Score
Gameplay:	8
Graphics:	7
Sound:	7
FunFactor:	8
PlasmaFactor:	9
Overall:	7.8

Plants vs. Zombies Review
June 17, 2009 by Grant Fanning

While best known for their casual gem-swapping game Bejeweled, PopCap Games, will undoubtedly gain notoriety for their new “tower defense” style game, Plants vs. Zombies.

Gameplay

The idea behind Plants vs. Zombies is simple: protect your house from an invading horde of zombies by planting a variety of plants to stop them. While simple at first, conquering each level in adventure mode will unlock a new plant which will assist in the slaughtering of the new breeds of zombies introduced after every round. The further you progress in adventure mode will unlock the mini-games, puzzle mode, survival mode and the zen garden.

If you've played tower defense, or even if you haven't, getting a handle on the gameplay is simple. You have six rows in your yard in which zombies will invade while you must sow a variety of plants to stop them. You'll start out with a limited crop early on, but that is all you need when you encounter an un-diversified beginning horde. 

Players (or Planters) will most likely find themselves not losing their home to the enemy until several levels in. The learning curve is extremely low, even for someone (me) who has not played a tower defense before. Even if you struggle keeping the zombies away, you have a huge line of defense waiting in the back if you're fauna end up falling: lawnmowers!  Lawnmowers will eliminate an entire remaining row of zombies which most players won’t find out until the latter levels because of the game’s generous learning curve.

After a fairly effortless introduction with the game's first couple of levels, you'll soon have to amp up your tactics as more challenging elements are introduced. Night falls and you'll no longer be able to use the sun loving plants to which you're accustom, and you'll no longer be able to collect falling sunshine. Mushrooms are introduced into the fray and as you progress further, zombies will start to invade your swimming pool and you'll have yet another avenue to defend. You'll come across gravestones and fog which make your fight more difficult, but you'll be rewarded with new plants to combat these new elements. However, your limited number of seed slots hampers your tower selection, adding another degree of difficulty.

After you’re bored with adventure mode, you can try your green thumb at the mini-games. You'll be able to bowl a selection of walnuts to fight off the zombies, play a slot-style game in which you're gambling for different plants with which to do combat, and even access a mode in which the zombies themselves have pea-shooters for heads so they can have a long range battle with you! 

While it is quite fun zipping through the levels, one can't help but grow tired of the reward system in adventure mode. You'll earn a new seed to plant to combat the one new enemy type that is thrown at you, and the process simply repeats after every level. There are honestly several seed types that you will never have to, or want to plant. Sooner or later, you may find yourself yawning with adventure mode, with no real desire to complete the game.

Graphics

With clean, simple and cute graphics, you won't find anything particularly ugly about this game, nor will you find anything outstanding. The colors are solid and sprites are well drawn. You won't find any gruesome Resident Evil or Left 4 Dead style zombies here, this is more of a game that wouldn't offend your 70-year-old religious grandmother. The visuals in Plants vs. Zombies definitely serve their purpose, although they really could have benefited from some high definition production a `la Alien Hominid. In this day and age there really is no excuse for having an 800x600 native resolution. I understand that PopCap Games probably wanted this to be available on a wide range of hardware, but the year is 2009, and the resolution is 1920x1080. This game would have looked great in 16:9.

Sound

The only notable thing in the sound department that may strike your nerves is that it sounds like PopCap ripped the Facebook chat pop sound to use as the seed popping noises that are all over this game. You're going to find yourself Alt-Tabbing back to your browser the first few times you play this game if you are a frequent user of the social network site. Other than that, the sound effects are simple and clean. The grunting and growling of the zombies as they approach are, well...cute. You'll get a snippet of Michael Jackson's “Thriller” as a familiar dancing zombie dances toward your house with his crew. The music is very unassuming but does not get repetitive despite the limited selection.

PlasmaFactor

PopCap Games managed to produce a simple and addictive game that won't take up too much of anyone's time. Not only that, but being priced at $9.99 doesn't hurt either. Value is the keyword here, and if you're like me, you'd need a break from all the FarCrys, Halos, WoWs, and Call of Dutys that take up so much of our time. Simply having a game that you can jump on for 5 minutes before work is a pleasure in the world of more complex and time consuming epics. 

Conclusion
 
Plants vs. Zombies is a very fun, mildly addictive strategy game that is well worth the price of going to the movies these days. Don't expect a game with the depth of Portal because it isn't here. However, if you're tired of that life leeching MMORPG that you're playing, Plants vs. Zombies might be your refresher.