When you think of platformers, you likely think of Super Mario Bros. When you think of JRPGs, you likely think of Final Fantasy. When you think of FPS, you likely think of Call of Duty. Some games are just synonymous with their respective genres. And when it comes to tower defence games, what comes to my mind immediately is Plants vs Zombies.
Plants vs Zombies: Replanted is exactly what it says on the tin. Zombies are invading and the only hope against them is a crop of… well, crops. You’ll need to plant an entire plant army to prevent the zombie hoard from entering your home. It’s a simple, if not rather iconic, premise.
I never actually had the chance to play Plants vs Zombies growing up. My only exposure to the franchise has been the hero-shooter spin-offs. Thankfully, this Replanted edition has breathed life back into the game to offer a way for players like me to experience this cult classic properly for the first time. It’s worked well for the most part; I’ve greatly enjoyed my time with Replanted, even if it stumbles in a few areas.
It’s worth noting the amount of gameplay content you get for your buck. From the main campaign, which is itself fairly meaty, to new minigames to even a puzzle mode, there’s a lot packed into this gem of brain-hungry, botanical tower defence.
The unlockable minigames are a blast. Walnut Bowling is self-explanatory, but modes like ZomBotony — where you’re attacked by plant-zombie hybrids— spin gameplay mechanics around on their heads. And if that’s not enough, there’s also a puzzle mode where you have to think strategically about card placement to clear vases.
There’s also an unlockable co-op mode (that I unfortunately wasn’t able to test as I had no one to play with), and those with a partner will be able to do head-to-head PvP matches, with one player on the side of the zombies. You’ll get hours of replayable fun and I’m surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed it all. The tower defence gameplay is as strong as ever, and I love having to carefully prep my cards (i.e. units) to best battle waves after waves of zombies.
My strategy tended to change between battles. Some plants can spray through screen doors, which makes them essential for battles with zombies sporting screen doors. But then you also have to consider which plant you want to use for resource generation and whether you want walnuts to act as a buffer, or maybe protect your crops with landmines. Those kinds of options helped keep the flow of combat feeling fresh and made me get out of my comfort zone to test new strategies.
Unfortunately, there was initially more trouble in the neighbourhood than just the hordes of undead ghouls. As Felix mentioned in his video, the optional mouse controls were downright abysmal at launch, and the touchscreen controls didn’t fare much better – at least until patches adjusted things (and also restored the original dynamic audio and implemented a whole load of sound effect fixes which dogged the game on release day).
Previously, trying to use the mouse controls resulted in a headache, as it was so sensitive that it quickly switched back to standard controls the second you lifted the controller. Meanwhile, planting in touchscreen was a letdown because the sprites followed you as if they were stuck to your finger once you selected a unit.
The ball definitely got dropped in this area, and those post-release patches haven’t totally solved things for me, especially in touchscreen mode. It still feels clunky and difficult to control, sometimes slowing on-screen action to a glitchy crawl and ultimately making me question the inclusion of the control scheme in the first place.
There’s also allegations of AI usage in the game, which — at the risk of sounding like I’m soapboxing — is downright messy if true.
That aside, the overall package is still a blast to play. It doesn’t take very long before the ‘just one more level’ addictiveness begins to take hold. This is helped by the number of units you unlock, all of which have a quirky charm and cute design. Of course the basic attacking unit is called a Pea Shooter, and of course the icy variant is a Frozen Pea Shooter. You can’t beat those kinds of puns! It’s a game that’s guaranteed to make even the most cold-hearted gamer crack a smile.
Plants vs Zombies: Replanted also comes with some quality-of-life improvements. One of the best new features is the ability to fast-forward the gameplay up to 2.5x speed. By default, these are the slow shambling type of zombies and there’s normally a long, slow gap between waves. But with the press of a button, they speed up to World War Z levels of fast. It makes playing feel more fluid and smooth; it also adds another layer of challenge for those who might find the standard gameplay flow too easy.
Conclusion
Overall, I find myself really loving Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted. Its cute and quirky character designs are infectiously charming, and the gameplay is simple but effective. The graphics are easy on the eyes and help make the character designs shine. It’s a bummer that there were problems with the controls at launch, but even with those issues, it wasn’t enough to prevent the game from being a botanical blast.
