I don't normally find myself gushing about strategy games, much less games of the "tower defense" variety (where you must use a collection of defensive and offensive items to fend off a horde of attacking enemies). However, Popcap Games has raised the bar (again) with their latest flagship title, "Plants vs. Zombies", a polished game experience that is deceptively simple and ridiculously addictive.
Zombies are attacking your house, shambling to the left along six rows, and it's up to you to fend them off using a variety of plants at your disposal. Pea shooters, potato mines, cherry bombs.... zombies come at you in the front yard... they come in the back yard... they come in the... well, I'll let you figure it out. There are zombies riding dolphins, 80s zombies that dance with an entourage, and zombies with buckets on their head. There are even zombies riding Zambonis.
There's even a day/night cycle which changes your strategy completely, and gives you an impressive set of mushrooms to use when the sun goes down (and denies you more of the sunlight you need to plant).
If you are a strategy veteran, this game may not challenge you (at least, not at first). But this is not a game you play not because it's going to pummel you into the ground, but because it's fun to play. PvZ plays like a colorful action game, not a boring strategy game, and it nudges you into the action slowly and carefully. The graphics are colorful and amusing, with smooth and imaginative animation for every zombie and plant on the screen.
You get a new item or feature after every single stage. This makes you keep playing, just to find out what's coming next. Not only that, but there is an impressive series of "mini" games included with the package, which are so fun and complete it almost seems a disservice to call them "mini". You roll down zombies with bowling balls, use sun power to run a slot machine that gives you plants, whack zombies with a mallet, and more. In my favorite, "Zen Garden", you get to chill out and take care of plants (no attacking zombies), and then gain money to buy more stuff. There is a LOT of gameplay included in this package. I don't always agree for the $20 price point for some of Popcap's casual games, but this price is totally justified.
Plants vs. Zombies is available for PC and Mac (sorry, no console versions announced yet, though I wouldn't rule it out). Keep in mind that if you have an older Mac without an Intel processor, it may not run on your machine. Download the demo first from Popcap's web site to find out. Actually, download the demo first at any rate, in case your taste is completely different from mine.
Zombies are attacking your house, shambling to the left along six rows, and it's up to you to fend them off using a variety of plants at your disposal. Pea shooters, potato mines, cherry bombs.... zombies come at you in the front yard... they come in the back yard... they come in the... well, I'll let you figure it out. There are zombies riding dolphins, 80s zombies that dance with an entourage, and zombies with buckets on their head. There are even zombies riding Zambonis.
There's even a day/night cycle which changes your strategy completely, and gives you an impressive set of mushrooms to use when the sun goes down (and denies you more of the sunlight you need to plant).
If you are a strategy veteran, this game may not challenge you (at least, not at first). But this is not a game you play not because it's going to pummel you into the ground, but because it's fun to play. PvZ plays like a colorful action game, not a boring strategy game, and it nudges you into the action slowly and carefully. The graphics are colorful and amusing, with smooth and imaginative animation for every zombie and plant on the screen.
You get a new item or feature after every single stage. This makes you keep playing, just to find out what's coming next. Not only that, but there is an impressive series of "mini" games included with the package, which are so fun and complete it almost seems a disservice to call them "mini". You roll down zombies with bowling balls, use sun power to run a slot machine that gives you plants, whack zombies with a mallet, and more. In my favorite, "Zen Garden", you get to chill out and take care of plants (no attacking zombies), and then gain money to buy more stuff. There is a LOT of gameplay included in this package. I don't always agree for the $20 price point for some of Popcap's casual games, but this price is totally justified.
Plants vs. Zombies is available for PC and Mac (sorry, no console versions announced yet, though I wouldn't rule it out). Keep in mind that if you have an older Mac without an Intel processor, it may not run on your machine. Download the demo first from Popcap's web site to find out. Actually, download the demo first at any rate, in case your taste is completely different from mine.
