Plants vs Zombies

[IncendiaryDevice]

Earlier today/yesterday (depending on your time zone) I posted some screenshots of the original Plants vs Zombies PC game in the screenshot thread. To be honest, I didn't think it would garner any reaction at all, but it seems this random display of a game has significantly triggered a number of codexers.

I find this interesting.

So I searched the forum for threads about the game to find out what the issue is. But there are no threads. There are 2 threads getting excited for PvZ 2, suggesting it's something some people do like, but none for the first game, very little literature at all TBH.

So I thought I'd give the game a thread.

As far as I can tell there's nothing bad about the game. In fact, as far as I can tell, it's a highly monocled game in the tradition of everything that's good about PC gaming, from gameplay to humour and from music/sound effects to difficulty and multiple ways to play.

So far, for my screenies:

Pippin thinks the post was
Jinn thought the post was
Modron thought the post was
and
Ninja Destroyer found the post... : Disgusting:

The game has an 8.9 user rating on Metacritic from 897 ratings and a 97% positive rating by Steam users from 7,671 reviews. So what great unspoken feelings are hidden within so many posters here? What has PvZ done to deserve this?

---------------------------------------

Postscript and analysis:

Because I made this thread:

Snorlack has rated the screeny post as : shit:

 

[Hoaxmetal]

It's an ok casul game, nothing more.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

It's an ok casul game, nothing more.

Its not casual though. Unless you class all games as casual.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

Hoaxmetal rates reply

No, seriously, it's not a casual game. The high scores of the endless features are no different to conversations you'll hear on any monocled hardcore RPG discussion. They require game knowledge, skills and intelligence with a chess-like patience and precision, making careful use of resources over time with a healthy dose of min/max'ing. Going into a "how do you get past 8 levels of vasebreaker endless" thread is the equivalent of going into an [insert RPG here] thread and asking which is the best build to do [insert requirement].

But I'm guessing all the raters haven't actually played the game?

 

[racofer]

If you want a tower defense game, then this one is great:

 

[index.php]

It's one of my favorite games of all time – and I remember it being pretty well liked by the codex when it came out.

 

[Excidium II]

I finished the first PvZ. Had fun.

 

[Drew]

How could they possibly make a second one? The content in the original was stretched thin as it was.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

The content in the original was stretched thin as it was.

What do you mean?

 

[Maggot]

Warcraft 3 and the thousands of TD games for it is all you need.

 

[Drew]

You played the same level with the same 3 plants the entire game. Yeah eventually your peashooter became a repeater, and then a threepeater or w/e it was called, but you're still planting the same things, On the exact same map (with a color change every now and then).
I'm astonished that there is anyone who played through it, and then some of the custom challenges, and left feeling "Yeah, I still want more".

 

[Black]

Is there P vs Z but with lewd anime grills?
Asking for a friend.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

You played the same level with the same 3 plants the entire game. Yeah eventually your peashooter became a repeater, and then a threepeater or w/e it was called, but you're still planting the same things, On the exact same map (with a color change every now and then).
I'm astonished that there is anyone who played through it, and then some of the custom challenges, and left feeling "Yeah, I still want more".

The fuck are you talking about the same three plants?

There are 5 different maps.

Well you certainly didn't play through it, that's for sure.

 

[adddeed]

PvZ is awesome. Great fun.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Original game was good for what it was for a mobile game. The game fairs rather poorly on the PC because casul gaming has no place there.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

The original wasn't the mobile version, the original was the PC version. Also, it's not a casual game. Your post has no place here. Come to think of it... why are you here? Habit?

 

[adddeed]

Original game was good for what it was for a mobile game. The game fairs rather poorly on the PC because casul gaming has no place there.

Nah bro, game is a lot of fun, casual or not. Not everything needs to be super duper complex RPG to be enjoyable.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

Nah bro, game is a lot of fun, casual or not. Not everything needs to be super duper complex RPG to be enjoyable.

PvS is more complicated that the vast majority of games that get spermed on round here... (Lyric Suite is even a WoW fan...)

 

[Lazing Dirk]

The high scores of the endless features are no different to conversations you'll hear on any monocled hardcore RPG discussion. They require game knowledge, skills and intelligence with a chess-like patience and precision, making careful use of resources over time with a healthy dose of min/max'ing...

Just because you can sperg out by taking an endless mode to the max doesn't make it any less casual. Your argument applies to basically every single base defence game ever made, even those shitty Flash ones from Newgrounds 9 years ago or whatever. It can be a fun diversion for a little while, sure, most games of that sort can be, but it's nothing more than that. If you want to try and make it something more hardcore, go for it, but don't expect anyone to take you seriously when you say it's anything other than a casual game. I would agree it's a well done and quite expansive casual game, but a casual game none the less.

By the way, if you're into that kind of thing, why not try Plague Inc: Evolved on the harder difficulties? There's loads of careful resource conservation and balancing of pros and cons, you'll love it.

