Plants Vs Zombies (2009, PopCap Games) is basically a tower defense game. Zombies attack from the right. The player places plants to stop them. Personally, I like it better than Desktop Tower Defense or any other tower defense game I've played.
I'd say this is largely because it keeps me busy. In many tower defense games, I just place towers and upgrade occasionally. There's not much to do. But Plants Vs Zombies adds resource gathering. You have to plant sunflowers (or special mushrooms) which generate sun power. So while I'm under siege by zombies, placing new plants, and seeing where my defenses are starting to weaken, I'm also constantly collecting sun power to keep my reserves up. And I'm picking up money the zombies occasionally drop so that I can buy upgrades. For some people, this might be too clicky, but I enjoy the feeling of barely managed chaos.
Besides being stimulating, the game also allows for a fair amount of strategizing. Most tower defense games give you half a dozen towers and have you learn how to use them. Plants Vs Zombies gives you many times that amount (once you've unlocked everything). The trick is deciding which ones you'll need for a particular battle. Before the fight the camera pans across the street, showing what types of zombies are inbound. If you see a lot of zombies wearing bucket helmets, you may want to take some magnet mushrooms to remove them. If you see pole vaulters, you may want to invest in some tall defenses. Occasionally it's annoying to realize I chose wrong and have to start the level over. The game could definitely benefit from a fast forward button to get through the slow ramp up phase. But that's minor.
5 of 5
Yeah. I know. But I've already played halfway through the campaign again and am still enjoying it. My strategy is getting a bit stale, but I've enjoyed the game for almost thirty hours and it only cost ten bucks.
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