Review: Plants vs. Zombies

Tower Defense game on steroids – or a RTS. Either way, you’ve got a winner.

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CHOICE PICK

9.9

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At one point of time or another, you’re wont to bemoan the excessive number of tower defense games on the App Store. And at one point of time or another, you’re bound to grow weary of the genre. The fact that almost all tower defense games on the App Store are carbon copies of each other doesn’t help. And when developers do innovate, they introduce increased interactivity that almost always includes the repetitive (and overwhelmingly quick) use of our tired fingers to grab, throw, cut, freeze and smash the enemies (Chillingo’s Knights Onrush and Origin8’s Monster Kill). This results in a mind-numbing experience that causes sore fingers. And so it brings the tower defense genre back to the drawing table.

Fortunately, casual games artist, PopCap Games, with their first tower defense-style game, nails Plants vs. Zombies down with a surprising level of precision. This game will bring you right in. Plants vs. Zombies may look like a typical tower defense game cashing in on the casual crowd and female audience by using cutesy characters that Facebook games so popularize at first glance, but it soon gives way to something much deeper – something more hardcore. It takes the fundamental idea from the tower defense genre, but eschews just about every other conventional trapping to create a game that is more of a Command and Conquer with Plants – and Zombies.

The basic premise of Plants vs. Zombies is simple. Zombies are assaulting your home to get your brains and the last line of defense is your lawn. Unlike other tower defense games which stream enemies through a single fixed route, Plants vs. Zombies separates the battlefield into 6 lanes, each further divided into individual grid. As the onslaught starts, the zombies shuffle onto their respective lanes. To prevent them from reaching your home, you place a plant on the appropriate grid. So far, it sounds easy.

The learning curve begins when you quickly realize that the game offers a staggering 48 types of plants which offer numerous defensive, offensive and resource-gathering capabilities. There are also utility plants which serve as barriers and protection for other plants. Additionally, some plants can be upgraded to boost their defensive abilities. Naturally, the equally stunning 25 types of zombies serve as great accompaniment to the variety of plants. While the game starts easy enough with the cookie cutter ineffectively slow and weak zombies invading your lawn, the later levels give rise to various other zombies with different strengths and weaknesses, each requiring a slightly varied strategy to counter. Some of the zombies introduced in the final few missions are essentially fatal as they can fly, while some can bypass entire lines of defenses altogether by going underground, forcing you to think on your head and switch strategy quickly. Another challenge arises from the way you manage your library of plants. At the start of every level, you can only take 7 plants with you into battle, though you can buy additional slots as you rack up coins. Luckily, the game gives you an idea of what plants you should take with you as it previews the types of zombies which will appear, meaning having the knowledge of each zombie’s strengths and weaknesses is important.

For 50 missions, you would be repelling waves upon waves of zombies, but the game so ever compels you to change your cards every few levels. These 50 missions take place over distinct environments: Lawn during day, lawn during night, backyard with pool during day, backyard with pool during night, backyard with pool during night – and with fog, as well as roof. Each environment brings with it particular obstacles which hinder you from using specific plants. For example, green plants cannot be quickly seeded during night levels as they require sunlight – and on night levels, sunlight is a scarce resource. On the other hand, mushrooms do well during the night, but are not recommended during the day. The pool in the backyard presents the biggest obstacle yet as aqua plants are few and far between and the only way to grow land-based plants on water is to plant them on a lily, which is a separate unit by itself. Roof stages require catapult plants which can lob their attacks over angles. When you combine the strengths and weaknesses of each zombie with environmental obstacles, there’s a great deal of strategy to run through before choosing which plants to take with you into battle.

PopCap Games breaks up the monotony of these RTS-style levels with the occasional mini-game mission – and that is a nice thought. This collection of mini-games includes adaptations of Whac-a-Mole and Bowling, complete with Plants and Zombies, of course. Perhaps the most frequent mini-game comes in the form of the game providing you with random plants, forcing you to work with what you only have. This places more emphasis on the grid on which you place the plant on more than any of the normal mission does. All in all, there’s a really awesome variety of mini-games that serve as refreshing breaks from all the planning and strategizing.

Plants vs. Zombies rounds it all off with a charming set of personalities. The zombies range from Michael Jackson type of dancers to Olympics high jumpers to zombies in baby floats to zombies driving huge machineries. After a few levels, the game also unlocks a plant personality guide that is written with a unique sense of humor. It shows you all the stats of all the plants and zombies in the game, making it very much a useful reference. Throughout the course of your missions, you would also meet Crazy Dave, a shopowner who sells all your bonus plants and plant upgrades, as well as additional slots. He delivers quirky one-liners that would make you glee with laughter.

Finish the game and it unlocks the Quick Play mode, which allows you to replay any of the levels from the Adventure mode with all the unlocked plants intact. The PC version unlocks an Endless mode which is basically a mode that tests your survival skills against limitless hordes of zombies. It is a tad disappointing that Endless mode isn’t offered in this iPhone version. Other than that, Plants vs. Zombies is pretty much a perfect game.

Closing comments
It’s very easy to recommend Plants vs. Zombies. Almost too easy. At $2.99, Plants vs. Zombies is worth your every cent and it WILL be the best $2.99 you will ever spend on the App Store. Taking only the very core element from the Tower Defense genre, PopCap Games created a unique, fun and addictive title that screams RTS in every way possible. There is an enormous amount of strategy to be had here and the game tops it off with subtle details like smart mini-games and a carefully crafted cast of personalities. The result is a game that does nothing wrong – and everything right. This is a Tower Defense game on steroids – or a RTS. Either way, you’ve got a winner.