Written by: Hana Hsu
It’s an hour before your flight, and you don’t feel like reading, browsing the shops one more time, and you’re tired of all your music on you’re your mp3 player. You turn to your smartphone, but are tired of Tetris and minesweeper. If you haven’t discovered it already, Plants Vs. Zombies version 1.8.1 for the iPhone is probably the most fun way to kill time (and zombies) invented!
First off, let me just say I have never become addicted to a game in such a short amount of time. Angry Birds? I got tired of it in 15 minutes. But Plants Vs Zombies? I played it for two days straight. The humor, cute and colorful graphics, music, and challenges all make for one of the most creative and fun games to come out in a while. In fact, it received “universal acclaim from the gaming media … and earned the title of Popcap’s fastest selling game of all time,” according to toucharcade.com.
Plants Vs. Zombies is great because it is accessible to children and complex enough for adults. It’s not a gory, first-person shooter game, but a “tower-defense” game where you gain a new tool each level and use strategy to plan your line of attack, using plants (rather than towers) to ward off those brain-sucking zombies from invading your home (thus defending your tower and base). The learning curve is easy: you plant seeds in a grid, first using sunflowers as resources to plant other new plants, with offensive or defensive capabilities, to shoot in rows at approaching zombies. Along the way, interludes with a man named Crazy Dave give you hints and little intervals of rapid-fire, one-your-toes battles with the zombies, making for interesting diversions. The game also progresses in different settings, from day to night, from pool to roof, each level giving you a new tool, and requiring a new strategy. In addition to great graphics and music, the user interface is very easy to use, with a simple tap to access any button.
Other functions ensure many hours of fun even after you’ve beaten the game once. There are mini-games you can buy with the coins you earn in the game, a quick play mode, achievements to gain, variations in the second time around, and a zen garden where you can raise plants and take a respite from all the zombie-slaying.
As reviewer Paul Acevedo from WPCentral wrote, “As a critic, it’s rare that I can unequivocally say that a game is the very best game in its genre. So many titles do different things well, and they usually have their minuses too. It’s even more uncommon for a game to transcend its own genre and become something that appeals to pretty much everybody. That’s why Plants vs. Zombies is such an amazing game. Not only is it hands-down the best tower defense game on Windows Phone, it also tweaks tower defense conventions and brings so much content that even tower defense naysayers will find a lot to enjoy.”
Pros:
- Good game for children or adults
- Non-violent
- Colorful graphics
- Easy to use interface
- Additional mini-games, achievements, and add-ons available within the game for extended play and additional challenges
Cons:
- Becoming addicted to the game so that you may neglect your significant other or family or lose focus on other important tasks
- Not free, but negligible fee for hours of fun: $4.99
- Small screen on iPhone; game may be better on iPad or computer
All I can say is: you won’t be sorry for buying this on your iPod! But don’t take my word for it—you have to experience it to see for yourself. Check out this Plants Vs. Zombies trailer and then get the game that everyone’s playing!