Plants vs. Zombies (iPhone Review)
Game: Plants vs. Zombies
Developer: PopCap Games
Publisher: PopCap Games
Available on: PC, iPod Touch and iPhone (reviewed on iPhone)
Tower defence? What is this, a new genre of games? I can’t think of anyone ever making a game like this before! Oh…tower defence, now I understand…oh God not another tower defence game.
At least, that’s what I should be saying given that the app store is littered with tower defence games, but this one is very special indeed, as anyone who has experienced the original PC version will attest to Assuming, Dear Reader, that you have the vaguest idea of how a tower defence game works, this game is no different to those, no different at all. It is however MUCH BETTER!
Plants vs. Zombies Menu
“The Zombies…are coming” and you have to defend your home and your brain from the flesheaters, but all you have to do so is plants. It’s a simple idea, the zombies come from the right of the screen and you utilise your plants to stop them. The currency used to buy plants is simply the rays from the sun, you can increase the amount you recieve by planting sunflowers, as many as you want. It’s a balancing act between getting plentiful amounts of currency whilst keeping the zombies at bay, with waves getting increasingly difficult. You always have a lawnmower as a last line of defence if the zombies were to breach your plants, but once the lawnmower is gone it’s lane is unprotected and they can enter the house and eat your brain!
Sounds like any other tower defence game in princible but progression is the key. As you complete levels they vary in difficulty and you gain new more advanced defensive plants. For example, there are levels with a pool that require you to plant lily pads, there are night-time levels that require you to use sunflowers exclusively as there is no natural sun to feed your “bank balance”, luckily though you can plant mushrooms which are a night-time only weapon. Fog is another idea that changes the game as you can’t quite see what is coming until it’s almost too late, but again the game has a defensive weapon that blows the fog away. Without spoiling the story progression too much, there is more than I have mentioned as you go through the game.
Plants vs. Zombies In-Game
In amongst all this gameplay though there are some adorable little touches from the developers, touch the “Help” button and you are greeted with the message “When the zombies show up, just sit there and don’t do anything. You win the game when the Zombies get to your houze” (sic). You can also replay the mini-games that are incorporated into the main game once you have completed the campaign as well, these games include bowling giant potatoes at zombies.
A shop is featured within the game where “Crazy Dave” sells you upgrades to some of your existing plants or even a new line of defence for the levels that contain a swimming pool. When you aren’t actually playing the game you can have a look at the almanac, all the zombies and plants are featured and it is full of more of the adorable humour this title oozes. Achievements are included as well, if that matters to you.
Plants vs. Zombies was actually a title that attracted some attention pre-release, even appearing on the news in the USA and sadly for all those waiting, they were subjected to agonising delays (though the way the app store works, blame could very well be shared for that) and more importantly, a lot of speculation as to the eventual price of the game. Quite simply, PopCap knocked it out of the park when it came to pricing it.  When the day finally arrived for the red curatin to draw on Plants vs. Zombies, potential buyers were met with the absolutely astounding price of £1.79 (UK price, other countries match). Given the prices of some other high profile titles on the app store, that price mark is staggering.
Plants vs. Zombies Almanac
A few minor niggles though, it’s missing some of the mini-games that the PC has (rumours of them appearing as future downloadable content have died down) but given the size and price I’d find it very hard to hear complaints aimed at the title for that. During furiously hectic moments there is a slight bit of slowdown as well (3GS was used for review) but really, in this type of game it’s barely worth mentioning.
The biggest complaint I can lay at the game though is that you will constantly need to recharge your iPhone or iPod Touch because the game is so damned addictive, you’ll be playing it for hours. Toilet gamers will most certainly have red marks on their legs! When the biggest moan about a game is how much you end up playing, it’s safe to say you have a rather special title on your hands.
Fans of the PC version will love that they have an excuse to play this again, newcomers to the genre or someone looking for a really fun game full of humour will find solace in Plants vs. Zombies.
