In the grim shade of the front lawn, there is a battle fought. It is on every doorstep, in every quiet suburban neighborhood. Men die every day for freedom on this battlefield. And on this battlefield, worms fight for victory. There will be many casualties, and few survivors. And after the dust settles, many gamers will eagerly ignite a new battle. This is the world of Worms: Open Warfare.

Warfare is the first portable entry in the Worms series, and plays up the multiplayer portion as much as possible, as it should. While there is a singleplayer mode, Worms is about classically styled arcade shootouts and as such plot is not only omitted, but irrelevant. You create a team of worms armed with all manner of weaponry, plop them into a deformed field filled with every sort of obstacle you can imagine, and duke it out to the last worm. End of story.

Graphics remain mostly unchanged from previous entries to the series. There is no three-dimensional rendering done, it's all a high-color side-scrolling cartoonish affair. Weapons are drawn with comical details, such as puffing trails of smoke and bulbous bouncing animations. Explosions tear out chunks of ground and obstacle alike in the exact shape of the explosion, sometimes sending nearby worms flying through the air. It all has the feel of a cartoon war being fought, with no gore or even realism to be experienced. Watching worms get blasted tens of feet into the air and land with a plop always seems to ilicit a giggle of childish joy--it's neverending fun.

Gameplay is simplistic, for the most part. The analog nub is used to direct the fire of a given weapon, while the shoulders and d-pad control the zoom level and the position of the camera, respectively. A simple menu of weapons is drawn up and chosen from prior to each individual assault. Then follows the simple act of aiming the reticule and firing the desired weapon. Though the act of aiming may itself be simple, effects such as gravity and wind can quickly rob the most intricate shots of their effect--or, when used correctly, can result in impossible world-record-quality kills. The array of weapons includes mainstays like grenades and shotguns, and more fanciful entries like exploding sheep. Close-quarters weaponry such as the ninja punch are also available, for those situations that might require a little more finesse. And for the truly mass-destruction-inclined, the ultimate in brute force makes an appearance--the air strike.

There is almost nothing in the way of music in this game, aside from a warbling backround hum that establishes a subtle ambiance. This may be for the better, since any real music would probably serve to only dilute the experience. Sound effects are as comical as the graphics, although worm teams cannot be customized to include different accents as was possible in previous incarnations. This is one of the two elements limiting multiplayer somewhat, the other being the inability to create new maps for fighting on with friends. But even so, it's portable and it's fun, and it's guaranteed to have you giggling with delight over and over.

All told, it's a decent romp through the ever-popular Worms universe, allowing people to take the war on the roat for the first time and battle friends in the palm of their hands. The portability aspect generally offsets any drawbacks the rest of the game has, and though you might dislike those features it doesn't have, it's not enough to make you put it down.