Plants vs. Zombies 2 - An extensive review
Plants vs. Zombies (by PopCap) is an extremely famous game, so it’s no surprise that we have a sequel, Plants vs. Zombies 2 to lay our hands on. While the sequel has been around for a bit more than a year, it went under many changes throughout the time, and with the recent update and wintery theme that was added I decided to play it again recently.
Since I am a long-time fan of the game (you can read my past review on the PC game of Plants vs. zombies here) I was really excited to see the changes that were so much talked about. It’s true that there have been cases of games that would be better left as is and not messed with (I’m talking about sequels and such), but PopCap risked and succeeded at creating a sequel of Plants vs. Zombies, in ways that only add to the enjoyment and offer a fresh look to a mobile game that was loved as much as few games have.
I’m not saying that the game is perfect, though; in fact, I’m a bit disappointed by one aspect of the game in particular, which is rather important for its smooth progression. But I’ll come back to that after I completed the game analysis.
Game Description
When you start the game for the first time you are asked to provide your age, which I presume has to do with the IAP system access. After you fill in your age you are asked to enter a name and use an icon/avatar if you wish. Your other option is to log in via facebook, so if you don’t mind connecting your account to the game then this choice is good for you. When you’re done you are asked if you’d like to play through the fundamentals of Plants vs. Zombies, i.e. a quick tutorial, which can either skip or follow to learn the rules while playing. Whether you’re a new player or not, I think it’s best to play through it as it’s doing a good job at reminding you what the game is all about.
This brings us to the main plot of the game. As the title suggests, there are plants fighting against the zombies that are roaming in the neighborhood. The plants are trying to protect you, the player, from having your brains eaten. There are various types of plants, such as the peashooter (most known and famous plant from the prequel- they shoot peas to attack zombies), the sunflower (it produces necessary suns to call forth other plants), the wall-nut (it has hard shell which you can use to protect other plants), and the Potato-mine (it explodes on contact, but it takes time to arm itself). More plants make their appearance as you move forward to the game and to new worlds.
The first round, just like the prequel, starts with one lane on the lawn and the first plant you are given is Peashooter. As you plant your second Peashooter, the zombies start attacking. When you defeat all of them you win the Sunflower.
In the next round, the lawn expands to three lanes and the zombies begin their attack when you’ve finished planting three Sunflowers. After you clear this round as well, you get Wall-nut.
In the third round, before planting anything you have to clear the lawn of backward-facing Peashooters with a shovel. Then you use the same method as previously to fight the zombies and when you clear you get Potato Mine.
In the fourth level, after you encounter more zombies (some of which are harder to defeat than the rest) you get the Hot Sauce. Then Crazy Dave arrives and asks the sauce to use on his taco. But then he wants to eat it again and for that purpose he uses his time-machine Penny in order to time travel and eat the taco again, but for some reason something goes wrong and you unexpectedly end up in Ancient Egypt. Thus the journey among worlds and timelines begins and of course in every world and every age you end up arriving to, you have to use your plants to fight zombies.
Other worlds that you will visit include the Pirate Seas, the Wild West, the Far Future (yes, you travel forward in time too. Didn’t see that coming, huh?), and others.
During your travels you’ll encounter different types of zombies that belong to that certain world, such as the mummy zombies or the pirate zombies, as well as unique plants for every world, like the Bloomerang, the Kernel-pult, and the Chili Bean.
33 plants return from the prequel, and 8 of them are premium plants, which means that to use them you’ll have to buy them from the in-game store. Apart from those, 25 new plants make their appearance, 6 of which are also premium.
During your fights, except from suns that appear from the sky or are produced by the sunflowers, you are awarded coins that you can use to buy stuff from the shop. The coins don’t appear often so it’s gonna take some time to gather enough to buy power-ups or plant food. The other option is to use the IAP system.
The difficulty is basically the same as it was in the prequel. I only noticed that the sunflowers take a little more time to produce suns.
I can’t help but admit that the developers of Plants vs. Zombies 2 managed to enrich the game with amazing elements without altering the game’s identity that made all of us fall in love with it. The most important of these new elements is in my opinion the Plant Food, which powers up the attacks of all plants for a few seconds, and trust me, you’re going to need them. A lot. After defeating glowing zombies you are awarded with a Plant Food and thankfully you’ll come across them frequently enough so as you don’t have to buy them.
The world maps also add to the experience as they allow the player to revisit a round they completed, as many times as they want. And you’re probably going to need that if you want all 3 stars that each round gives as perfect score.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 screenshots
Now, let’s talk about the IAP system of the game. As I mentioned above there was one aspect that left me a bit disappointed, and that is the IAP! In a way, the game is pushing you to buy coins, gems or plants to improve your chances of winning. And it’s true that there will be moments that you will be praying to have more coins, especially to buy more Plant Food. It’s extremely frustrating to lose a fight for that reason. Coins are also needed for power-ups. For example, you can use coins to get a power-up that grants you the strength to defeat zombies not with plants but with your finger through the touchscreen. These power-ups come in handy and if the IAP is not an option, then you have to be careful with your coins and where you spent them. The positive thing is that premium plants are not necessary to win. So as a result gems are not important for your progress. With patience you can clear the rounds. Also, you’ll never run out of plants as long as you produce suns of course), so don’t let this aspect discourage you.
As far as the visuals go, they received a major boost. The designs are similar to the prequel but this time around they are more polished, and you will notice how much attention to detail was given. The soundtrack is also packed with lots of different sounds and the “brains” phrase is never boring to hear.
In conclusion, Plants vs. Zombies 2 is a great addition to one of the best, if not the best, Tower Defense game. The gameplay is as addictive as the first game, easy to understand by new fans, and the new additions managed to improve the already amazing experience. I highly recommend this to everyone, whether he is a fan of Plants vs. Zombies or not.
