Have You Played...Worms: Armageddon?

Worms Armageddon has the distinction of being the first game I took seriously. I don't know why, it was just a mindless game about worms blowing each other up with "accidental" mine placement and the occasional French Sheep Strike. How could that possibly be competitive? Well, back in the glory days of the internet, before things like voice chat that allowed people to hurl abuse at one another, I joined a Worms clan. It was called the 'Krazy Foos'.

My memories of this time are hazy at best, but this was back when clan tags had to be manually entered, as part of your name. So my utterly teenage edgelord username, which embarrasses me to this day, was "KFxDarkShadowxKF". Yes, it was the early 2000s, get over it.

I think it began when the leader of the clan (whose handle was, I think, "KFxKrazyFooxKF") thought I had promise because I was okay at lobbing grenades. Competitive modes in Worms back then only allowed certain weapons to be brought into matches, so the fact I could use grenades effectively was cool. I was probably the fifth member of the team and they practised during the evenings around my timezone. When I was asked if I knew how to use the ninja rope, I sheepishly said that I didn't. "KrazyFoo" took me under his wing and spent an entire evening teaching me the way of the rope. When I debuted as part of the roster against other players, I was as effective as the rest of the team.

I still remember one match. I was the last worm standing and was facing off against four opponents. My team encouraged me as I swung across the map to a lone crate. The crate contained a banana bomb. If I fired this correctly it would kill at least two of the enemy worms. I aimed and fired. I didn't expect the cluster of explosive bananas to fly in such a way that it knocked all four of my opponents into the drink. I was a hero that day.

Sadly we disbanded shortly after Worms World Party came out (we didn't get on with the massive overhaul to the ninja rope) and even more sadly I lost touch with all of my wormmates. But I still cherish the memories of the clan days, which is why I'll always have a soft spot for any 2D Worms game. Even if we'll never see a weapon as ridiculous as the French Sheep Strike.