by Oscar Wellington

Created on: August 19, 2009

Are you afraid of the supposed zombie apocalypse? Don't have any way to ward off the hungry undead? Have no fear, Popcap is here with a fantastic game that will prepare players in defending themselves using only gardening tools: Plants vs. Zombies!

To start, the story of Plants vs. Zombies is a little loose as there is no real explanation how or why zombies have appeared. The game does not completely lack a story however, and it does follow a somewhat linear path, as players advance from defending the front lawn, to the pool and backyard, to even the roof. Players also receive random notes from the zombies upon completing certain levels, and another survivor will also be encountered that aids the player in a multitude of ways. Despite its shortcomings with the story, Plants vs. Zombies more than makes up for this in other areas.

The game play for instance, is very enjoyable. Players grow different plants in multiple lanes in order to attack zombies that approach them. Plants can only be grown based on a player's sun, which is harvested from sun flowers or gathered in the sky (only during the day though). This makes for a complex resource management system in which players must carefully gauge their resources based on their current defense needs. The main game play is called "adventure", where players battle through 51 different levels. One great aspect about the game play is that each level is enhanced in certain ways from building water lilies in the pool to only having access to mushroom plants at night. The changing game play also increases the difficulty and complexity of the game.

For example, later in the game during the regular front lawn levels, tombstones appear which take up space and prevent players from building plants on certain areas. This makes defending in general much more difficult, but what's worse is that zombies will unearth themselves from the tombstone to skip areas of a player's defense. Players will have to think of alternative ways to build their plants or find some way to destroy the tombstones. The game play of adventure mode alone makes Plants vs. Zombies an excellent game.

Popcap doesn't stop there however, and after a player has beaten adventure mode, the survival, mini-games, and puzzle mode are all unlocked and equally contain fantastic game play. The best part about these modes is again the variation involved. In survival for instance, players can choose to play at night, in the pool, or even on the roof. The mini-games

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>