Worms Forts Under Siege, the next in the huge line of Team 17 instalments of the Worms series. Many can remember the original games with their 2D landscapes, worms no better animated than a chubby finger but most of all, the great gameplay. That’s something all the previous Worms games have capitalised on, and even the puzzle version “Worms Blast” was immensely fun to play. Unfortunately, the key features that made the previous games so great are gone and so, this plays like a pointless and boring action/strategy.

Perhaps that’s slightly harsh for the introduction, but there is good reason for scepticism of the game and although a new player to the series may disagree with the negatives, they are fairly big points in my opinion. Just as this review was being typed, an announcement of this and Worms 3D to be released in the US, both with Live support on Xbox was shown – we were so excited to hear about Forts being Live in Europe, but because of the negatives it is no where near as fun as Worms 3D, and the only positive it entails is Live support, which is now in it’s predecessor too.

Firstly, the 2D games were always better and that’s a fact, just like the old tetris will never be bettered by the 3D reincarnations we are constantly seeing on the market, but with Worms, the first 3D version, aptly named Worms 3D was a surprise hit among fans because all of the core enjoyments of the earlier games were there, such as destructible scenery and our favourite, the ninja rope. However, while Worms 3D managed to keep the destructible scenery which surprised many because of the sheer scale of such an accessory in a 3D game, Worms Forts unfortunately lacks it. And the ninja rope.

The reason Team 17 decided to throw these items to the dogs is because of their new innovation of the ‘forts.’ What initially sounds like a good inspiration for an extensive series of similar games turns out to be a bit of a hindrance. It basically works that there are a couple of victory points on each map. The more victory points you control, the better buildings you can construct. You begin with a stronghold, such as a pyramid (depending on your era) and build out, starting with towers, then keeps, then castles and you can also build various special structures such as the hospital (respawns killed worms) or the weapons factory (sends weapon crates to that location). Each building, as they improve, can fire different weapons like the mortar, ranging to the fridge launcher and other such wacky contraptions. However, this leaves the bazooka and grenade as practically the only hand fired weapons available, and favourites such as the shotgun are absent which really slows down the pace of an already turn-based game. That said, there are some cool weapons, involving God. Some attacks form a cut-scene in which he unleashes fury upon you or your opponent, replacing the old nuclear strike and super class of weapons - again, these must be activated from a building, but they are a small bit of joy from a game which appears to lack general goodness.

The graphics are pretty average, the same as Worms 3D, so with their original charm but that isn’t necessarily a good thing in this case. The sound has the good old sound effects and voices which Worms fans will adore and the weapon noises are again, average. The menus are pretty diabolical too, with certain options that are included in the instructions, missing in the game.

Because of the Forts element, the camera is nearly impossible to design, and therefore it is pathetic ingame and this takes hugely away from the gameplay - and with the time limit set for 60 seconds, the camera can often lead to missed turns, miss fired shots and a general discomfort while gaming.

Unfortunately, to see the general good things about Worms: Forts Under Seige you should see our Worms 3D review (sorry for the poor quality) and just take off what we have said in this review.

Because of the horrible camera, lost memories of past Worms games and the generally unfinished feel to Worms Forts this has to get a bad score, my advice to you is to buy Wormds 3D if your in the EU, or wait for the Live version of it if your in America. Only for the die hard Worms fan, and even you may be shocked at what Team 17 decided to leave out. Thankfully there's a new Worms game on the way, if your prepared to wait. Or, you could always go to the best, and relive the 2D classics on Playstation and PC. The original is always the best.

Score: 6.4/10

Michael Hazleton