I don't game often on my EVO, but when I do, I want it to be epic. Sure, there's games like Dungeon Defenders, but sometimes that just doesn't hit the sweet spot. Not enough of that Dune feeling, I suppose.
Fortunately, the aptly-named Death Worm remedies that. With 45 levels, three different types of gameplay, an entire myriad of enemies, and HD support, I feel like I picked a real winner here. Plus, the whole Dune thing helped.
Join me after the break and I'll take you through the finer points of being a gigantic, nigh-unstoppable worm that destroys everything in its path.
Like I mentioned before, Death Worm is packing three game modes, which are pretty self-explanatory. In Survival, you chomp till you just can't chomp no more, Campaign takes you through the story (if you can call it that), and Mini Games are just that.
I should also mention upfront that PlayCreek gives you the option to move the D-pad to the right side of the screen, which for me, despite being right-handed, felt the best. I guess without actual tactile feel, my left thumb is about as effective as a Vienna sausage.
I spent most of my time in the Campaign mode, and no, the screen doesn't tear while playing. You can thank ShootMe for that one. Anyway, the game starts off pretty simple. You move around Mr. Death Worm, eating camels, people, or destroying hapless SUV drivers. If you're like me and truly lazy ingenious, you'll have figured out that if you just skirt along the ground level, you'll meet your kill quota for the level in a matter of seconds.
Well, sort of, but we'll get to that in a minute.
After successfully completing each level, you're returned to full health and you get to upgrade some aspect of your worminess. I'm not sure if it's randomly generated what stats you get to choose between, but as you can tell, I try to stick with size strength whenever possible. It's all preference, but it adds another element of thought to the gameplay.
For example, my first playthrough, I maxed out speed as fast as I could. Pretty soon the worm was flying around so quickly I had trouble controlling him, but if you're more adept at touchscreen gaming than I am, it might not be an issue.
Getting back to that whole "redundant gameplay" issue I mentioned earlier, well, there is none. Just as soon as you find yourself starting to get bored with easily mowing down your prey, the game starts introducing armed soldiers, criteria like "Kill 10 without taking any damage for next level," green helicopters that leave bombs along the ground where you'd previously hang out (props to them for planning ahead), black choppers that shoot missiles at you, and elephants.
And this is all by Level 10.
You might also be asking yourself what those two glowing circles on the left side of the screen are. The right, orange one is a fireball, because hey, why not? Collect three of the fireball powerup orbs and you've earned yourself three shots of sweet, wormy justice. They might seem kind of pointless in earlier levels, but when you're being attacked from every angle, a well-placed shot can bring down more than one chopper.
The blue powerup is called Nitro, and it's exactly what it sounds like. For some duration of time, your worm becomes laughably fast, so much so that when you leap out of the ground, the whole scene zooms out, so you can start picking off 737s 747s and other high-flying planes you otherwise couldn't see. Of the two, it's my favorite, because how else are you going to get that kind of air?
Overall, the gameplay is incredibly smooth, nary skipping a frame despite how much action is on-screen. The only issue I experienced more than once was my D-pad locking up, forcing my worm to eventually push against a wall and expose himself above ground. It wasn't often (and it never cost me a life), but it's worth noting if you're planning on buying the game.
Speaking of buying the game, it runs $2.99 on the Market as part of a "Limited Time Offer" by the developer, so if you're planning on getting it, sooner rather than later would be my recommendation. If you're on the fence, give it a buy and return it if you don't like, but as for me, I think it's a worthy purchase.
