REVIEWED – Plants vs. Zombies

Title:  Plants vs. Zombies
Platform:  PC
Developer:  PopCap
Publisher:  PopCap
Reviewed By:  LordShibas
SCORE:  B+

Look for more reviews of Plants vs. Zombies at TestFreaks.com

Well Plants vs. Zombies is finally here, and I’ve been fervently awaiting its release since I originally saw the charming trailer with the singing sunflower. The wait did seem kind of long, but now that I’ve played through the game, I can say that I was able to procure some enjoyment from it, but it might not be the deep experience you had been hoping for.

Plants vs. Zombies is the latest game from Popcap games, and it entails fighting off hordes of zombies with your army of plants. It’s essentially a tower defense game in which you construct an army of plants to help fight off the zombie invasion. Popcap is known for their past casual games, and Plants vs. Zombies is no different. It’s a rather easy game, and you can plow through the main game in a few sittings, but it does offer some additional modes and mini-games for those looking for more zombie killing action.

The game is more on the humorous side, and it might be the cutest zombie game ever created. I can say that I was confounded by the initial offering, and the game did keep me playing all the way to the end, but the main game is over before you know it, and even though Popcap claims that there are 50 levels in the game, you will rip through them incredibly fast. The touted 50 levels becomes more of a pretense since a slew of mini-games are included as levels. Despite the casual game style, I was able to discern a little bit of reverence for Popcap, since they made such a fun and unique game.

The gameplay style changes from level to level. Some will be standard tower defense levels, others will have unlimited resources and be governed by a conveyor belt that drops off plants you need to place, and others will consist of mini-games like whack-a-mole that will test your reflexes and speed things up a bit.

In order to fight off the hordes of contextualized zombies, you will first need to pick very basic plants like Peashooters that fire peas in a straight line. The Peashooters will be coupled with Sunflowers which allow you to generate sun, which is your main resource for being able to plant an assortment of flowers and other defenses. Sun particles will also drop from the sky during the daylight missions, which can give you an added boost to your available sun. Upon the completion of levels, you will be blessed with a new plant or item to add to your repertoire.

It will not take you long to amass a large number of plants, but one strategic element of the game is that you can only take so many types of plants into levels with you. You start off with six slots, but you will later be able to upgrade your slots to take even more types of plants into the levels.

Now onto one of the best parts of the game: the zombies!! Popcap has included a nice array of zombies in the game. Each one has some type of strategy to take down, and just when you think you’ve got things under control, a new zombie will be welcomed to the fold, and you will need to re-think your strategies a bit.

The zombies range from your standard, slow paced, walking zombies, to eccentric bungee jumping zombies that will drop down and steal your plants from right under your nose. There are 25 total zombies, plus one hidden zombie that can be attained. I also feel compelled to tell you about the Michael Jackson-like Thriller zombies that surface on certain levels. Their appearance is quite funny the first time you see them.

As enticing as this game setup may sound, keep in mind that this is a rather basic game with a simple point and click interface. You will not be searching for keyboard shortcuts. The entire game is played with mouse clicks, so you can easily play the game one handed, without any trouble.

All things considered, I did enjoy Plants vs. Zombies for the most part, but the corny humor wears thin after a while and the condemnable length of the main game knocks it down a peg.

Now for my actual review.

Graphics
Plants vs. Zombies has a cute little art style that really brings the plants and zombies to life. It’s not a graphically intensive game, and the game lacks any real graphical setup options at all, but it looks good for what it is. The zombies are well animated and as you pelt them with fodder from your plants, they will lose arms, heads, and even get charred to ashes with explosive plants like the jalapenos and cherry bombs.

The game takes place in three different areas, your front yard, your back yard, and your roof. There are different variations of each setting, and you will need to fight during the day and night at the different settings. The settings share the same art style as the plant and zombie models. The backgrounds fit in well and provide a nice backdrop for the action.

The game runs very smoothly and even though you may often have two dozens plants facing off against two dozen zombies, the action will never slow down or stutter in any way.

The graphics in Plants vs. Zombies fit the mood of the game perfectly, but a little more detail would have been nice and the lack of the usual PC game graphical tweaks is kind of disconcerting.

Sounds and Music
This is one area of the game that’s kind of mixed. The game mostly consists of ambient tunes that play in the background and they often get muffled out by the sound effects. Either way, the music is really nothing special, except for later in the game when you are treated with a full screen version of the game trailer in all of its glory. It’s an incredibly catchy song and it will be stuck in your head for days, if not longer.

