So, Today's Review is about a Game that Became really Big. Today Im Reviewing 2009's Plants Vs Zombies by PopCap Games.
North American Box Art of the PC Version
PLOT
Plants vs Zombies....Doesn't Really Have a Deep Plot. but ill Try
Zombies are Coming! You (The Player) Must Use The Plants at your Disposal to Kill the Zombies who have Invaded your Lawn. After a While you Meet Your Neighbor, Crazy Dave. Dave Gives you Advice on Using Plants to Defend yourself. and Eventually Opens a Shop Where you can Buy Stuff.
I mean, there's not really Much here to Talk about in Terms of Plot.
GAMEPLAY
Gameplay is Where PvZ Truly Shines.
PvZ is a Tower Defense Game, and a Really Addictive one too.
So Basically, You have Sun, You Use Sun to Build Plants and the Plants Defend you.
Variety and creativity take this basic mission structure and turn it into something special. Just when you've gotten your daytime defense strategy down, the zombies decide to attack at night and you have a whole new set of plants to manage. When you've taken care of the nocturnal nasties, it's back to the daytime, only now a few of your rows are taken up by your backyard pool (there are snorkel zombies). New units come along that fit the new environments, and this steady trickle of new elements helps keep the gentle difficulty curve from becoming dull.
Still, tower defense veterans will have to endure a lot of simple, familiar action in order to find a real challenge, and the wait may prove too long for some. Fortunately, all of the units are cleverly realized and adorably animated. Happy sunflowers bob merrily as they fuel your defense efforts, and pole-vaulting zombies jog toward your house with gangly athleticism. From angry jalapenos to spacy wall-nuts, each unit has a great sense of personality, and the first time you watch a dancing zombie moonwalk onto your lawn and summon his garishly dressed backup dancers, you'll likely chuckle with amusement. The visual charm makes the game a pleasure to look at, and it helps keep things feeling fresh.
Among the regular levels are more arcade-like variations on the tower defense formula. You may lose the ability to select plants and instead deal with pre-selected plants that come down a conveyor belt. Or you may be presented with a lawn full of vases waiting to be smashed – some hiding treasure, some zombies. There are even fun mini-games, a survival mode, and puzzles that let you play as the zombies.
Eventually you get to a Zen Garden to Take Care of Plants that you find in Levels. These Zen Garden Plants Reward you with In-game Money for your Time.
PRESENTATION
This Game Looks pretty Good, the Visuals are pretty Cartoon-y, Fitting in well in a...well....Cartoon. The Zombies are Very Silly and are Charmingly animated and the game looks great in action. These aren't your gruesome Left 4 Dead or Resident Evil zombies. that's for Sure. The Plant's animations are Adorable too.
And As Said Above the Visuals will Make things feel Fresh.
The Music is VERY Catchy and Well Made. and It gets more Intense Based on how Much Zombies are on Screen. And there are some Really good Music Tracks that are just Great on their own, Such as "Braniac Maniac", "Graze the Roof", and "Ultimate Battle".
THE BAD
So, What is Wrong with Such a Charming Game? Well ...In Order to get Everything in the Post-Game, Plants Vs Zombies is a Little Grind Heavy, Forcing you to Grind for Money to get all of the Upgrades, Growing the Tree of Wisdom(Which can take a While), Gaining all of the Achievements, and Beating all of the Side Modes.
Doing all of this Gives you one reward. a Golden Sunflower Trophy.
Secondly the Game is Pretty Slow and Easy in the Beginning. but it Does Pick up Pace after a while. But then have a Big Difficulty Spike.
Finally the Game Struggles to Keep Attention after the Main Adventure Mode. Which really Prevents people from Wanting to get the Golden Sunflower Trophy.
OVERALL
Plants Vs Zombies is a Great Game for those who Want a Casual Experience, its pretty Easy and Slow in the Beginning but it does pick up the Pace and gets MUCH Harder.
The Visuals and Music are Great, the the Gameplay Is Fun once it gets going.
Overall Plants Vs Zombies gets a....
4/5
A Great Game in General. but not Perfect.