An Interesting Take on the Tower Defense Genre
Plants vs. Zombies is yet another game from PopCap (mostly known for Peggle). PopCap is pro at coming up with a extremely simple idea, and somehow making it so complex and seemlessly addictive at the same time. A game that can be played by an 8 year old, but easily has enough strategy for a teenager to dive into deep possibilities that the game has to offer when it begins to show that it can be a pain in the ass when it comes to difficulty. Plants vs. Zombies is that game.
Plants vs. Zombies is a tower defense game, but I do stress that here the term "tower defense" is used extremely loosely. Your "towers" are your plants, they're one thing that stand between your brains, and the zombies that are invading your house from the front, from behind, and even from above. And though the game has zombies in the title, it's not violent at all, it's got an extremely cute art style.
Unlike traditional tower defense gameplay, Plants vs. Zombies has 5 (or 6, depending on the stage you're playing) lanes in which you can plant your defenses to protect you from the zombies. You place your plants on the left, the zombies come from the right. Each lane has a certain amount of slots, so you're not allowed to cram as many plants as you can into one lane, and most of the plants you have can only shoot in the lane their planted in, though that will change when you acquire the stronger plants later in the game that can shoot in more than just one lane.
The challenge factor of the game could be an issue with some. The first time I failed on adventure mode (the campaign) was on the second to last level, but once you beat the main levels and you unlock the bonus stuff, then the challenge will be clear to you. Basically, the adventure mode of the game is ridiculously easy, and then a lot of the mini games and puzzles can be ridiculously hard.
One of the games strengths is the immense amount of variety of plants and zombies. The number of plants you will have to use at your disposal by the end of the game is upwards of 40, some of plants being more important the others. For example, the sunflower is the most important plant when you begin the game. Why? It creates sun! Not that real sunflowers do that but the ones in the game, even no they have no offenseive abilities, they will give you solar power, the currency of the game, allowing you to plant more powerful plants.
This is where the strategy comes in. Since there's so many different plants, you can play the game how you like. There's the offensive plants, the ones that "shoot" the zombies, such as the pea shooter, the cactus, the kernel-pult (a catapult that shoots corn), and plenty of others. Then there's the defensive plants, such as wall-nuts, garlic, potato mines, and more. Then you have the "explosive" plants, such as chili peppers, cherry bombs, and doom shrooms.
Since the game doesn't allow you to use every single plant you have, you'll have to strategically combine a variety of good plants that go well together. Also, the game shows you the types of zombies you'll encounter that level, and based on the zombies you're gonna have to fight, you'll have to adjust what plants you're going to chose to counter the zombie types for that particular level. For example, if you're going to fight a baloon zombie, a zombie that floats above all of your plants, staying out of range of fire, you'll have to pick the cactus, which can shoot it's thorns at the baloon, popping it. Also, the environment of the level will influence your plant picks. For example, the backyard levels will require you to bring lily pads which will allow you to plant your non aquatic plants in the your backyard pool. Also, during night time levels, where you won't receive any sun from the sky, you'll be encouraged to bring your mushrooms, which are usually cheaper than your other plants because they are only active in the night, and sleep during the day. And finally, for the roof levels (yes, the zombies invade your roof) you'll have to bring plant pots, since plants can't live on roof tiles, and you'll have to bring your catapult plants, so they can arc their aim over the angle in the roof.
For it's price, the game has a stupid amount of content. Aside from the 50 level adventure mode there's the shop, ran by Crazy Dave, the man that kind of helps you through the game, gives you tips, and may even save your brains a few times. The shop offers more seed slots, allowing you to take an extra plant to a level with you, plant upgrades, marigolds that can be used in your Zen Garden (i'll get to that soon), and other cool gadgets. Then there's the ludicrous amount of mini game and puzzle modes. I'm talking and insane amount here, hours and hours worth of addictive fun. Some of the mini games and puzzle modes include: you being the zombies trying to kill the plants, the zombies you have to fight have the heads of your plants, bowling with wall-nuts, and plenty of other quirky and fun games you can mess with. Then you have the survival mode, which is basically just an insane amount of zombies being thrown at you, making you survive a certain amount of waves to beat it. Finally, you have the Zen Garden, which is where you can raise your plants that you find or buy to make you money. You can water them, fertilize them, and give the sun until they are big and bright!
Final Decision
Once you start playing this game, you won't be able to stop. It's sooo addictive. And when this $10 game can easily last you 20 hours if you do everything, it's hard to get a better bang for your buck. Anywhere.