It’s rare for me to say this, but I enjoyed the sound effects in Plants vs. Zombies much more than the music. As the zombies approach your plants and start devouring them, you will hear them chewing on your precious little plants, which will be murder to your ears. As the Michael Jackson-type Thriller enemies approach, you hear a nice little jam that accompanies them until you take them out. It seems like almost every zombie has a certain sound which you can associate with them that differentiates them from the rest. Oh yeah, there is also the constant cry of “brains” from the zombies as well.

Story
Zombies are coming to eat your brains. That’s all you need to know.

Controls
The entire game is controlled with the mouse and it’s really a simple game to get the hang of. Dragging and dropping your plants from the top menu will place them on the field and they will immediately start attacking the zombies. Plants are placed on a 6 lane grid, and zombies can attack you from any lane. You will need to stay on your toes and keep your mouse at the ready. Well, I take that back, the early goings of the levels are somewhat slow, since you will be building up your sun resources, but things get more hectic the further the levels progress on.

Not really much to say here, the game controls great.

Gameplay
For a simple tower defense game, Plants vs. Zombies plays remarkably well. The game never feels like a chore to play, and the varied gameplay styles will keeps things fresh throughout the Adventure mode, which is the basic mode in the game.

Before each level, you will get a glimpse of the zombies that will be attacking you. This will allow you to think out your defensive strategies and choose which plants you will need to fight them off. Having limited types of plants you can choose to take with you will often leave you contemplating some difficult decisions before each level. Do you take the Venus Fly Trap plants to devour zombies in one gulp? Or do you take the Hypnotic Mushroom that turns zombies against their own kind? The decisions are often inconsequential, but sometimes life and death will hinge on which plants you take with you.

The night missions are slightly different than the daylight missions. At night, you will need to scrounge up an army of mushrooms to fight off the zombies. You will have limited sun resources since the sun is not out to shower you with sun reserves. The only sun you will get at night comes from your sunflowers. You basically need two entirely different strategies to counterbalance the night and day settings.

Plants vs. Zombies intersperses the standard levels with some mini-games to keep things fresh, but these are really short and nothing but a small diversion. I was not really a huge fan of the mini-games.

The mini-games and bonus missions make way for a currency system that allows you to purchase upgrades for your plants from Crazy Dave’s shop. Oh yeah, Crazy Dave is basically your guide during the game, but he’s more of a corny thorn in the side than anything else. He speaks in gibberish and wears a pot on his head. As you find currency during the game, he will offer you upgrades that will augment the efficiency of your plants, give your more versatile ways to fight off the zombies, and a bevy of other things as well. Some of these items cannot be purchased on your first playthrough of the game, and the more expensive items are to help you out in Survival mode, which is an endless smorgasbord of zombie slaying.

As great as the main game is, the additional modes may or may not interest you. They mainly consist of some puzzle modes and some mini-games, but there is also a Zen Garden which lets you raise plants to get additional money for Dave’s Shop.

The game is also on the easy side, and it’s obviously geared towards a casual audience. The additional Survival mode offers more challenge for the player, and if you re-play Adventure mode again, Crazy Dave will choose your plants for you, which makes things a lot more difficult. There is also an influx of zombies on the second playthrough which makes it more challenging.

The main gameplay in Plants vs. Zombies is the star of the show, and it’s very entertaining. But the mini-games and additional modes may seem somewhat tedious in comparison. I guess it depends on the type of gamer you are.

Longevity and Re-Playability
As entertaining as the main game is, it’s really a shame that it’s so short. It can easily be completed in a few sittings, but the Survival mode offers plenty of levels to keep any zealous player busy for much longer. Playing the Adventure mode again is always fun as well, but the mini-games may or may not be to your liking.

Conclusion
As much as I enjoyed Plants vs. Zombies, I can honestly say that I was somewhat disappointed by the game. Maybe my expectations were a little too grandiose after seeing all of the positive press that the game was getting, but I was just expecting a little more from the game.

However, please don’t let this discourage you from picking up this game. It’s a fun and addictive game from start to finish. It’s easy enough for casual fans to enjoy, yet the Survival mode offers enough depth to keep you busy for as long as you want it to. Plants vs. Zombies is a very unique take on the tower defense genre, and you won’t be playing many other games with Pole Vaulting zombies.