Indeed, it's missing some good old-fashioned weapons and the levels are bland.. but it's still worms.
The challenges are a lot of fun. There are 20 total and they become increasingly difficult. 1 - 10 are fairly easy but once you get around 13 - 20 you'll see the AI become much more skilled. This can become really frustrating sometimes, but that's the name of the game.
Playing Worms over xBox Live is actually quite a bit of fun. Pinning yourself against 3 other players of varying skill level can make for a fairly exciting experience. Worms however is best played with several friends. In my mind, it's along the same lines as playing a card game or board game with friends. For the most part, even if they're not into video games they'll enjoy this.
The one additional downside minus the lack of weapons and boring landscapes is the controls. It took me a long time to get a custom to them. A is your fire weapon while B is jump. This seems backwards to me and I often find myself accidentally launch a rocket or tossing a grenade instead of making a jump, which generally lands my worm incurring significant damage.
All in all, this is a fun little game to play. It's not much, but it delivers.
PhoenixSS out