14 DAY TRIAL // First of all, let's get one thing clear: I'm a hardcore gamer who sometimes prefers pure action and adventure to puzzle titles. But this doesn't mean that I can't enjoy a good casual game every once in a while.
That's why when PopCap revealed Plants vs. Zombies, a tower-based casual title, I got pretty excited because it used one of my favorite video game features, which is fighting against zombies. The game was recently released and I had a chance to spend one hour using the green thumb in order to prevent zombies from reaching my quiet little house. Without further ado, here's my one hour spent with Plants vs. Zombies.
12:00 I start up the game not knowing a whole lot about it and how the gameplay mechanics will feel.
12:05 The first level is now over and I can say I'm very impressed. The game looks very nice, as the cartoonish style of previous PopCap titles like Peggle is also present here, and the zombies are quite funny. The mechanic is simple: put plants in your front law in one of the multiple lanes through which zombies walk and let them bombard them with peas.
12:15 But don't think things are that simple, as you must collect Suns in order to be able to get more plants on your front lawn, and you can plant Sun Flowers which, as their name suggests, generate more Suns faster than they fall from the sky. Almost every stage offers new seeds for plants, because, even though some of you don't know, zombies carry plant seeds with them.
12:25 After a few rounds, my plant roster is beginning to take shape, as I can now put not only pea shooters and sun flowers in my garden, but also cherry bombs, to dispose of a bigger number of zombies faster, and walnuts, which protect the flowers from the zombies for a limited amount of time. Things are beginning to get more interesting, as the zombies are also getting new things, such as cones or buckets on their heads, which make them more resistant.
12:35 After another few rounds of zombie killing in an ecological manner, I am introduced to my neighbor, Crazy Dave, who makes me enter some sort of bowling stage, where I can only shoot walnuts at zombies, in an effort to prevent them from coming into my house. It's a nice change of pace and makes the whole experience much more interesting.
12:45 Things are getting pretty hectic in my garden, as newer zombies appear, which can vault over obstacles such as walnuts and other plants, but I also have some new plants that I can deploy in my war against them.
12:50 Now I have too many plant seeds than I can carry, bringing a whole new layer of strategy to the game. The plants you will bring with you must be adequate to the enemies you are faced with. Choices can be difficult.
13:00 Sadly my one hour is up and I am left shaking my fist at PopCap, which created yet another very addictive game that will make me “waste” a lot of hours during my day as I fight zombies and make the world much greener in the process.
In conclusion, Plants vs. Zombies is a very interesting game that takes a much funnier approach to the “everyday” habit of zombie killing. One thing's for sure though, when the zombie apocalypse will come, I won't be rushing to buy plant seeds no matter what this game teaches me.