Plants vs. Zombies review

Brains…….!!! Plants vs. Zombies for the iPhone from PopCap Games is a tower defense and farming game mashed together that gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “flower power”. Originally created for the Mac and PC, and now ported over to the iPhone, in Plants vs Zombies you grow plants that fight for and help protect your home from Zombies who are walking across your front lawn. The game uses brilliantly sharp hand drawn cartoon graphics with bright colors, playful music, and a touch of humor to create a low stress alternative to farming and tower defense games that is a ton of fun to play and gets addictive on the first try.

Your lawn is made up of the roll-on grass you buy from the hardware store, and is divided into 5 lanes in Plants vs. Zombies. The first level is simple, using only 1 lane, second level is 3 lanes, and the 4th level increases to 5 lanes. As the shiny Sun rays drop from the sky, tap on them to collect their powers known as seed packs, each giving you 25 seed points. To plant a new shooting plant (Pea Shooters) you need 100 seeds. Just like any farming game, after you finish each level a new type of perennial is awarded that you can grow in the next level. You also have to deal with additional types of zombies going forward each time. Sun Flowers cost 50 seed points and are great for regenerating more sun points quickly. Cherry bombs are expensive at 150 seed points and will blow up any zombies in the surrounding area. Wal-nuts are a powerful shield you can buy for 50 points and they help shield your plants and flowers from zombies for a long time. After you finish each level a new type of perennial is awarded that you can grow in the next level.

In addition to the grass, you will also play on the roof, on a pool of water and at night time in the 50 levels of gameplay. You’ll use pots to plant on the roof, and lily pads to plant on the pool. In the night mode, you’ll use nocturnal plants such as mushrooms, which require no sunlight to grow.

Th zombies come in a wide range of shapes and forms, each with specific outfits and carrying different household items. Their damage tolerance increases as the levels get higher. There are also bonus games you can unlock as you advance, such as “wall-nut bowling” where you roll wall-nuts down 5 lanes to kill approaching zombies.

You can play the game in either adventure mode, or quick play mode, although quick play is locked at first until you unlock it by finishing adventure mode.

Options in PvZ let you customize music and sound FX volume, and disable the vibration mode on the iPhone. Achievements available are Home Lawn Security, Spudwo,Eexplodonator, Morticulturalist, Don’t Pea in a Pool, Roll Some Heads, Grounded, Zombologist, Penny Pincher, Sunny Days, Popcorn Party, Good Morning, and No Fungus Among Us.

Overall, Plants vs. Zombies, is an extremely well made game that has all areas of its graphics, storyline and gamely perfected, with each level offering something new and different, to the point that you never get bored of playing it on the iPhone or iPod touch. Featuring catchy audio effects, a perfectly crafted soundtrack, and lively animated characters, Plants vs. Zombies is a must have game for fans of the original Mac/PC version, or for anyone who enjoys playing Tower Defense, or Framing type games on the iPhone. We’re excited and can’t wait to see how the iPad version of PvZ looks and plays in the coming months.

Here is a video demo of the Plants vs. Zombies app on the iPhone

AppSafari review of Plants vs. Zombies was written by Joe Seifi on February 16th, 2010 and categorized under App Store, Featured, Fun, Games. Page viewed 11703 times, 2 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.