Worms goes 3D

Ubi Soft announced today that it has secured a worldwide publishing agreement with Team 17 to bring Worms Blast to the PC, Sony PlayStation, and Nintendo Game Boy Advance and the GameCube platforms. Worms Blast will be the first game in the series to use 3D characters and play in a real-time 3D environment. It will also start to move into new genres whist crossing them with the familiar gameplay mechanics inherent to the series.

Still, a lot of the gameplay will be depend on the elements that made the series so popular. Player will assume the role of a group of worms and control one of eight worms, each with a wide variety of weapons as its disposal. Weapons will range from familiar armament such as the holy grenade, rocket launchers, shotguns and grenades to new additions such as the sea monster attacks, meteor storms, and torpedoes. The primary goal in Worms Blast will be to sink the rival's boat. The general look and feel of the game will remain the same, with cartoony graphics, dark humour, and various themed levels.

"Ubi Soft is an obvious choice as a partner to take Worms to the next level," said Team 17's commercial director, Debbie Bestwick. "Team17 was looking for the right leading global partner and with Ubi Soft's world-wide distribution into 52 countries, their strong character marketing approach, and their superb developer relations we are looking forward to building a strong relationship between the two companies".

"We're delighted to be publishing the series as Worms is one of those evergreen brands that manages to balance a great heritage whilst retaining buoyancy," said Rob Cooper, managing director for Ubi Soft in Northern Europe, Asia, and Australia. "Fans of the series will not be disappointed as Team 17 have adopted a fresh approach that will enable us to ensure the new range of Worm Blast games will be the biggest yet."

Worms Blast is scheduled for a release this fall. GameSpot will have more in the coming weeks.