When we think about zombie, what follows are usually thoughts such as nuclear weapons, expensive military weaponry and those really cool cars that are upgraded to take on zombies. But that doesn't come in Crazy Dave’s mind. No in fact he has a, unusual weapon. His best weapon, a Peashooter. Yes a Peashooter. To elaborate he has an army of Plants to fight the undead hoard. Welcome to the world of Plants vs Zombies. PopCap’s tower defense makes a return after 5 years from its predecessor released back in 2009. Plants vs Zombies 2: It’s About Time makes improvements in the new sequel for the better, but not all decisions thrive as they might have been intended to be. Let’s get started.
Concept
Plants vs Zombies 2 follows with Crazy Dave wanting to eat his Taco and finally gets his wish by eating it. But since he loved it so much, he decides to eat it again and wants to go back in time to get it. With his RV equipped to time travel, they set off to different time periods including Ancient Egypt, Pirate Seas, Wild West, Far Future and Dark Ages. New themes allow new plants as well as new zombies to join the battle. In particular the Bonk Choy, a new plant closely resembling the Romaine lettuce, is a melee plant that will punch any zombie nearby causing massive damage, however, PopCap knowing it might have been too over powered, made a counter zombie,dressed as an Tomb Raider like, carrying a torch that burns any plant in front of it. Of course every zombies also has a weakness so it’s a game well balanced, even though the casual person might find it a bit too difficult but not impossible.
Game Play
PvZ is a tower defense game that pits you on one side of the lawn and trying to stop the zombie’s incoming from the other side. You have plants that either attack zombies, defend your plants, or produce an enhancement to your plants (such as theSunFlower’s ability to produce Sun). You need sun to be able to plant more plants for your yard, so having a sun producing plant is always a good idea. The game also introduces new game mechanics, such as Plant food and Power Ups. Plant food is an item that can be obtained by killing glowing green zombies, or destroying tombstones with the Plant Food Symbol.This item when used on a plant, will generate a powerful attack or defense to the plant used. For example if the Plant food is used on a Sunflower it will generate a burst of suns. This new feature is well received and it gives a sense of empowerment, just in case you need a helping hand. Power Ups are another addition to the game. Using your finger to control these powers you have the Power Zap, which electrifies zombies, Power Snow which slows down and damages zombies and Power Toss which you can touch the screen and toss the zombies out of the area. These powers can be purchase via in game credits that you earn while playing the game, so it’s not mandatory to pay for them. Another new addition is the endless level zones that are unlocked in each time period, a nice mode to conquer after finishing each world. Keeping that in mind, each time period has roughly 20-22 levels each ranging from simple objectives such as producing certain amounts of sun to protecting endangered plants. Simple yet a time consumer.
Conclusion
While it is a free to play, there are in- app purchases which are now the way developers make their money. We have the usual coin packs you can purchase and bonuses such as extra sun and an extra plant food slot, although you can still enjoy this game without any purchases, but you can also pay for some plants from the previous PvZ game such as the Squash and Snow Pea. It would have been great simply unlocking them instead of spending real world money. However there is no real reason to buy them, other than just having that nostalgia feeling again playing with your old favorite plants. Plants vs Zombies 2 delivers a worthy sequel with new plants and new zombies that give you that feeling of accomplishment most tower defense games can’t give you. And with new worlds to come in the future,there will be more content for the people who crave more brains, I mean more content.
