subject: Plants vs Zombies Game Review [print this page] Released on May 5, 2009, Plants vsReleased on May 5, 2009, Plants vs. Zombies puts the player in the shoes of Crazy Dave and his neighbour in the role of defending their house from a continuous onslaught of zombie attacks. Zombies attack the front yard, back yard, swimming pool, and even the rooftop of the player's house non-stop, day and night. The only way you can defeat the massive hoard is by planting a variety of offensive and defensive plants and fungi around the house that help fend off these evil, nocturnal creatures.
Hilariously-named weapons like Potato Mines, Peashooters, Hypno-shrooms, and Cabbage-pults provide attack and defence capabilities you and Crazy Dave need to prevent the entire neighbourhood from having its residents' brains eaten by the zombies.
As a tower defence game, Plants vs Zombies divides the playing field into a number of tracks the zombies use to move towards your house. You use seed packs to sow the plants needed to provide your offense and defence. These seed packs require sunlight either from sunlight-generating plants or natural sunlight offered during the daylight hours. Night-time defence is generally provided by fungi that require less light (i.e., mushrooms).
These random seed packs are designed to make the player work out how to best make use of them to survive. The game offers a few one-shot "power" moves like a lawn mower or pool cleaner to completely obliterate all zombies should they get too close to your house. This feature is only usable once per level. Some levels give the player a random seed pack that requires no sunlight at all.
Just as there are a number of weapons to choose from, there are also a large number of zombie types you will encounter throughout the game, each differing in speed, abilities, and the amount of damage they can sustain. Some zombies will bear armour, while others will be able to jump and fly.
In a previous version, there was a zombie that was inspired by Michael Jackson in his world-famous "Thriller" music video. This "MJ zombie" was able to summon other zombies from the ground. Unfortunately, due to pressure from Michael Jackson's estate, this feature has recently been removed from the game.
The main game mode is an adventure mode where the player fights off wave after wave of zombies. At each level zombies attack at random intervals, with a special point in which a massive wave of zombies will attack the player "en masse". The player is warned of this killer onslaught with a meter indicating the approximate time when the zombie assault will occur.
Plants vs. Zombies is available on a multitude of platforms, including Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. There is even a web version that allows you to play it directly from your web browser. A version for the iPhone/iPod platform (now known as iOS) was released February 2010. The Xbox Live Arcade version is scheduled for September 2010.
