Worms Crazy Golf HD

Worms Crazy Golf HD Review

by on January 6, 2012

If you’ve played a Worms game, you’ll be very aware our annelid chums aren’t just simple creatures that enjoy mucking about in dirt and getting eaten by birds. They’re psychos, who like nothing better than blowing each other apart with the aid of dynamite, homing missiles, exploding sheep and concrete donkeys. Judging by this latest release, even the most crazed worm warriers need a little downtime, during which they play mini-golf.

On first hearing of Worms Crazy Golf, our cash-in alarm went off rather loudly. What next, we wondered… Angry Birds Soccer? Infinity Blade Kart-Racing? Lara Croft Bingo? But we needn’t have worried — mini-golf makes sense in the Worms universe, because its best entries are side-on artillery games. (Think: Angry Birds, but with a great deal more precision and depth.) The difference here is that instead of aiming at other worms using a handy selection of projectile weaponry, you’re instead armed with a small selection of clubs and limited shots to get your golf ball to the hole.

This being a Worms game, the course design is decidedly oddball. There are four themed courses — luscious Britannia, Pirate Cavern, spooky Graveyard, and lurid Carnival, the last of which is a 69p IAP in the £1.99 iPhone version — with floating islands and ramps aplenty. For 69p, Super Stickman Golf does much the same, but Worms Crazy Golf sets itself apart through courses having a great deal more personality and richness. For example, there are hazards — ball magnets; cannons; teleporters — and characters to deal with. Moles lurk and grab your ball, popping up with it elsewhere, often far from the hole; others steal or eat your ball, costing you a shot; and worms tending courses explode in retaliation when you bonk them on the head, leaving you stranded in a deep, sandy bunker. The game also boasts power-ups – including an insanely useful 10-second anti-gravity toggle – and club upgrades. The former unlock as you progress, and the latter are mercifully available using in-game currency (collected coins) rather than IAPs.

The game isn’t a hole-in-one, though, mostly because it sometimes feels at odds with itself. The courses beg to be explored, but you must hit par to unlock the next hole. It’s a pity unlocks don’t also come by way of a score target, through collecting coins and other goodies, because you’re forced to be focussed before you experiment, contrary to the Worms series’s chaotic nature. The strict unlock mechanism may also leave you frustrated on a hole you cannot defeat, and the slothful worm repositioning after a shot and too-lengthy hole-restart process prove irritating. Still, collision detection (for bonuses and sinking a ball) is generous, and we worked our way to the final course without going bonkers, albeit in some cases through plenty of restarts.

There’s also a hole in terms of multiplayer, which is pass-and-play only, compared to Super Stickman Golf’s simultaneous online mode. There’s fun to be had wrecking bits of a course to hinder an opponent, yet the limitations make this mode less enjoyable than it should be. But despite our grumbles, we nonetheless recommend this latest entry in the Worms series. It’s challenging and entertaining, with courses that feel alive, and it has more than enough content to justify its price-tag.

Download this app: Worms Crazy Golf HD for iPad

Best iPad apps | Apple iPad 2 review

Review courtest of Tap!