Review Nostalgic Game: Plants Vs. Zombies (2009)

Technnical data:

Developed by: PopCap Games

Distributor: PopCap Games

Designer: George Fan

Compositor: Laura Shigihara

Genere: Tower defense, estrategy

Summary (from Metacritic): Zombies are invading your home, and the only defense is your arsenal of plants! Armed with an alien nursery-worth of zombie-zapping plants like peashooters and cherry bombs, you'll need to think fast and plant faster to stop dozens of types of zombies dead in their tracks. Obstacles like a setting sun, creeping fog and a swimming pool add to the challenge, and with five game modes to dig into, the fun never dies!

Review:
Maybe killing zombies using plants sounds like a strange concept and many may not like it, but if you know this game you will know that it is great. It's interesting to see all the variety of plants to use and their abilities, from the basic ones such as the needle launcher (which acts as a simple turret) and the nut (also known as potato, which acts as a shield) to other more powerful and complex ones such as the corncob (which acts as a mortar) or the cat's tail (which throws thorns all over the map). The enemies are also quite creative, being not only simple zombies but with variants, from some protected with buckets to others with seventies aesthetics and that can summon zombies from the ground.

The characters are few, but fun, like the zombies sending their obvious and poorly written notes:The characters are few, but fun, like the zombies sending their obvious and poorly written notes:

Crazy Dave, our neighbor who gives us advice and keeps reminding us that he is crazy or Dr. Edgar Zomboss, the final boss, who, although he maintains more elegance and decency than his henchmen, does not stop craving our brains and Dave's.

The designs of this game are completely crazy, starting with the characters, because despite being somewhat simple, it is this simplicity (coupled with their expressions), gives an aura of caricature and blend perfectly with the humor handled by the game. The scenarios are also very well done, full of details and it seems that they were a painting:

Another thing that is very well implemented are the game modes, such as the adventure that is always played at the beginning, advancing through different scenarios and a final battle, with one or another mini-game. There is also I, zombie, where we manage the zombies instead of plants, vase breaker, where we must break vases that may contain plants or zombies or supervene, where you have to prepare our defenses against hordes of zombies increasingly complicated.

But, the two aspects that stand out the most are its replayability, since leaving the game for a while we will lose practice and it will be an interesting challenge to play it again, and its music composed by Laura Shigihara, using orchestrations, synthesizers, etc., providing the game with an unforgettable soundtrack that to this day is remembered as one of the best in the history of video games (and my favorite along with "Cuphead").

Perhaps the only negative point is that being a tower defense, many people may find it boring, although this is a double-edged sword, because it also has simple mechanics and is accessible to people who are not used to video games.

Conclusion:

It is very easy for anyone to enjoy this GOTY winning game, as it has a simple and very entertaining gameplay, with curious mechanics and designs and an excellent original soundtrack. Also, it is available for multiple platforms, like PC, Mobile, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, etc.

This game is today a classic, which marked childhoods (including mine). If you have already played it, I recommend you to do it again.

Rating: 9/10

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