This game needs no introduction and I must confess that I bought it only because I wanted to check out what everyone has been talking about. I fully expected to be disappointed. This is after all a casual game made by the people behind Bejewelled. Considering its target audience and lineage, I looked forward to writing a scathing review, relegating it to the depths of non-games like Farmville and its ilk which masquerade as the real thing. As someone who actually likes tower defense games, surely this would be a travesty deserving of double heaps of scorn and derision?
But as you’re doubtless expecting based on an opener like the above, despite myself I gradually came around to the opposite view. It’s no Defense Grid of course, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t a perfectly competent and fun little game in its own right. Some thoughts:
- I have no idea what the original edition of the game was like, but this expanded Game of the Year Edition I bought packs a whopping amount of content. The main Adventure Mode includes about as much content as I’d expect but there are a ton of bonus minigames and puzzles on top of it. Plus there are the grander Survival modes and the Zen Garden, which is surely as blatant a clone of Farmville as you could make. It’s an astonishing amount of content for any game at its price point, nevermind a game for the casual market.
- There are a lot of plant types to use, enforced mostly because the different stages require different types of plants rather than because there is much difference between how the plants work. I usually prefer a leaner design but given the lightweight feel and not too serious fun attitude of this game, it’s hard to maintain a sour attitude towards its design. Ditto on the variety of zombies that attempt to assault your house.
- It’s a casual game so it’s not really much of a challenge to complete. The strategies involved are pretty obvious and the hardened gamer will easily min-max the layout such that even the toughest waves are a breeze to handle. To the game’s credit, it recognizes this. The fun is not in working out each level as most players will likely complete a level on their very first try (which you will not do in Defense Grid). The fun is in the neverending stream of goodies that you unlock as you progress through the game. It’s devilishly addictive that way.
So overall, this is a fun little gem of a game that packs a lot in a tiny package. And I mean that literally. The whole install on my Steam folder takes up less than 50 megabytes! That may not mean much to the average gamer, and certainly disk space is so cheap now that it doesn’t matter in any practical sense. But as someone who’s just starting to dabble in programming, it’s an incredibly impressive feat to do so much with so little in the way of art and sound assets. I’d still rather play a more in-depth game, but contrary to my preconception, Plants vs. Zombies is a good, solid game in its own right and playing it should certainly not be a mark of shame.
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