Review: Plants vs Zombies [PC]
josh, 8-Jun-09 » Plants Vs Zombies Review, by Josh
The Title Screen lets you know what you're getting yourself into even.
The modern gamer has an absolute love for the undead. Games like Left 4 Dead and Killing Floor (to name two of the most recent additions to the genre) have you killing hundreds upon hundreds of your favourite undead bags of gore. Plants vs Zombies (PVZ from now on... what?... it’s annoying having to write out the entire name every time) just makes it more family friendly. Some may say that Zombies are just the flavour of the month (or year in this case), and while that might be a little bit true, you won’t hear me complaining about it. I love smashing in some skulls of the undead. They are the spawn of satan and if Call of Duty: World at War has taught me anything they’re all dirty Nazis who to be honest need a good bashing. Plants vs Zombies takes that need to kill zombies and gives it a more cheery atmosphere, a unique set of challenges, and generally lightens the mood of a zombie game, all of which lead up to a very unique experience.
Plants vs Zombies is from Popcap games. Whoah.... hold on there... lets not get ahead of ourselves. Yes, Popcap are a "casual" game mecca, but that doesn't mean casual games can't be ridiculously fun. I mean, say you have just 20 minutes to play; do you really want to fire up a game that will take you 5 minutes just to get a server?; or do you want instant zombie killing action in easy to chew tablet form? Personaly, my money is on wanting the instant gratification of killing the zombies, and really that's one of the reasons this game shines is in its ability to keep you coming back for more.
You begin each level with 50 sun and a prayer.... not to mention the 8-10 deadly plant seeds you're brought with you.
PVZ has three main things going for it. Firstly, the visual style is very unique and makes the game just fun to watch. The cartoony outlines along with the bold colors make each new plant you earn and new zombie to dispatch a pleasure to see while completing the main campaign. Starting off with the bobbing sunflower that seems to be dancing to an unheard beat, your lawn will take shape with any of a number of clever plants at any time of day or night. The zombies range from something as basic as your regular zombie, to something as tough as the football player who takes what seems like forever to take down. There are zombies that tunnel behind you and start attacking you from the back (and don’t worry there are plants that can shoot backwards) while others walk up to you and detonate, taking out half your front line. All of these zombies have their own unique look so you can identify them quickly in the heat of battle, as well as each has their own tactic with which to remove them (you’ll have to figure that bit out yourself).
I-Zombie puts you in control of the Zombies themselves, trying to eat the brains of the lawnowner.
Secondly, the gameplay itself is fairly self explanatory, which is good considering the Help Page is the image seen below.
The Help Page... honest to god.
The PVZ gameplay is essentially a tower defense game at its core. The lawn owner (that would be you) collects sun either that falls out of the sky or is produced by your sunflowers (yes.... sunflowers produce sun in this game). Using this sun, you can plant any of a variety of plants to help defend your lawn. The difficulty starts off incredibly easy and ramps up gently enough that, while you’ll notice, you’ll never be really overwhelmed if you play the game properly. The game presents lots of variety for the player, from the standard 5 lanes of your front lawn during the day when sun falls from the sky, then onto the night time where your only source of sun is the plants that produce it (not to mention the mushrooms that can only be planted at night), the Fog can roll in on any given map obscuring your view of half the field, a defense of the backyard requires dealing with two lanes in the pool (along with the water only plants), and finally the roof presents itself with a hip, meaning that only plants that lob upward can reach the targets. I really liked this element of the game, because it does in fact get more difficult with each stage change, but ultimately if you understand the basic principles of a front line, as well as the specific nature of the field you are having to play on, you will be fine (even if you do have some close moments ).
Setting up a proper defensive line is vital if you hope to take down teh Zombie menace.
Finally, the extra content beyond the main campaign is really what makes a good game great. The campaign mode is great fun on its own, but the added puzzle, minigame, and survival modes are definitely a great addition to replayability as well as the gameplay itself. In puzzle, you can play a game of smash the pots in which you must.... well... smash the pots that might contain zombies or plants, and organize your field according to what you find. The second puzzle mode gives you control of the zombies and asks you to attack a lawn of cardboard cutouts of plants (they still have the same abilities though... so watch out.) and gives a completely different spin on the game that is definitely worth playing through. The minigames mix the gameplay up even further, some offering zombies with plants for heads, others offer the final showdown between you and your zombie foes. Finally, the survival mode forces you up against 5 increasingly difficult waves of zombies in various environments.
Plants vs Zombies takes all the fun of killing zombies, and makes it suitable for a wider audience. Instead of the hyper realistic killing machines we’re used to, the zombies in Plants vs Zombies are just cartoon images that, after a certain amount of hits lose an arm followed by their head (because as every die hard zombie fan knows, the only way to kill a zombie is to remove the head or destroy the brain). There’s nothing overtly Zombie-ish about this game, and in fact the Zombies could be replaced by any number of slow moving enemies, but they aren’t.... and that’s why this game appeals to both the hardcore and the casual market. And appeal it does. I know a lot of people who have played the demo and then gone on to buy the game, and after playing the demo I too was hooked. With its quirky graphical stylings and its simple to understand but difficult to master gameplay, I truly enjoyed playing Plants vs Zombies and I think you would as well. Now... time to go off to the garden and plant some Wall-Nuts to protect my brain.
~Josh
Plants vs Zombies can be purchased for $20US from Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/3590/
Or it can be purchased through Popcap directly for $29AU: http://www.popcap.com/games/pvz
I leave you this week with a link to potentially the most awesome zombie video featuring plants. The PVZ music video. Enjoy: http://store.steampowered.com/app/99071/
PS: If you have any suggestions for games or hardware you'd like to see reviewed, drop me an email at Josh@netgameradio.com and I'll see what I can do.
