Plants vs. Zombies for Xbox 360 Reviews & Ratings by IGN

You would be forgiven for saying you've had your fill of tower defense games. The past few years have seen a flood of these strategy clones filling downloadable portals like Xbox Live Arcade. But you know who might be able to bring you back: the good people that brought you Peggle. PopCap, one of the best developers and publishers around, has brought its excellent tower defense game Plants vs. Zombies to XBLA. While it uses the basic mechanics of all efforts in this genre, it stands out for its charm, personality, and loads of gameplay variety. The result is another addictive experience from PopCap that will appeal to all walks of gamers.



Zombies are creeping on your lawn, and your garden is the last line of defense against these brain-crazy cannibals. You have some pretty peculiar (but useful) plants at your disposal, including pea shooters that spit green balls at the undead, hot tamales that burn everything in their path, and Venus zombie traps that will devour an enemy in one gulp. By planting various seeds in strategic locations around your lawn you may be able to hold off the onslaught and keep them from entering your house and eating your brain.



Unlike many tower defense games there isn't a winding path the zombies follow towards your home. The yard is divided into six rows and zombies shuffle across the yard in a fairly orderly fashion. They won't cross over into other lanes but you will find multiple bodies coming in on one row. It's a very simple design and, while it does eventually become challenging, this is one of the easier tower defense games I've played. The real draw here is the incredible variety of plants (towers) and zombies. There are 48 kinds of plants with numerous offensive, defensive, and production capabilities, and 26 different zombies. Completing each level in the game will unlock a new plant or item to add to your arsenal. The array of choices means you can customize your strategy and confront the undead on your own terms. These constant rewards really keep you involved and will have you defending your lawn for much longer than you may have expected.



There is also a wide variety of gameplay styles. Some levels take place during the day and some at night, which has a large effect on what plants are available to you, how you harvest sunlight (your resources), and what environmental obstacles you encounter. Interspersed among the regular levels are more arcade-like variations on the tower defense formula. You may lose the ability to select plants and instead have to make do with pre-selected weapons that come down a conveyor belt. Or you may be asked to play Whack-a-Zombie out of the blue. There is also a survival mode to unlock and puzzles that let you play as the zombies. You can't go more than a few minutes with this game without discovering something new and delightful.



Adding to the game's charm is the cast of undead, ranging from football players to zombies that carry screen door shields to aquatic zombies that ride dolphins (you have a pool in the backyard). These aren't your gruesome Left 4 Dead or Resident Evil zombies. This is a zombie game for the whole family (never thought I'd say that). It also has a catchy, organic soundtrack that becomes more intense as your yard is flooded with enemies. The light voice acting gives the undead character as they lurch toward your house grunting and moaning for brains.



The transition from mouse and touch screen controls to a control pad has been handled very smoothly. It's easy to whisk your cursor around the screen with the analog stick and now you can hold the triggers to suck sunlight in. This version of Plants vs. Zombies doesn't feel cumbersome at all.



New to Plants vs. Zombies are competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes. Versus mode is particularly fun and lets one player take control of the zombie horde and try to eat their way into their buddy's house. When playing as the plants, you win by shooting down three of the zombie's five targets on their side of the screen. It's great fun. These multiplayer modes are only available locally.



PopCap is trying something different with Plants vs. Zombies' leaderboards on XBLA, and I'm not sure it works. Instead of a list of high scores or game completion percentages, you can show off your house to your Xbox Live friends. A pile of dead zombies will accrue on your lawn and ornaments will appear as you earn achievements, which are supposed to be representative of all you've accomplished in the game. As I'm playing the game early for review, I can't really get a sense of how satisfying it will be to check out my friends' houses.

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