Heya board, for my first review I’m reviewing Plants vs. Zombies, also known as PvZ. Developed and published by Popcap Games on May 5th, 2009 on PC, PvZ released to good reviews and slowly released on other platforms. These included mobile devices, Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and the DS. This review will be focusing on the PC’s Game of the Year release, the one widely available on Steam. The base game is generally the same for most of them but the various ports have differences that range from a few exclusive minigames to entirely new game modes that are out of the scope of this review. The simplest version for a simple, first review.
Plants vs. Zombies is a tower defense game that pits the player against a zombie horde with only plants at their disposal. Unique for its time as tower defense games generally did not have the towers and the enemies on the same path, but here they occupy the same 5-6 lanes. At the start of each level the player picks their crop of plants before the level starts and each level slowly sends out zombie after zombie until huge waves come to finish off each level. This basic gameplay loop lasts for a good five areas, each introducing a new set of gimmicks. These range from blocking certain tiles and making zombies spawn on them to making the entire lawn unplantable without help and making traditional attacking plants ineffective. Each area ends with a showcase of the world, with the plants there being the player’s only tools against a massive horde of zombies, with the final area having a proper boss fight instead. It’s not a complicated plot, but it doesn’t have to be. The player can even play through the campaign with each level starting with a few plants picked for them if they play it a second time.
There are a good variety of enemies to face, one every few levels or so. Ranging from increased speed and health, to having a shield, to even summoning other zombies. No zombie has insane stats without feeling like it earns it and most have one fatal flaw or just as tough as a basic zombie. Most based on an occupation and dress accordingly. The plants that the player has to defend are just as varied. Even though some of them exist purely to counter a zombie’s gimmick, not many can be called outright useless. Strategy in this game is quite varied and every plant has its place in a strategy with a single exception that only exists to make money. Most challenge runs of this game involve restricting the plants used or how they are used really proves how far this game can be pushed.
There is just as much side content as there is in the main campaign, mostly in the form of minigames. In the middle point of each area is a minigame that adds a crazy gimmick to the gameplay. There are even more and two have their own dedicated sections, being Vasebreaker and I, Zombie. The former involves the player having to clear the lawn of vases which contain plants or zombies and the latter has the players drop zombies on the lawn to take care of the plants. Other minigames include every plant coming from a slot machine, all zombies being smaller, weaker and much faster, to playing whack-a-mole with zombies. There is another set of side modes called Survival, where the player slowly adds to their defense over the course of increasingly difficult waves of zombies. This ultimately culminates in Survival: Endless where the player goes as long as they can.
Plants vs. Zombies is not a difficult game. Even at its hardest, there’s no massive challenge that is not self imposed in one way or another. Even though it is a real time strategy game, it’s fairly slow and does not need insane reaction times even for fast threats. In the achievements there are really only a few difficult achievements. Beating the game twice, beating up to wave 30 in Survival: Endless and merely getting enough money to buy a tree are among the harder ones. Although the hardest is getting through wave 15 in I, Zombie: Endless due to having mild RNG elements that not even the greediest resource managers can get through. All in all, the achievements here can be achieved through normal play outside of a few exceptions in endless modes and spending in-game currency.
The game has a good visual style. Not too cartoony but not too realistic either. Most of the zombies look like they could have been real people before the apocalypse with the exception of their leader, Dr. Zomboss but he still fits visually with them. The plants are more visually distinct from each other but feel like plants for the most part. The one human character, Crazy Dave fits right in as a shopkeeper and the pseudo-leader of the plant faction. The world around them is also displayed well, being based on the suburbs it gets the look and feel of the area well. As mentioned, this is not a story-heavy game but the dialogue is entertaining and while it gets absurd at times, it does not feel like the “random equals funny” that surrounded the humor at the time. The flavor text for each plant and zombie are all good details, worldbuilding and small jokes that add charm to the game. The soundtrack by Laura Shigihara compliments the game greatly with the credits being just as charming with the hint of absurdity that the rest of the game has.
This is very much a casual game. People who are unfamiliar to the genre can play it and it is a very good introduction to tower defense games. Definitely a good purchase for anyone that likes the genre already or those that want a casual experience. The only people that I feel wouldn’t get anything out of this are either those that genuinely hate the genre as a whole or are elitist players that only play the most difficult real time strategy or tower defense games. For me this is a 10/10 game. I really enjoyed the experience and nothing muddled the whole experience to the point of lowering the score. The last achievement consisted of an annoying process but ultimately it did not detract from my enjoyment.