You wouldn't guess it from looking out your window, but the plants in your yard lead a very secret, dual existence. I'm not talking about the tomatoes and cucumbers you've got growing on the vine, which both look good and taste good. I'm talking about how they've sworn to defend you and your home from zombies. See, there's a long-standing grudge between plants and zombies. It turns out that zombies aren't much in the gardening department. Rather than discussing fertilizer and crop rotation, the typical zombie conversation is along the lines of,
"Brains? Brains brains... brains. Brains!"
No, zombies not much for repartee, and will usually just eat any plants in the path between them and some warm, gooey brains. Seeing as talking either plants or zombies is a losing venture, Popcap games have created Plants vs. Zombies (PvZ) to give an insight into this fascinating and fun, little discussed world.
The purpose of PvZ is quite simple, use a variety of plants to keep the zombies from getting into your house and eat your brains. You simply collect falling sunlight and sunlight created by sunflowers to purchase other plants with which you can attack wave after wave of zombies.
Easy, right?
The zombies aren't just your every day, dumb zombies. No, they'll attack at night, when you can't count on sunlight to fall from the sky. And if that doesn't work, they'll try your back yard - as I said, these zombies are relentless. On top of that, they've got whatever items they had when they became zombies. Some crafty zombies will pole vault over your defenses. Others will launch basketballs. Some nefarious zombies will attempt to moon-walk their way into your heart, or at least your kitchen so that they can sample your tasty brains. Crafty, like I said.
Whenever you clear a wave of zombies, you are often awarded a new plant for use in your arsenal. On top of that, your stock-pot wearing neighbor Crazy Dave will show up occasionally, with words of wisdom and items to purchase which just might help in the battle. He's a good neighbor, that Crazy Dave.
I highly recommend PvZ - it is an addictive game that will suck away the hours - a full five-moose ranking. Beyond the adventure mode, Popcap have a number of other challenges types of play to keep things interesting. Puzzles, survival mode, and even a zen garden are there when you need a break from wave after wave grey-matter munchers. If I were to have a quibble with the game, it would be the robotic zombie finale? Can Dr. Robotnik be far away? Also, what about an extra-hard adventure mode where there are no last-resort lawnmowers to protect your home, or the zombies have bulked up on ZGH (duh - zombie growth hormone)?
PvZ runs on any mac with 10.4.11, 512 mb ram and a 1.66 ghz Intel Core Duo processor - it looks insanely great on my 24" iMac. The action will suck you in, along with anyone else in the room, who will cheer on your . A free download is available to give you a one-hour taste of the game, and then it's $19.95 to purchase. The soundtrack is catchy, and the music video will have you humming about zombies on your lawn for days. I'll probably have to uninstall it after I finish this review, just so that I can start getting things done again. Who am I kidding - just one more game...
Reviewed initially for the Alaskan Apple User's Group
