Gamer Says: Plants VS Zombies!

One game that deserves mention has to be (one of) Pop Cap's latest game(s), "Plants Vs Zombies". It's a new and unique concept in TD (Tower Defense) maps, as it's a fresh take in the TD scene with a different map style and lots of cartoony entertainment to go with it.

Essentially, the objective is to prevent a horde of zombies from breaching your defenses by planting special plants that range from pea-shooting flowers and giant Venus fly-traps, to large tough walnuts and mushrooms that explode. Your plants are your only hope in surviving the relentless waves of progressively tougher zombies with your brains intact.

It all starts with your playing field, measuring about 9x5. Here you'll be able to place your plants to fend off the undead. But the catch is that your plants will be in the way of the oncoming hordes, so you'll be forced to block them as much as possible without letting them reach your house. Not only that, you'll need to collect Sun to purchase plants for your defense (Sun falls into the game randomly, and through Sun-producing plants you can plant). So it's all about strategizing effectively in a desperate situation, especially the last few levels.

As you advance further, the battles will become more frenetic as the zombies bring out their bigger guns to eat your precious brain. You'll have to tangle with not just the regular zombie, but you'll face other assortments such as zombies with buckets on their heads (thrice as tough), zombies charging in football suits (a nightmare), dancing zombies that spawn four zombies around it, subterranean travelling zombies, and a whole lot worse. Thankfully, you have a wide array of plants to help you take those undead out.

There's an emphasis on the "rock-paper-scissors" kind of gameplay. For example, if a Football Zombie (as they're called) comes a-charging you can choose to either knock it out with fast firing Repeaters, a one-hit kill pumpkin called the Squash (name implies), or just pull off its helmet with a Magnet-shroom to turn the formidable zombie vulnerable. It's all up to you, but you must be careful on which plants you choose, as it all depends on what you're up against.



Before every level, you are to choose the plants to use in the level by referring to the plants list on the left, and the zombies faced in the level on the right. You have a limited amount of space for plants at first, but thankfully it can be expanded through purchasable upgrades (more on this later). You need to deduce the best combination to take on those zombies you'll face and whether it works is all on how you plant them. (HINT: Wall-nuts and Chompers are quite a handy pair!)

Then we have the extras. You can try your hand out at the Puzzles, Mini-Games and the Survival modes that are featured. Puzzles test your thinking skills; Mini-Games are cute yet difficult distractions for you to enjoy; while Survival is basically somewhat a repeat of the Adventure mode, but with all the plants at your disposal, a few waves to survive, and the ability to re-pick plants after each wave. Mind you, the waves get progressively harder, so always be on the watch!

Other extras include the Almanac, which displays all the plants you can use and all the zombies you've faced. It comes in handy whenever you need to check what plant does what, as well as know the enemy a little better. Each plant and zombie has a very cute description of their character that leaves you with a smile upon reading. Then there are upgrades and purchasable stuff you can buy by earning coins in any of the modes you play. The upgrades are very handy in helping turn the tides against the zombie waves, but they can cost quite a bomb. You can also buy an extra slot so you can have extra plants to use in the levels. These also don't come cheap, I can tell you that. And then there is stuff for your Zen Garden. Zigackly! You can have you own virtual garden to tend to plants you can buy or earn from playing levels, and you even have to keep the plants happy and tended to so you can earn money from them. There are even special gardens for growing mushrooms and aquatic plants, but of course you're gonna have to earn them.

But for even a cute and funny game like this, it does have a few pitfalls. For one, the Puzzles are only limited to two game types and thus loses interest rather quickly, even with the Endless stage where you try to survive the longest (Puzzle and Survival are the only ones with this level; Survival Endless is BLOODY DIFFICULT). There are only a small amount of Mini-Games to attempt, while the Zen Garden could use nice customizable environs with additional garden decor. And it wouldn't hurt to have more plants and zombies, wouldn't it?

Nevertheless, Plants Vs Zombies is very much another of Pop Cap's finest games ever made since Bejeweled. Truly this game does deserve to be in the list of the best games ever made in gaming history. Try it out yourself! I rate this at 8.8 out of 10.