Worms do great things for us humans. They help fertilise the earth for crops, they make expensive fabric for extravagant people to fart through, and they even bore their way into our upper intestines – in a cute “I love you so much, I want to be a part of you” type of way. But the best thing worms have ever done for us is feature in their own comically violent series of videogames, where they’ve garnered some serious kudos.

For those that should know better, Worms puts you in control of a team of four invertebrates, who each take turns firing a plethora of ludicrously destructive weapons at the opposing side. The last team standing wins. It sounds very simple indeed, but when you have weapons ranging from exploding sheep to imitation dragon punches, not to mention movement-based equipment, such as jet packs, girders and ninja ropes, things get slightly more tactical, and considerably more unpredictable.

Open Warfare 2 on the PSP unsurprisingly adheres to the above framework very closely, and we wouldn’t have it any other way; certain games have an unalterably tight concept behind them, and multiplayer Worms is definitely one of them.

However, while real worms can reproduce asexually, their videogame counterparts have always been short on offering solitary pleasure, partly because their AI has never been particularly convincing – ranging from ultra-accurate to utterly incompetent – and partly because Worms is just too much of a party experience, exceedingly conducive to pithy chiding and trash talk.

Team17 has tried hard to spruce up single-player antics in Open Warfare 2 by including tailored campaigns as well as a quaint Puzzle mode that requires you to complete various challenges, such as navigating your worm over difficult terrain, or taking out awkwardly located enemies. Progress in single-player is awarded with gold, which can be used to procure a variety of accessories for your team, as well as extra levels, music and weapons.

These extra features are a welcome addition to the rather conservative package offered by the original Open Warfare. But once you’ve seen one worm you’ve kind of seen them all; so while Open Warfare 2 certainly offers one of the best multiplayer experiences on the PSP, you may still want to think twice about purchasing it if you already have its predecessor in your collection.

Christopher Reynolds