(PopCap) Plants vs Zombies iPhone App Review

I have been waiting a long time for this one.

Plants vs Zombies was one of, if not the, most addicting game I had ever played on a PC. It is a fantastic tower defense game and it’s premise is that you must defend your house from an attack of zombies by planting different plants to shoot, slow down, eat and blow up all the zombies. Sounds strange eh? trust me, its a load of fun!

Now keep in mind I am not a hardcore gamer, but I have had my tilts with games like Gizmos and Gadgets, Myst, and Roller-Coaster Tycoon on the PC side, and then the ultimate time vampire called Fieldrunners on the iPhone side. Plants vs Zombies (or PvZ for short) on the iPhone maintains its addictiveness perfectly from the PC side, and yes, that is a very good thing. There have been quite a few games that have been brought to the iPhone platform and really have not translated well like Madden 10,  Assassin’s Creed, and pretty much every first player shooter game out there.

The guys at PopCap Games did another fantastic job on a game and PvZ joins the great line up of well done games they already have in Bejeweled 2, Chuzzle, Bookworm and Peggle. What I feel makes all these games so great is the size and GUI of each. Some games on the iPhone and iPod Touch feel like it is a game that has been shrunken, or stripped of a lot of its core as a game, but not PvZ. It feels like it was created solely for the iPhone with the redesign of the UI, especially during game play. Everything fits and is within “thumbs reach”.

The best thing about the game, besides its quirky plot is the ability it has to overwhelm you (in a good, exciting way).  I can get quite worked up when the “Final wave” of zombies is approaching my house, especially if there are no more lawn mowers! As you play the game more and more, like any tower defense game, you start to develop a strategy on how to place your plants, and what plants are best for what kind of zombies. Ah yes, there is not just one kind of zombie, oh no, there are many including your standard zombie, football pad wearing zombie, pole vaulting zombie, Michael Jackson “Thriller” zombie, and even a team of bobsledding zombies so you must be on your toes at all time!

This game is so much fun and I can’t recommend it enough. I am going to have to actively keep my self from playing it, so I can have some new levels later down the road instead of beating it in one, very long sitting.

5/5