The bloody war between Plants and Zombies has been waged on computer after computer since the creation of this game back in 2009. Its popularity has even allowed it to reach across platforms. This week, for my confession, I will be discussing what I like and don’t like about Plants Vs. Zombies
(Before I get started, I wanted to make a quick clerical note. A couple of weeks ago, I started a series dealing with magic and a survey of various magical worlds. I promised you all a multi-part series of posts. Now, in case you thought I had completely forgotten about it, I wanted to let you know that that is not the case. I’ve unfortunately been very busy with the end of semester and assorted other things going on, and I haven’t been able to put together all the background research that I need to for the various universes. Rest assured, I will get back to it. I’ve been working slowly but surely on the next post for your enjoyment. Until I can get the time to finish it, however, I return to informing you about zombies and plants.)
Now, for those of you who may not know, Plants vs. Zombies (or PvZ for short), is a tower defense game released by PopCap. The zombies are trying to get into your house to eat your brains, so you defend yourself against them by planting an army of aggressive plants that shoot down the zombies in a variety of different ways. The basic Adventure mode of the game is simple and straightforward enough. You start with a couple of plants, and unlock more as you go through the game. There’s 5 main levels of 10 sub-levels each, with an epic boss battle at the end. You can play through the adventure mode multiple times (I’m currently on my third run through of them), and the plants have cute pun type names. For example, there’s the ‘repeater,’ which is a pea-shooter that fires two shots at once, instead of just one.
But, honestly, for me, the REAL fun of this game comes after you beat it once through, and you get into all the minigames, the puzzles, and the survival modes. Most of them combine the basic concept of tower defense with some interesting strategy limitations. And the others are just plain fun.
Two of my favorite minigames are “Whack a Zombie” and “Last Stand.” Whack a zombie is exactly what it sounds like. You have a mallet. And you whack zombies over the head with it. I included a screen shot from the beginning of the game, as once you get into it, it becomes more difficult to stop.
Another note: you see the lawnmowers on the left side? Those are another fail-safe. If a zombie reaches the lawnmower, the lawnmower activates and proceeds to mow down any zombies in that row. Now, obviously, this is a one-time only deal. And some of the minigames don’t have the lawnmowers.
Okay, so here’s a screen shot from Last Stand. The premise of this one is you start with 5000 sunlight (the currency in this game with which you build plants), and you plant plants in whatever way you want. Then, you see if you can last for 5 rounds. This is a good example of a level that has no lawnmowers, as, it doesn’t. I constructed this Last Stand round with some of my favorite plants: cabbage-pults, kernel-pults, melon-pults, cat tails, and tall-nuts. Oh, and snow peas. I’m not sure how well this will last out honestly, as I didn’t leave myself any sunlight to replace the tall-nuts throughout the games once they start getting eaten, but, it’s still moderately impressive to look at, nonetheless.
Cat tails are by far my favorite plant. They can shoot anywhere, and subsequently hit anything. They’re incredibly amazing. Unfortunately, they can only be used in levels that have the pool. Which I suppose makes a degree of sense.
I think I’ve said mostly all I want to say about this game. Except for this. Apparently, the entire game is a misunderstanding. The zombies don’t really want to eat your brains. All the zombies want is to make a music video. With you apparently.
Think this game sounds fun? Go ahead and try it, right here
Tune in next week, until then, Angel out!
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