The Title Screen lets you know what you're getting yourself into even.
The modern gamer has an absolute love for the undead. Games like Left 4 Dead and Killing Floor (to name two of the most recent additions to the genre) have you killing hundreds upon hundreds of your favourite undead bags of gore. Plants vs Zombies (PVZ from now on... what?... it’s annoying having to write out the entire name every time) just makes it more family friendly. Some may say that Zombies are just the flavour of the month (or year in this case), and while that might be a little bit true, you won’t hear me complaining about it. I love smashing in some skulls of the undead. They are the spawn of satan and if Call of Duty: World at War has taught me anything they’re all dirty Nazis who to be honest need a good bashing. Plants vs Zombies takes that need to kill zombies and gives it a more cheery atmosphere, a unique set of challenges, and generally lightens the mood of a zombie game, all of which lead up to a very unique experience.
Plants vs Zombies is from Popcap games. Whoah.... hold on there... lets not get ahead of ourselves. Yes, Popcap are a "casual" game mecca, but that doesn't mean casual games can't be ridiculously fun. I mean, say you have just 20 minutes to play; do you really want to fire up a game that will take you 5 minutes just to get a server?; or do you want instant zombie killing action in easy to chew tablet form? Personaly, my money is on wanting the instant gratification of killing the zombies, and really that's one of the reasons this game shines is in its ability to keep you coming back for more.
You begin each level with 50 sun and a prayer.... not to mention the 8-10 deadly plant seeds you're brought with you.
PVZ has three main things going for it. Firstly, the visual style is very unique and makes the game just fun to watch. The cartoony outlines along with the bold colors make each new plant you earn and new zombie to dispatch a pleasure to see while completing the main campaign. Starting off with the bobbing sunflower that seems to be dancing to an unheard beat, your lawn will take shape with any of a number of clever plants at any time of day or night. The zombies range from something as basic as your regular zombie, to something as tough as the football player who takes what seems like forever to take down. There are zombies that tunnel behind you and start attacking you from the back (and don’t worry there are plants that can shoot backwards) while others walk up to you and detonate, taking out half your front line. All of these zombies have their own unique look so you can identify them quickly in the heat of battle, as well as each has their own tactic with which to remove them (you’ll have to figure that bit out yourself).
I-Zombie puts you in control of the Zombies themselves, trying to eat the brains of the lawnowner.
Secondly, the gameplay itself is fairly self explanatory, which is good considering the Help Page is the image seen below.
The Help Page... honest to god.
The PVZ gameplay is essentially a tower defense game at its core. The lawn owner (that would be you) collects sun either that falls out of the sky or is produced by your sunflowers (yes.... sunflowers produce sun in this game). Using this sun, you can plant any of a variety of plants to help defend your lawn. The difficulty starts off incredibly easy and ramps up gently enough that, while you’ll notice, you’ll never be really overwhelmed if you play the game properly. The game presents lots of variety for the player, from the standard 5 lanes of your front lawn during the day when sun falls from the sky, then onto the night time where your only source of sun is the plants that produce it (not to mention the mushrooms that can only be planted at night), the Fog can roll in on any given map obscuring your view of half the field, a defense of the backyard requires dealing with two lanes in the pool (along with the water only plants), and finally the roof presents itself with a hip, meaning that only plants that lob upward can reach the targets. I really liked this element of the game, because it does in fact get more difficult with each stage change, but ultimately if you understand the basic principles of a front line, as well as the specific nature of the field you are having to play on, you will be fine (even if you do have some close moments ).
Setting up a proper defensive line is vital if you hope to take down teh Zombie menace.
Finally, the extra content beyond the main campaign is really what makes a good game great. The campaign mode is great fun on its own, but the added puzzle, minigame, and survival modes are definitely a great addition to replayability as well as the gameplay itself. In puzzle, you can play a game of smash the pots in which you must.... well... smash the pots that might contain zombies or plants, and organize your field according to what you find. The second puzzle mode gives you control of the zombies and asks you to attack a lawn of cardboard cutouts of plants (they still have the same abilities though... so watch out.) and gives a completely different spin on the game that is definitely worth playing through. The minigames mix the gameplay up even further, some offering zombies with plants for heads, others offer the final showdown between you and your zombie foes. Finally, the survival mode forces you up against 5 increasingly difficult waves of zombies in various environments.
Plants vs Zombies takes all the fun of killing zombies, and makes it suitable for a wider audience. Instead of the hyper realistic killing machines we’re used to, the zombies in Plants vs Zombies are just cartoon images that, after a certain amount of hits lose an arm followed by their head (because as every die hard zombie fan knows, the only way to kill a zombie is to remove the head or destroy the brain). There’s nothing overtly Zombie-ish about this game, and in fact the Zombies could be replaced by any number of slow moving enemies, but they aren’t.... and that’s why this game appeals to both the hardcore and the casual market. And appeal it does. I know a lot of people who have played the demo and then gone on to buy the game, and after playing the demo I too was hooked. With its quirky graphical stylings and its simple to understand but difficult to master gameplay, I truly enjoyed playing Plants vs Zombies and I think you would as well. Now... time to go off to the garden and plant some Wall-Nuts to protect my brain.
~Josh
Plants vs Zombies can be purchased for $20US from Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/3590/
Or it can be purchased through Popcap directly for $29AU: http://www.popcap.com/games/pvz
I leave you this week with a link to potentially the most awesome zombie video featuring plants. The PVZ music video. Enjoy: http://store.steampowered.com/app/99071/
PS: If you have any suggestions for games or hardware you'd like to see reviewed, drop me an email at Josh@netgameradio.com and I'll see what I can do.
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| Category: | Game Reviews |
| Posted: | 8-Jun-09 6:10:02 pm |
| Author: | josh |