Every gamer knows about Worms, but it is a decade since anybody cared about them. Worms struggled more than most to make the transition to 3D; its skilled manoeuvres and careful strategy lost in the third dimension. It tried to over-complicate (Worms 3D) and it tried to quirk (Ultimate Mayhem), but it just couldn't manage the advance. Rutted with a series that reached its peak in 1999, Team 17 still felt it had something to prove; by going back to its roots, Revolution may be evidence that there is still life left in the old non-arthropod invertebrate yet.

For the second time in a year, a Worms pack has been released at a budget retail price. The first, Worms Collection, was extremely hit-and-miss, with only Worms 2: Armageddon escaping with any credit. Armageddon is included in this new pack, which also includes the newest title in the series, Worms: Revolution. Reverting back to 2D, Revolution attempts to explain the so far unexplained: why are these Worms murdering the hell out of each other? For observational purposes and, in essence, to experiment on. That sentence? That's the single-player, not that you would ever play Worms by yourself. Although more creditable than previous titles, and featuring some genuinely interesting puzzles, there is really very little to hold your attention among the chaff of 'wacky' commentary and increasingly listless tutorials.

Things start well when you actually play the game properly (i.e. with a friend, attempting to kill them). The gameplay of Revolution is classic Worms; a mixture of skill, strategy and outrageous luck. Weapons are launched, blows traded and environments mashed in your strike for victory. Obligatory new weapons and modes are in place, with some notably better than others. The much-touted water is useful if under-powered, while the out-of-environment extras, like the grenade-wielding Worm lowered from a helicopter, are excellent. The class system, although nice to have in place, is voided by the fact that the most useful, capable and worthy Worm is that of the standard Soldier so you barely tend to bother with it. Environmental objects are in place throughout levels, left by lazy humans to be utilised by the Worms, but the poor physics engine means that they are barely serviceable as weapons. The graphical style, meanwhile, is a clean, quasi-dimensional effect that is pleasing if not spectacular; most importantly, the environment and Worms are the picture of clarity itself, so the Worms never become swallowed by their surroundings as they have done previously.

Whether one chooses Classic Mode, where all of the new features are removed, Deathmatch or Forts, featuring teams in, um, forts facing off against each other (environmental damage all important here), the game never verges away from quite fun. The emphasis here is on quite. Worms: Revolution is easy to pick up, but also easy to put down again. It lacks a spark, that indefinable 'one-more-game' attitude that made the original and its early successors such explosive successes. Perhaps it is an over-bearing sense of familiarity that comes from the return to 2D. Put on Armageddon and you have the epitome of the Worms experience; move back to Revolution and the advancements, classes, new weapons and modes feel like superficial, unnecessary additions to the raw experience.

Such a revelation leaves Revolution between a rock and a hand-grenade. It is not a revolution, more a conservative coup, returning to old ideas and ways with the implicit suggestion that they were better, worthier. Like a conservative coup, Worms: Revolution retrieves the ideas and ideals but fails to re-capture the essence of a brighter time. Maybe it's because the menus are a mess that even starting a game of Revolution feels like a chore, or that familiarity breeds contempt through a yearning for older, better games in the series. Maybe it's because for all the classes, puzzles, water and much-like, you just want to blow your brother up with a sheep using a team of Worms named after 20th Century dictators. Maybe that's just me.

Probably the most praise-worthy, but also most damning aspect of Worms: Revolution is that it revives the player's interest in Worms sufficiently enough to tempt one into revisiting Armageddon, and once that happens the game is up; it simply cannot compete. By itself, Revolution would be slightly above average; coupled with Armageddon, it is a good value package representing the past and future of Worms. It is unfortunate, really, that the presence of Armageddon completely undermines Revolution. For the sake of the gamer, however, it is a god-send.

This review was produced using a review copy of Worms: Revolution Collection, provided by the publisher.