Review: Plants vs. Zombies

[DJPirtu]

Well, I got to say, the review was dead on.
Not that I was really affected by it, for I had pre-ordered the game a week ago, since the concept seemed so interesting. And the catch theme song propably had its hand on the situation as well.
And now, I have wasted an entire night playing it. And I do mean that I started playing around 10 PM and around 4 AM started wondering wether I should go to work really late or really early.
I chose early.

 

[axnxgxixe]

I don't really like Tower Defense games, but it looks cute.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

If there's anyone who could make Plants vs Zombies look interesting, it's the Escapist Sweetheart: Susan Arendt. Even still though, I just don't know if I can justify paying $10 for a game I've been playing for free on various Flash Game Archives for years now. :/

Trust me, it's totally worth it. I totally understand where you're coming from, but it really, truly, genuinely is worth it. It's just a joy to play.

CURSE YOU SUSAN! I need to stop listening to your reviews, they're too expensive. T_T

 

[Coldsnap]

Thank you for bringing this game to my attention with your review. This game is an absolute blast. Love the random humor sprinkled through the game with the almanac entries for the plants and zombies and the very helpful "help" button.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

Plants vs. Zombies is one of those games you'll be happy to let live on your computer forever and ever.

Oh, and click on "help" for a giggle.

Heh heh... I discovered that one as well. I noticed the "Help" option there, and was just wondering what it'd say in there.

 

[Nerdfury]

really fun game, and bout the only game on steam thats apparently cheapest in EU instead of the us, which of cause means i would have bought it no matter how good it was just to rub it in the face of the US citizens, if they would ever take their face away from the cheese burgers that is

You're already on probation - making wide-spread generalisations about Americans on a predominantly American board isn't going to make you any friends. And no, I am not American myself.

 

[Skeleon]

Sounds interesting, although I find it strange not to see any maze-building...?
Isn't that possible?

 

[ZeeClone]

Without wanting to risk the ire of the other reviewers and senior writers. Susan's reviews are AWESOME!


Nothing wrong with the theme song. I've heard worse. Somewhere. Ok, I may have been dreaming.

 

[Bunnymarn]

Hmm, I think I may purchase this, looks good.

 

[Virgil]

Oh lord, I played the trial, and it ended. Then I bought the game. Half-Price on steam so naturally I went there.

I picked it up yesterday for $10 on Steam too, and it's totally worth it. Ended up playing it for several hours last night.

It's simple, but entertaining.

 

[Chimaera]

The hour passed all too quickly, but now I can kill zombies all night if I wish. What a great little game!

 

[sebar nl]

downloading the demo as we speak. Well we don't really speak but... you get the idea.

 

[geldonyetich]

The singing sunflower actually sold me on the game better than the demo.

As far as hardcore gaming goes, I wasn't too impressed with the demo. The thing is that it's very much a lighter version of tower defense because the towers only fire in one direction and there's no maze customization. Something like Desktop Tower Defense [http://www.handdrawngames.com/DesktopTD/Game.asp] is a whole lot more compelling because there's a great deal more freedom to it.

This shouldn't be too surprising that the hardcore gamer isn't impressed, as PopCap is the king of casual.

That said, it could have been a lot worse, and as far as PopCap games go this one is a few slices above the norm in terms of sophistication. They added a quite the number of interesting additional modes and a ton of different tower types. That there's a bit of deck building is a nice touch, too.

Despite my finding it a bit oversimplified for my massively overdeveloped 32-years-old-and-still-a-habitual-gamer brain (a tempting target to zombies everywhere) I might just get Plants vs. Zombies anyway. At $9.99, it's a fair steal for the amount of content in the game. I probably wouldn't go as high as $20 in this case, though.

 

[Kstreitenfeld]

If there's anyone who could make Plants vs Zombies look interesting, it's the Escapist Sweetheart: Susan Arendt. Even still though, I just don't know if I can justify paying $10 for a game I've been playing for free on various Flash Game Archives for years now. :/

This is very different from the run of the mill TD flash games, trust me I've been all over playing Tower Defense games free and bought, and the ones I had to buy (this and Defense Grid) were worth the buy (to me at least).

 

[coldfrog]

There are two things that put this above pretty much any other tower defense game for me: a unique style that is actually interesting to look at (as well as listen to) and the feeling that you are really in the middle of the game instead of some all powerful eye in the sky making commands. In fact, I would barely consider it a Tower Defense game since it eschews most of the generally accepted principles of those games like mazes and upgrades for a simple interface with complex decisions (what plants will you use here? can you wait for this particular plant and use the sun on something more immediately useful or is it better to place it now so it will regenerate in time to build more?) It seems more like Orbital Decay [http://orbital.decay.fizzlebot.com/] to me, which by the way is an amazing defense game that isn't really tower defense either, and in fact is actually part action.

I haven't played TOO far yet, but I'd say it's a bit more than PopCap's average casual game, but maybe not quite for the really hardcore people, however the style gives it a certain advantage that no other game like this has and could very well attract people from either side.

I'd write a review but I fear for a flood of PvZ reviews that will no doubt be arriving within the week.

 

[daribian]

i don't know if i could enjoy playing another tower defence game especially one i need to pay for.

 

[neuromasser]

I like how Susan explains concepts , it sounds so simple and... I don't know... carefree?
Her voice reminds me of few relaxation/meditaion tapes, but I can't really put my finger on it.... I got it !! It's hypnosis! Curse you Susan!

 

[Susan Arendt]

I like how Susan explains concepts , it sounds so simple and... I don't know... carefree?
Her voice reminds me of few relaxation/meditaion tapes, but I can't really put my finger on it.... I got it !! It's hypnosis! Curse you Susan!

Buyyyyyyy the gaaaaaaaame....