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What do you get when you put guns in the hands of (earth)worms? Not much at first, due to a lack of fingers. However, if you do this in the virtual world, you get a multiplayer hit that has delighted generations of gamers with its timeless gameplay and absurd humor. This is what happened with the aptly named Worms-series from Team17, which has shockingly little to do with the Rhineland-Palatinate city caring the same name and has instead been causing war-like conditions at LAN parties since 1995.

The most contact I had with worm-crushing came much later with the mediocre, but nevertheless by me much-loved, Worms Forts: Under Siege (2004) and Worms 4: Mayhem (2005) - at least on the PC. Because my mother had some Worms-derivative on her old Nokia cell phone, which I used to play ad nauseam on vacation so that I could hit bazooka shots with pixel precision despite the headwind. Did that get me anywhere in life? No, but I had a lot of fun.

I can't say the same about the OST for the game. Not that the eight MIDI pieces by Norwegian composer Bjørn Lynne are bad, not at all. They fit perfectly with the self-deprecating and humorous attitude that the game conveys through the warring worms. For me, however, it's a bit too clownish. And since I lack the nostalgia that makes the kitsch of Anno 1602 , for example, still palatable to me today, I lack a little enthusiasm here.

For example, the main theme Worms seems like the conscientious objector brother of the Commandos-series, who is just rolling onto the beach. Although the balancing act between serious and amusing still works quite well due to its entertaining nature, it's a bit too much for me with the funky techno track Wormsong . Especially as, in good old 90s fashion, similar to the early Command & Conquers, a voiceover was used, which in this case tells the game's 'lore' in rhyme. Although Warmsong [Instrumental Remix] does without this, it doesn't really make the droning any more exciting.

The fact that the remaining five tracks are ambient pieces that intonate the qualities of a grass, desert, ice and hell landscape as well as outer space in a suitably restrained manner doesn't really help the overall rating. Let's keep in mind: The score is, as expected for a game from the 90s, a case for lovers and those who want to come to terms with the past. Unfortunately, the nice main theme can't brighten up this verdict either, but it shouldn't go unmentioned at this point and we will encounter it again in further installments of the series - and that, in turn, is something I like.

Original Soundtrack

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Worms	Bjørn Lynne	3
02	Wormsong	Bjørn Lynne	2
03	Wormsong [Instrumental Remix]	Bjørn Lynne	2
04	Worms In-game ambience: Grass & Trees	Bjørn Lynne	1
05	Worms In-game ambience: Arizona	Bjørn Lynne	1
06	Worms In-game ambience: Arctic	Bjørn Lynne	1
07	Worms In-game ambience: Mars	Bjørn Lynne	1
08	Worms In-game ambience: Hell	Bjørn Lynne	1

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