In a nutshell...

One of the top titles from 123Play’s ad-supported free games line-up.

What’s it good for?

Tactical, fast-paced worm-versus-worm violence using a variety of outlandish weapons.

Judgement time...

If you saw our news story last week you’ll know all about the new ad-supported games service 123Play, which offers over 30 full titles for free download. The catch is you have to sit through some adverts before and after you play.

There are some big name titles on offer, including Worms 2007, so we thought we’d give it a spin and see just how irritating the advertising becomes.

The game itself is a mobile remake of the classic cartoon combat game, which pits your four-strong team of invertebrates against another in a last man (worm?) standing battle inside a randomly generated arena. There are a whole host of ways in which you can dispatch your opponents: rocket; shotgun; grenade; cluster bomb; er, exploding sheep. Each weapon has a specific use, and part of the fun is mastering them.

Worms is turn-based, which suits mobile phone gaming quite well, but the small screen means you can’t see much of the battlefield - a handicap if you’re looking to aim a long-range shot. Audio and visual effects have been cut back to the bare minimum too, which takes a lot of the humour out of the game (worms no longer make squeaky taunts or get their heads stuck in the ground).

You can play against the computer or up to three friends, but only on one phone - online gaming is off the cards.

Overall Worms 2007 is a reasonably faithful conversion of the PC and console game, but it’s definitely a little rough around the edges, and we’re expecting Worms World Party for N-Gage (rumoured to be launching very soon) to beat it in every respect - it’s even going to offer online multiplayer.

That said, this version won’t cost you a single penny, and while the fact that you have to sit through several adverts each time you play is a bit of a drag, it’s definitely worth it for some gratis gaming action.