It's the classic philosophical puzzler that ultimately led to the death of Socrates: who would win in a fight between plants and zombies. And just like plants beat Socrates, if you play your seeds right, so too will they defeat the oncoming zombie hordes. It won't be easy. It will take a lot of mouse clicks. Some plants won't survive the war. But in the end, Plants vs. Zombies is totally worth it.
There's no doubt that it's a name meant to provoke laughter and interest. Zombies are all over the place these days (at least in video games), and everyone from Call of Duty: World at War to lowly little desktop casual games like this one are trying to jump on the hot, new moldering corpse bandwagon. Plant vs. Zombies belongs in that loose category of Tower Defense games – you control some base of some sort (in this case, your house) and you need to array and organize your defenses (in this case plants) against the oncoming baddies (yep, zombies). Each level brings new zombies, new challenges, and of course, new plants.
These are not ordinary plants of course. They have two special things going for them: they've got wordplay names and their deadly killers. You start out with Sunflowers, which naturally produce Sunlight, which you gather to plant more plants. Then there are Pea Shooters to blast (well, plop) away at the shambling hordes, Wall-nuts to impede their progress, Cherry Bombs for some instant explosive action, and on and on. Close to 50 different types in all, which you unlock as the game progresses. There are mushrooms for nighttime action. There are water plants for defending you back yard and its pool. Potted plants for the roof. Add in a bunch of mini games and plant/zombie based puzzles, and there's near constant variety in this game.
It's all rendered in bright, primary colors with a fun, quirky cartoon style. The games full of lots of little chuckles and laughs, has a great soundtrack, and an appropriately frenetic feel as each level progresses. It's not a very hard game, but it does command your attention, making it the perfect thing to have sitting on your computer whenever you need a little ten minute break. Download the free demo and you get an hour of play to try it out. I went ahead and bought the full thing forty minutes into playing it. I would've bought it sooner, but I didn't want to stop playing. If anything you just read appeals to you, then this is a must have. Summer's here and it's time to start that garden, my friends. The zombies are coming...
