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Plants vs. Zombies hits the iPhone
Last week we noted the impending arrival PopCap's ridiculously addictive Plants vs. Zombies onto the iPhone / iPod touch, and now this marvelous time-waster has landed. A variant of the the tower defense genre, Plants vs. Zombies requires you to defend your house from mobs of raging zombies by placing various sorts of projectile-emitting, exploding, and zombie-eating plants between them and your front door. Much like previous hits Peggle and Bejeweled, the PopCap team has produced a first-class iPhone port. On my 3GS it runs smoothly and the core gameplay is substantially unchanged from the desktop version, despite the smaller screen (you can get a free gameplay taste with the online version). Minor tweaks include placing your plant "catalog" along the left side of the screen and adding handy highlights which show you exactly into which row and column you're placing your plants. Plants vs. Zombies is available now for iPhone and iPod touch for a bargain price of $2.99. Go get it; you won't be disappointed.
Plants vs. Zombies coming to iPhone on February 15th
Yes, PopCap is at it again -- this time, their crazy addictive (just like all of their games) take on the tower defense genre, Plants vs. Zombies, is headed off to the iPhone. They just tweeted confirmation a little while ago, and released this trailer showing all of the flower vs. undead action that we enjoyed so much in the other versions of the game, squeezed into the smaller screen of the iPhone. They don't mention a price point, but I'm guessing it'll come out at $4.99, since that's what most of their releases have debuted at (though if you're patient, it'll probably drop down in price after a while). I'll tell you that yes, if you've never played it, the game is more than worth $5, but even if you don't believe me, you can go play it online for free and see what you think. PopCap is the master of dropping colorful graphics, sparkling gameplay, and constant little rewards on your plate, so PvZ on the iPhone will probably be yet another meal you won't want to stop eating.
TUAW Review: Plants vs. Zombies
Earlier this week I downloaded Plants vs. Zombies by PopCap Games for the Mac. It's a simple tower defense game that pits lumbering zombies against great varieties of aggressive plants. Your job is to fill your yard with enough plants to keep the zombies from reaching your house. The first few levels are quite easy. In order to amass your green army, you've got to collect sunlight. Some plants, like sunflowers and certain mushrooms, give off sunlight that you can gather. The rest you collect from the sky (in the daytime, at least). As you complete each level, you're offered another plant. Many little touches make this game great. Select the help menu and you'll find a "hand written" note that says, "When the zombies show up, just sit there and don't do anything. You win the game when the zombies get in your houze." One zombie variation gets especially angry when you knock his newspaper from his hand while another, dressed in a red leather jacket, white socks and black shoes, summons dancing minions to launch a well choreographed group assault. Zombies drop coins that you can exchange for additional features, like the number of plants available. Asset management gets harder in later levels as you can only choose a few plants for each assault. Just remember, you always need sun! Beyond the game itself (there are 50 levels in all) are several mini games, puzzles, survival mode and even a peaceful zen garden. Additionally, you can browse the almanac to see exactly which types of zombies and plants you've encountered as well as what's left. The music and sound effects are fun. I found that it looked jaggy in full screen mode, so keep it in a small window. Plants Vs. Zombies isn't Eve Online, and it's not meant to be. As a fun distraction during break time or leisure time, it's a great little game. You can play for 60 minutes for free. After that, you'll have to pay $19.95US. It's definitely worth it. If you just can't get enough, check out the extras. %Gallery-69548%
