So, Tower Defense walks into a 2-D bar and he orders an old copy of Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Grows on you, indeed.

User Rating: 8 | Plants vs. Zombies PC
Pop-Cap has perfected their formula and it's on full display here. Their non-sequitur goofy style mixed with addictive gameplay. The fact that it starts out incredibly simple and then becomes exponentially more intricate of a game is the secret behind hooking casual gamers and hardcore gamers alike. Pop-Cop's understanding of replay value has gotten better over the years and impressive variety of mini-games and extra game-modes are proof.

Unfortunately, you'd think that after putting so much effort into the gameplay, they'd respect their design a little more. The fact that this game is limited to 800x600 isn't just outdated, it's embarrassing. People will likely excuse this because they only hold PvZ to a "casual gaming" standard. But the truth is that it's blatant omissions like this that could be so easily addressed that hold PopCap down as the king of "casual gaming" when they could be making general classics. There's a point in the game where you take control of the zombies and have to fight against plants...multiplayer anyone?

Bottom line, it's gameplay over gloss any day of the week and PvZ has it in spades. Still, given that you can't help but wish they'd just have added that extra bit of gloss.