[Version 1.0]
Just like the Subway sandwich I ‘m just about to eat, Plants vs Zombies is a great balance of fresh meat and veggies in a warm Tower Defense bun.
The game is already a gigantic hit, so you don ‘t need me to tell you whether or not you should buy it: I just wanted to let you know how much fun you ‘re going to have when you do.
[Click on a pic to see a larger version]
The Genre
PvZ is supposedly a casual title, but it ‘s a casual title with such a long and detailed campaign mode that it might as well be considered one of those ‘hardcore ‘ TD games that l337 speaking gamers love as well. I call it a casualcore title. If you find that a silly and unnecessary combination of words, then you ‘d be correct.
The Gameplay
Zombies aren ‘t usually very nice, and although the undead in PvZ are considerate enough to sometimes write you notes telling you that they ‘re coming for you (signed by ‘-the Zombies ‘), they still want to eat you. Your only hope of keeping this horde away from you MacBooks, pre-ordered iPads, and brains are a huge selection of very deadly plants.
The Plants
There are so many plant variations in PvZ that you actually acquire an in-game Almanac (with very charming descriptions!) to keep track of them all. You acquire new plants by clearing levels, although you can only bring a certain number of plants into each level, so you have to choose wisely (or buy more slots with in-game currency).
I ‘m about halfway through the game at about six hours in, and I ‘m still constantly surprised by the delightful variety of vegetation. Certain plants can only be planted in the day time, others only at night, and There are pea shooters (replaced by Repeaters, and then Threepeaters), Sunflowers, Wall-nuts, potato mines, and more. Some generate resources in the form of sunlight, others kill zombies in ranged or melee combat, and some just sit there until they explode in a shower of deadly mashed potato. Each of the plants is literally bursting with personality, and it ‘s really incredible how much time went into writing each of these units up.
The Zombies
There aren ‘t as many zombies are there are plants, but you ‘ve never seen a cuter set of walking corpses (think Left 4 Dead through Sesame Street sunglasses). Some zombies wear traffic cones on their heads for protection, some wear football gear and charge at your house, and some black-haired undead do a dance that is suspiciously close to the one from Thriller 🙂 However, in classic undead fashion, these buggers will run in straight lines towards your house until they ravage you, or are ravaged by your plants. If they do manage to get past your plants and your lawn mower, you ‘ll lose. Luckily, I haven ‘t seen what that screen looks like yet 😉
Combat and Currency
One of the most interesting dynamics in PvZ are the active combat and resource gathering components. Certain plants don ‘t really function as ‘towers ‘ like in most Tower Defense games, but rather as bombs. Planting Wall-nuts to block incoming enemies at exactly the right time can sometimes be the difference between winning and losing. However, that ‘s not all you have to do. The various bits of sunlight generated by your plants, and the currency dropped by zombies, will disappear if you don ‘t manually tap on the screen to pick them up. This means that gameplay is always a very involved process, as opposed to the ‘set up and sit back ‘ gameplay in many other TD titles.
A hole to China
You know a game is amazing when everything about its menus remains themed. The unit info lies in an almanac with goofy character descriptions, you spend your currency in a store located in your neighbour ‘s trunk, and the achievements list is stored six feet under. The list seems to go on and on, and if you scroll down far enough you ‘ll find a set of BeJewels (you’ve heard of this other PopCap title, right?), and scrolling further still will have you emerge in Zombie-infested China.
Conclusion
There ‘s a lot to love about Plants vs Zombies, and it ‘s an easy recommendation to most anyone: it doesn ‘t matter if your idea of gaming is a quick session of Bejeweled or a round of Fieldrunners ” you ‘re basically guaranteeing a good time when you purchase PvZ.
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Plants vs Zombies is available for $2.99
The app was bought by JAiB for review on the site. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the “About” page.
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