Worms 2 is a big improvement over the other PSN/XBLA Worms game, and the best console version since World Party.
Everything you want in a Worms game is here. There's a singleplayer challenge mode, hotseat and network multiplayer, a random map generator. Team selection, AI, weapon distribution, victory conditions and terrain generation method can all be customized to some extent. The slapstick humor and high-pitched voices are intact. Most every weapon I remember from other Worms games makes an appearance here, making it one of the larger Worms arsenals to date. There are a few missing (no Ming Vase?) but not many. There are also a few I'd never used before. A good assortment.
Can I recommend it? Yes.
To anyone who's never played a Worms game before, it's something you should try. It's lighthearted, silly, cut-throat and challenging. It's one of the better games for hot-seat (same-room) multiplayer because it's easy to pick up and is played as a series of short rounds. Up to 4 players on one controller. There are a lot of good versions of Worms out there, and this is probably the best one that is in retail currently.
To those who have: This is an acceptable, if good, entry in the series. There's not much new here for a veteran, but it is the best-looking Worms game out there, and the best one for modern consoles.
The singleplayer content is challenging but somewhat short, you can pad this out a great deal with DLC but that will cost you up to $25 on top of the original $15 investment. Once you've unlocked all the content, most of your time will probably be spent in the Local Match setup, trying out custom game rules and slugging it out against friends and AI.
Multiplayer is just fine in this game, except the population of Worms 2 players on PSN is a little sparse. On the weekends, I can usually find 1 or 2 other people looking to play after about 5 minutes of waiting. It's worth noting that multiple local players cannot play online together, which is this package's greatest flaw in my opinion.
There are also occasional sound/graphics glitches. Rarely, the music will cut out for several rounds, which isn't a big deal since the soundtrack is rather minimalist anyway. Also, when a lot of explosion effects are on the screen at once, sometimes there's interlacing problems. Purely cosmetic, and does not affect play.
Overall I'm pleased with Worms 2, it's the release that Worms should have been. I'd really like to see a feature-rich version of Worms on consoles someday (saving replays, levels, terrain editors, weapon tweaks), but in the meantime this will do nicely.
+Worms is still great
+Every important feature and weapon included
+Stable, quick, fun and funny
-Not much new Worms content
-Not enough players online
-Only one local player can play online
-DLC is expensive