 

[Drew]

You played the same level with the same 3 plants the entire game. Yeah eventually your peashooter became a repeater, and then a threepeater or w/e it was called, but you're still planting the same things, On the exact same map (with a color change every now and then).
I'm astonished that there is anyone who played through it, and then some of the custom challenges, and left feeling "Yeah, I still want more".

The fuck are you talking about the same three plants?

There are 5 different maps.

Well you certainly didn't play through it, that's for sure.

The "5 maps" are the same exact 10x5 grid with different background art.
Your three plants are a sunlight generator, a shooter, and some kind of wall.
The entire game revolves around repeating the same exact setup a dozen times vs. incrementally harder zombies.
I actually purchased it in 2010, I believe. It was fun for a few afternoons as a break between games I was actually invested in.

 

[Lyric Suite]

The original wasn't the mobile version, the original was the PC version. Also, it's not a casual game. Your post has no place here. Come to think of it... why are you here? Habit?

Well, i played it on my phone at the time and just find it difficult to envision the game being successful anywhere "real" games are to be found. I thought the game was fun, well crafted and very much above the cut for a mobile game but on PC. Just, no. The fact it may be better than most of the dumped down trash that's out there isn't saying much.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

Just because you can sperg out by taking an endless mode to the max doesn't make it any less casual. Your argument applies to basically every single base defence game ever made, even those shitty Flash ones from Newgrounds 9 years ago or whatever. It can be a fun diversion for a little while, sure, most games of that sort can be, but it's nothing more than that. If you want to try and make it something more hardcore, go for it, but don't expect anyone to take you seriously when you say it's anything other than a casual game. I would agree it's a well done and quite expansive casual game, but a casual game none the less.

Complete bollocks. The game has a Campaign mode which is highly fleshed out, leading to an endless mode, two puzzle Campaigns, both leading to an endless mode, twenty separate and completely different mini-games, a large and varied reward system, fantastic music and sound effects, no bugs, a gigantic variety of both enemies and defenders, a timeless art style and graphical fidelity. Saying it's like any other Tower Defence game is as retarded as saying Fallout 1 is like any other Post-Apoc RPG and then you double-down on the retard by then saying that Fallout 1 is no different to any flash post-apoc RPG from newsgrounds 9 years ago or whatever. It's not about 'being taken seriously', this is the codex, people are going to talk shit for the rush it brings them, and you're no different, for some reason you have it in your head that PvZ is a casual game, but can you put that into words? Nope, just insults and bullshit that could be posted on any thread about any game and all you'd need to do was change the title of the product you're talking about.

The "5 maps" are the same exact 10x5 grid with different background art.
Your three plants are a sunlight generator, a shooter, and some kind of wall.
The entire game revolves around repeating the same exact setup a dozen times vs. incrementally harder zombies.
I actually purchased it in 2010, I believe. It was fun for a few afternoons as a break between games I was actually invested in.

First off: So you're admitting that you were wrong in your first waste of space post and there are five maps, good glad you admitted that.
Second: No, the 5 maps are not all the exact same 10x5 grid with different background art, that's immensely retarded, that's like saying any game is the exact same game with different background art, I cannot put into words the extent of your retardation here, the extent to how stupid you are for continuing to dig the gigantic hole of your permanent wrongness.
Third: Your 'three plants' is not only wrong but utterly spasticated, it's the equivalent of saying there are only three types of character in Fallout 1, a healer, a tank and a glass canon, you're knowledge of the game is so utterly inept it's tantamount to just basic lying.
Fourth: You have no idea what the 'whole game' revolves around because you clearly haven't played it. If you 'repeat the exact same set up a dozen times' you wont advance very far in the campaign or endless modes and for any of the puzzle games its so completely wrong it's tantamount to just basically lying.
Fifth: You cannot 'complete' the game in a few afternoons, if you were not invested in the game then that's just you, just because you didn't invest yourself doesn't mean it's a casual game, it means you're just another twat who thinks their opinion is so important that they don't require facts or any form of reality to waste everyone's time by talking complete bollocks on an internet forum.

Well, i played it on my phone at the time and just find it difficult to envision the game being successful anywhere "real" games are to be found. I thought the game was fun, well crafted and very much above the cut for a mobile game but on PC. Just, no. The fact it may be better than most of the dumped down trash that's out there isn't saying much.

The game is a PC game and works fine in that regard. The fact that you played it first on a mobile says more about you and your preference for casual games than your pointless and empty comment of 'just no'. And you a massive WoW fan to-boot. How about you just stop digging that hole, eh?

 

[Dickie]

Plants vs. Zombies on PS3 was pretty cool. It has 2-player co-op and versus modes. I don't remember if those are in the PC version, since I haven't played that in years, but they're definitely not in the Android version I normally play on my tablet.

 

[Drew]

snip

are you a pvz dev by any chance? you sure seem to get offended when people point out that it isn't the greatest game of all time.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

Oh right, I've somehow implied it's the greatest game of all time now have I? Whatever next shall appear from the mind of Drew...