract floating environments, and utilises artillery-based physics. Like traditional golf, the player must hit a ball into a hole, preferably under a set number of shots. Naturally, as this is a Worms golf game, there are obstacles such as other worms, sheep and little old ladies to be circumnavigated or used to the player's advantage.

There is a surprising amount of content and depth to the game (certainly enough to put perennial iOS rival Angry Birds to shame), with four 18-hole courses, all of which courses have four separate challenges to be completed. This is topped off with a shop that lets players spend their hard-earned coins on new, more powerful golf clubs and the player can also unlock customisation options for their worm. Despite this it all feels rather hollow and plastic, perhaps due to it's mix of reused assets from old worms games and what appear to be iOS microtransaction hold-overs.

A further problem with the game is that, past trying to beat par on each level, there just isn't any actual challenge. Once you get that all-important par or higher, the rest of the challenges simply involve repeatedly whacking the ball around a level, like a small child idly kicking a can around. As far as I can tell, due to a lack of a shot limit, it is literally possible to gain the skill shot award for each level by repeatedly hitting the ball out into the ocean.

And ultimately, the game just isn't that fun. The pacing seems all wrong for a worms game; worms games require quick-thinking and fast actions to best utilise a term, whereas Worms Crazy Golf lets you sit around for hours at a time tweaking your shots. And at times it makes you wait around for magnets or cable cars or whatever daft mechanisms they've thrown into this level to move in the way that's necessary to make your shot, and being made to wait around isn't fun; being made to wait around is what you do before a dentist's appointment.