My little brother tried to make me eat a worm today, and I laughed, “Eat a worm!” I exclaimed “I'd much rather blow one up with a well placed sheep.” So the Worms are back to face yet another generation of torture and humorous war style situations, so what's new this time? An improved single player mode? Even more crazy weapons? How about a level editor? Why yes but this time the Worms are in 3D!

3D? You're having me on guv! I can assure you I'm not and it's about time too I'd say. Obviously taking a lot of inspiration from the Playstation classic Hogs of War (which in turn took inspiration from Worms) Team 17 are becoming aware that the classic Worms formulae can in fact work in 3D and take the crown from the head of those pigs. In keeping with Worms's history we have the same old bars that indicate who is winning and expect to see the same old nutty weapons in the vein of exploding sheep and suicidal Granny's… what the team has in store for us this time god knows.

Naturally to compete with Hogs of War one must beat Hogs of War and the ickle old Worms could well do it. One screen shot shows the outlandish explosion on a bridge, previous Worms outings had the pleasure of destroyable scenery, and this is what will probably make it far better than Hogs of War. Worms 3 promises fully destructible scenery and I mean FULLY (take note Red Faction). Bridges can be destroyed sending hapless worms to their doom and the 3D engine allows for overhangs, roofs, blowholes… basically you can build yourself a nice little place to cower and hide. Graphically the game looks unsurprisingly simple, whereas the explosive effects are nice and dandy the graphical style is plain and unadventurous. This is a relatively good thing in the sense of gameplay, confusing over the top graphics can easily make the 'war zone' far too confusing, and besides the simple yet strikingly cartoony style is perfect basis for comical worm moments!

There are four different world types in this latest installment, so expect simple grassy areas to the treacherous lava lands and each world has their own specific music. Worms have always been superb in the sound department, the voices of the little critters themselves have always created moments of hilarity, the 'oh no' as a worm prepares to explode and the “bye bye” as a worm hits an opponent off a cliff have been trademarks of the series that I would expect to remain. Of course as long as the legendary theme music is still there I'd be happy (begins whistling). Another thing the worms team are currently working on are special modes and weather effects, other plans include create your own landscape and some rather cool special FX's. One thing Team 17 have commented on has been the ropes, previous incarnations included a lot of swinging via ropes to maneuver around the scenery, camera issues would make this too hard to do but a similar grappling device is in development. The new 3D design will offer a wide range of cool new ideas; just imagine teleporting into an indestructible bunker and shooting at unsuspecting passersby.

Multiplayer is sure to make a triumphant return and like the older games be the driving force behind the game. Ah I cannot wait to have Team X-files compete against Team 24 or Team Nintendo fight it off against Team X-box, this is why I love gaming, unrealistically pure adrenaline filled fun.

Naturally there are some problems, with such a dynamic landscape camera issues are going to be a massive problem and the console versions don't plan to go online (unlike the PC version). Nevertheless it is looking like a rather nifty edition… it'll be better than Worms Blast at least.

*Goes off Whistling*