When I was in 7th grade, I used to play a game called "Howitzer Battle" on the Apple II. It was a turn-based game requiring you to calculate your shot angle to get the proper arc to hit your opponent. The Worms series combines that game with the arsenal of Wile E. Coyote.

In the Worms games, you typically engage in a battle in a 2-dimensional space, using strategy and a unique arsenal of weapons and gadgets to eliminate your enemies and accomplish goals like collecting additional weapons or solving a situation-based puzzle. This time, they follow a space theme as the worms have fallen through a (ahem) wormhole and are trying to repair their ship and return to earth.

Customization

For those who love to customize their video game characters, Worms offers a lot of options for a protagonist with no appendages. Everything from voice (all sound like chipmunks) to hat to victory dance to gravestone when a worm is killed. Note that, when reduced to 0 health, worms perform a self-destruct action with a detonator that may bother those sensitive to cartoon suicide.

In multiplayer mode, you can also customize the terrain of your battle and create unique environments and challenges.

You can also create your own unique terrains to challenge your family and friends, a real plus for fans of level-building and world-building, although more options would be even better.

Modes

The single player mode offers a decent training mode for new players and a story mode whereby you play a series of matches as you unlock new worlds with different terrain and wind challenges, from underground worlds that have no wind to ice worlds that cause you to slide away from explosions. A few amusing pre-rendered cutscenes add to the entertainment, but honestly, the game itself is more fun than the cutscenes. You begin with only a couple weapons but can find and unlock additional ones as you go along, but you'll need some strategy and skill to get them without getting blown up and without first completing the mission. In the last mission of each world, you play a minigame completely unrelated to the standard fare, but using the Wiimote motion features.

In multiplayer mode, you can play with up to 4 teams of 3 worms, meaning theoretically 12 players. With a relatively small playing field, the more worms onscreen, the more fun the game. You can decide how many teams and how many of those teams are run by the computer. In this mode, you begin with all of the weapons, allowing for maximum chaos and strategy right away. For families, being able to play the multiplayer without having to unlock items in single player mode is great, and since the best part of the game is the multiplayer, this allows families to buy it even if they only plan to use it as a family game.

Controls

The weapons take full advantage of the motion detection, requiring digging motions for the shovel, tossing motions for thrown projectiles, etc. While this makes for an enjoyable experience, my 12-year-old had a difficult time figuring out some of the weapons. They take practice to really master. My biggest complaint comes from the inability to completely adjust the camera zoom, so you often can't see your opponent. This may be part of the challenge, but it's also annoying. I'd rather see my opponent and not be able to take a practice shot. Overall, my wife doesn't like the controls, my daughter

A Space Oddity isn't an absolutely out of this world game, but it's a lot of fun for a family game. If you like slapstick comedy and strategy and have been looking for something fun for anyone around 10 and up, whether as a family or among friends, you'll be glad to own a copy of this game.