Plants vs. Zombies
Publisher: PopCap Developer: PopCap Platform: iOS Players: 1 Release: 2010 Genre: Real-Time Strategy / Action Rating: 9.1 \ 10.0: Excellent
Above is the game's title screen
From PopCap, developer of many popular casual games including the Bejeweled, Bookworm, and Zuma series (none of which I've played) comes Plants vs. Zombies. This is an app with an amusing plot-- zombies or many varieties are fixated on breaking into your house and eating your brains, and you must thwart these undead monsters by using an array of odd anthropomorphic plants. The game features several modes, the main being Adventure. In this mode, you play through 50 increasingly difficult stages, divided into five worlds, each being a part of your house-- lawn (day), lawn (night), backyard (day), backyard (night), and roof. The playing field is divided into several lanes. In each stage, you begin with 50 suns. Suns are used to deploy plants onto the field. Plants are priced differently and all serve unique purposes. Well, some serve the same purpose, but do it better than others. The main plants include sun-producing sunflowers, pea-launching peashooters, defensive walnuts, and explosive cherry bombs. The zombies come in many different types, each one odder than the last. There are pole-vaulters, football players, disco dancers, Zamboni (pardon me, "Zomboni") drivers, pogo-stickers, miners, and many more. Throughout the game, you'll engage in several entertaining minigames, which are available to play upon your completion of Adventure mode, along with a handful of other minigames. Completing the first four worlds of Adventure unlocks the Zen Garden, in which you can grow plants to produce coins. These coins can be used to purchase items from your maniacal neighbor Crazy Dave, who aids you throughout the game. Believe me, he's crazy, and in a very humorous way. As you may have noticed from what I've already written, this game is chock-full of humor, a decent amount of which comes from the Suburban Almanac, a guide to all of the plants and zombies you've encountered. One touch of funniness comes when you complete Adventure. The zombies send you a poorly-written surrender letter that requests that you make a music video with them. I won't spoil the video, but you can view it for yourself when you beat Adventure. Additionally, the game features charming hand-drawn graphics and a catchy soundtrack. I only have a few small complaints about this game. It can be frustrating at times, in part due to the tactics of the ladder and bungee-jumping zombies encountered the roof levels being borderline unfair. The game lacks some animations; for example, when you knock a balloon zombie out of the sky when it's flying over a pool, it will simply disappear. My last quibble is that the the sound quality is relatively low. The DSi port gets a pass because the hardware doesnt allow it, but smartphones and tablets are optimized for playing music. Plants vs. Zombies is a truly amazing app, and I doubt you'll find a better experience on your mobile device.
Ups
Amusing premise
Chock-full of quirky humor
Fun minigames
Charming hand-drawn graphics and catchy soundtrack
Downs
Sometimes frustrating
Missing animations
Relatively low sound quality
Also available on other mobile devices, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and DSi.
ESRB: E 10+ Content: Animated Blood and Cartoon Violence Price: $0.99 (Download)
Above is the game's title screen
From PopCap, developer of many popular casual games including the Bejeweled, Bookworm, and Zuma series (none of which I've played) comes Plants vs. Zombies. This is an app with an amusing plot-- zombies or many varieties are fixated on breaking into your house and eating your brains, and you must thwart these undead monsters by using an array of odd anthropomorphic plants. The game features several modes, the main being Adventure. In this mode, you play through 50 increasingly difficult stages, divided into five worlds, each being a part of your house-- lawn (day), lawn (night), backyard (day), backyard (night), and roof. The playing field is divided into several lanes. In each stage, you begin with 50 suns. Suns are used to deploy plants onto the field. Plants are priced differently and all serve unique purposes. Well, some serve the same purpose, but do it better than others. The main plants include sun-producing sunflowers, pea-launching peashooters, defensive walnuts, and explosive cherry bombs. The zombies come in many different types, each one odder than the last. There are pole-vaulters, football players, disco dancers, Zamboni (pardon me, "Zomboni") drivers, pogo-stickers, miners, and many more. Throughout the game, you'll engage in several entertaining minigames, which are available to play upon your completion of Adventure mode, along with a handful of other minigames. Completing the first four worlds of Adventure unlocks the Zen Garden, in which you can grow plants to produce coins. These coins can be used to purchase items from your maniacal neighbor Crazy Dave, who aids you throughout the game. Believe me, he's crazy, and in a very humorous way. As you may have noticed from what I've already written, this game is chock-full of humor, a decent amount of which comes from the Suburban Almanac, a guide to all of the plants and zombies you've encountered. One touch of funniness comes when you complete Adventure. The zombies send you a poorly-written surrender letter that requests that you make a music video with them. I won't spoil the video, but you can view it for yourself when you beat Adventure. Additionally, the game features charming hand-drawn graphics and a catchy soundtrack. I only have a few small complaints about this game. It can be frustrating at times, in part due to the tactics of the ladder and bungee-jumping zombies encountered the roof levels being borderline unfair. The game lacks some animations; for example, when you knock a balloon zombie out of the sky when it's flying over a pool, it will simply disappear. My last quibble is that the the sound quality is relatively low. The DSi port gets a pass because the hardware doesnt allow it, but smartphones and tablets are optimized for playing music. Plants vs. Zombies is a truly amazing app, and I doubt you'll find a better experience on your mobile device.
Ups
Amusing premise
Chock-full of quirky humor
Fun minigames
Charming hand-drawn graphics and catchy soundtrack
Downs
Sometimes frustrating
Missing animations
Relatively low sound quality
Also available on other mobile devices, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and DSi.
ESRB: E 10+ Content: Animated Blood and Cartoon Violence Price: $0.99 (Download)
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