UPDATE: April 23rd, 2012
Plants vs Zombies received a huge update last week, adding new gameplay modes and an in-app purchasing system for coins. So what does the new virtual currency buy you?
PvZ now has a Zen Garden mode, a freestyle minigame where you can patiently water your plants and watch them grow. This is definitely a change from PvZ's frantic adventure mode and minigames, which are all action based. Zen Garden doesn't seem to add much to PvZ, except to give you a way to spend your coins, which you'd probably rather use on the new minigame packs.
The new minigames are much more exciting than the Zen Garden. In I, Zombie, you actually get to play as the zombies, earning more sunlight when you munch on those pesky plants. In Vase Breaker, you'll uncover both plants and zombies randomly as you smash vases. Both gameplay modes give you one free level, and then you must unlock the rest for 150,000 in-game coins (or between one and two dollars in in-app purchases).
There's also a new pack of regular minigames-- Slot Machine randomly assigns you new defenses, and you can download three more (including one that is Portal-themed) for 50,000 in-game coins.
We're not wild about locking the extra content away behind in-app purchases. You'll have to play for hours and hours (or just pay extra) to earn enough to access much of the new content. And Zen Mode isn't especially compelling, either.
Plants vs Zombies is still one of the App Store's best games, and the extra content doesn't change that fact. We just wish it wasn't so hard to access, even after you've beaten the game. Unfortunately, PvZ's new bonus content might be out of reach for most players, unless you're willing to spend a little extra.
Today’s health-conscious undead know that a diet heavy in brains can result in high cholesterol. Therefore, it’s better for them to eat their way through a salad bar’s worth of vegetables before indulging in brains. To promote healthy eating habits for zombies, PopCap has developed a game that makes learning nutrition fun: Plants vs. Zombies.
Ok, so it’s not actually educational, but the quirky premise of Plants vs Zombies remains entertaining throughout its 4-5 hour adventure. You must defend your front yard, backyard, and rooftop from the shambling Zombiepocalypse by planting Little Shop of Horrors specimens that will shoot, explode, or consume zombies.
Zombies will march directly up to your house in rows, and you have only a certain number of spaces in which to plant your defenses. You have access to plants that generate sunlight, Sunflowers, and by capturing this sunlight with a tap you can order more plants. Also, each plant has a countdown timer, keeping you from ordering too many at once.
Feed me, Seymour!
Some of the more common defensive plants are called Peashooters, which actually shoot peas, but there are also roadblock-style Wall-nuts, greenery-tossing Cabbage-pults, and exploding Cherry Bombs, along with over forty more.
At night, you have to rely more on mushrooms, some of which don’t need sunlight, and later on you’ll require plants that can light up or blow away fog, or aquatic plants to defend your backyard pool. Each plant has its own unique animation, and they’ll bob and sway as they prepare to defend your turf. You’ll also unlock a new type of plant nearly every round, which continually opens the game up to new strategies.
The zombies are equally varied. Early undead sport traffic cones on their head as a helmet, but you’ll also fight newspaper-wielding business zombies, padded football zombies, and zombies driving zambonis and bobsleds. The game always does a good job of letting you know when a big attack is coming, and it also gives you hints ahead of time to let you select the right plants.
Night of the living veggies.
What makes Plants vs Zombies an absolute gem is the loads of personality and unique animation for each plant and zombie. It’s also very well-suited for the iPhone, with your inventory in a convenient sidebar and a glowing marker that will light up the row and column you’re about to place your plants in. You can either drag or tap to plant your defenses, and this helps prevent mistakes in the midst of battle.
With a lengthy adventure mode, plus an unlockable quickplay mode, minigames, bonus items, and achievements, Plants vs Zombies offers an excellent value for the low price. We would like to see an endless survival mode or some form of online high scores, but the current package will entertain you for a long time.
Remarkably, Plants vs Zombies starts off great and gets even better as you play. By the time you’re done with adventure mode, you’ll have unlocked most of the game and still be happy to start over, with your plants unlocked and a chance to earn even more goodies. This is a very special game, full of personality, and both thoughtful strategy gamers and zombie hunters alike will love it.
19 Comments
this is an amazing game. finished on pc and bought it on iphone today. a must have.
Cool game, nice to see how they re-adapted the interface to work with the iphones screen ratio. For a just released game, i can't argue with the price, it's worth this and more.
You didn't mention if it autosaved your progress in case you need to quit the app.. i'd like to know about that, some of the levels can be very long :]
It does. :)
Unfortunate about the slow down in the game.
This is pure GEM!
It will take long time before anyone come out with something more genius!
i like this game because its fun and its so enjoy........
I never though I'd enjoy a td game more than fieldrunners. This is it.
this game is really fun, oh by the way, here is also a good review for it, with a video clip of all game modes are played. http://intellectualopinions.blogspot.com/2010/04/plants-versus-zombies.html
the game is really amazing, and the mini-games are sure a lot of fun, oh by the way, great review for this. Keep it up!
yeah, I really love it too, but I wish they'd release an update with this Zen-garden I keep hearing about :)
worth to play :)
donlod game plant vs zobie
cool graphics, its addictive...
Did anyone try the new TD game out in Appstore, Battleground defense. . I would recomment it to all TD fans.
Plants vs zombies reminds me of turret defense in starcraft, i always loved this game and i love to use different plants vs zombies strategy. I downloaded the game free at
You guys are waay behind the curb on this one. The Zen Garden and in-app purchases were added months ago. This week's update was just the latest in a long series of updates since your original review.
Granted, the iPad version DID only just get these features, but I agree that if they were going to update this review, they should have done so much, much earlier.
The updated review is wrong in one point: the Zen Garden actually earns you in-game currency. You can sell completely grown plants to Cracy Dan and also your plants are spitting out coins afger they've been watered and tended. In addition some zombies leave rare plants behind after the garden has been unlocked " great motivation to replay the Adventure Mode. It is very much possible for casual gamers to unlock all extras without paying.
Having completed the PS3 version, and having earned everything, being the owner of a full Zen Garden and having sold many, MANY, full grown plants, the Zen Garden is the only way you'll get money for all the expensive stuff... Playing on a Night Pool level(having 10 chocolates) will spit out a lot of Water and Night plants, which their only use is to sell them... selling for 10k a piece, after having them for a few hours and having over 10 of those, really adds up... QUICK...
Thanks guys, you are absolutely right about the Zen Garden.
I would say that it is a key point in the access of new modes in PvZ without spending too much real coins. It was available since the first version on PC, almost two years ago! ;-)
Ah, the App store cancer that is in-app currency purchasing has reared it's head with PopCap, courtesy of their new owner Electronic Arts who ruined Theme Park and Flight Control 2 with in-app currency purchases, then soiled SSX on the XBox360 with in-app currency purchases (and raised the in-game shop prices in an update to get more people to buy in-game currency). Isn't paying 40 for a game enough for you without trying to squeeze more money out of people EA?
In-app purchases are fine if you get to keep the content you buy like addons and extra levels, but in-app currency purchases are a disgusting and cynical way of making money for nothing out of people. Furthermore, if your saved game is wiped out or phone/pad dies, all that money you poured into buying game currency is gone. Worse still, if your saved game is corrupted (as has been reported in SSX) kiss goodbye to all the currency you bought as well.
In app currency would not be so bad, except EA rigs game difficulty so it's a really tough grind to get anywhere without buying currency. In app currency is fine in freemium titles, but EA rigs game difficulty to push the player towards in-game currency on its PAID titles, not just freemium titles.
I hope EA just rolls up and dies. Sadly, if they do that, their other acquisitions like PopCap and Firemint will fall with them. :(
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