Who would have thought that such a simple twist on tower defence games would produce such as marvellous game as Plants vs Zombies. Whilst some of PopCap’s recent efforts may have been a bit lacking in originality (I’m looking at you Peggle Nights!) Plants vs Zombies shows that the casual game developer has a lot of great ideas still hidden away.

As the name suggests there is a battle raging as the Plants have to stand up tall in the face of the barbaric Zombie invasion. The battlefield, your very own back garden at first and later the roof of your lovely homestead. If just one Zombie breaks through your defences then it is game over, your humble Plants failed to hold out.

Of course Plants don’t just appear out of nowhere, they need sun to live, cue your Sunflowers who, in the day levels, keep you topped up with enough sunlight to plant various kinds of anti-Zombie Plants. Your defences are varied, your first recruit is often the Peashooter who fires peas at the Zombie hordes. A Wall-nut stands fast against the biting Zombies while a Potato Mine will explode in a flurry of mashed potato when he is stepped upon.

These are just some of the early Plants you are able to call upon to defend your prized possessions, later you can use a Jalepeno which will destroy all the Zombies in a lane while a Puff-shroom is your basic defender when night falls. There really is quite a variety of brave Plants who you can call upon in battle and they all have their own characteristics and personalities. When you unlock the Suburban Almanac you can read the bio’s on each of the Plants that you have unlocked as your complete the levels or bought from your neighbour Crazy Dave.

What passes for the story in Plants vs Zombies is portrayed by Crazy Dave, a saucepan wearing madman and numerous letters left by the Zombies. Reading these letters provides an insight into the life of a Zombie, they aren’t mindless creatures of evil, they are scheming and plotting creatures of evil who are trying to lure you away from your home so they can invade.

If you thought the Plants were a wild bunch then be prepared for the Zombies, they are a foe which you often find in games, and they are usually pretty boring. The Zombies in Plants vs Zombies though are of a much different breed, whilst you have the usual simple Zombies who will eat his way through any Plants in his way there are some who can pole vault and yet others who can fly on balloons. In homage to the infamous Jamaican bobsleigh team there are bobsleigh Zombies who appear after an ice machine freezes your lawn.

Whilst I find myself struggling the difficulty or boredom with most tower defence games, Plants vs Zombies is different, there are never any truly impossible levels, it all comes down to your timing, tactics and judicious Plant choosing. The normal levels are well interspersed with some special levels that require you to play the game a bit differently, Wall-nut bowling is one great example. These and the messages from Crazy Dave as well as the Zombie letters keep the main game from getting stale.

There is a vast amount of time to be invested in the additional game modes, they really provide a stern test of your gardening abilities and are a great way to lost an hour of your life without even realising. Jokes are abound in the game, just take a look at the Alamanc or the Help section for some laughs.

Plants vs Zombies is a real gem of a game, everything has been crafted to provide different jokes here and there and to make your experience of playing it enjoyable. I can’t recommend this game enough as you will find yourself going back for more all the time. Buy it.

10/10

Tags: Plants vs Zombies, PopCap, Review

This entry was posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 11:12 pm and is filed under Chris Evans Writes, Features, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.