Time for a very gaming related blog entry methinks...
Before talking about the main topic today, there's a sad issue in the gaming world at the moment; the closure of 3D Realms. They opened in 1987, and developed one of the most iconic characters in video gaming history; Duke Nukem. However, the production of thier last game, Duke Nukem Forever took 13 years, and simply cost them too much. It never saw the light of day. It's truly sad to see an old development studio go down, and a project that's matured for well over a decade go down with them. Of course, the publisher, 2K games still hold the rights to it, so they might pass it on to one of thier other developers to finish off. They're idiots if they don't tbh, Duke is a franchise with a big following. To be fair, 3D Realms should have got thier arses into gear a lot faster, so I guess they had it coming to them! Still sucks to see them go though.
Right, now onto the main topic, a little game I've been playing and couldn't resist purchasing it. the game? Plants Vs. Zombies!
The basic concept is that you have a horde of zombies heading towards your house and you have to stop them by planting flowers and all manner of garden life on your lawn. Some take on offensive roles, whilst others are used for defence. These range from various types of 'Pea Shooters', that (as the name suggests) fire peas out of thier mouths, to the explosive 'Cherry Bomb' and the aptly named 'Wal-Nut' that acts as a barricade. Plants need points in the form of 'sun power' to be planted. In day time levels sun falls from the sky, but there's also sunflowers that generate thier own sun, clicking the 'sun' adds to your points. With that, and all the plants that need placing, this game quickly becomes a real cick-fest.
There's also many zombie types that you'll encounter. As well as normal zombies, there's zombies with traffic cones on thier heads (for extra defence), faster Olympic running zombies that can pole-vault over the first plants they come accross and zombie divers that can swim to your house via your pool later on.
The game boasts 26 types of zombies and 49 plant types. Mixing and matching the correct plants for each round makes this a very tactical challange. Also, with many upgrades available, via cash collected in the levels, there's a lot of insentive to play numerous times to get everything.
Yes, it is as insane as it sounds, developers Pop Cap must have been smoking a certain type of plant whilst developing this. It's the most bizzare game I've had the pleasure of playing for a long time. Although it's obviously a desktop tower defence style game, which there are many of, it's presented with such finesse that it feels fresh. It's colourful, bright and... fun! Yes, you know, fun? Too many games take themselves way to seriously these days, so it's really good to see a game that dares to be silly. Infact, it's silly to the point where it not only crosses the line, but it sprints past it and disappears into the horizon.
My only complaint is that it's a tad easy, but then I'm not even half way through the 50 levels at the moment, so that could change. Plus there's a puzzle mode and mini-games to unlock, which is enough to keep anyone entertained for a while. And the best part? You can get this game for £6.99 via Steam. That price is such a steal for a great game like this.
If you're looking for some silly fun then this is your game. Pop Cap are well known for thier other titles, Peggle and Bejewled, but this game is truly thier crowning moment. This boasts a huge ammount of originality, and is extremely addictive. I'll deffinitely be playing this for months to come!
Steam Demo: http://store.steampowered.com/app/3592/
Buy, Via Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/3590/
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