 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Plants vs. Zombies
- Xbox 360, Windows
- Price: $19.99
- Genre: Action/Adventure
Common Sense Media says
Campy, silly zombie romp has plants saving the day.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents needs to know that this PC game contains a fair amount of mild fantasy violence. But that is done is a silly, campy manner because the game is about defending your home from zombies by planting plants to stop them. All the plants can shoot at the zombies, but they do it on their own once you plant them. You do not aim and shoot the undead, you are the strategist. The zombies either fall down or occasionally lose a limb.
What's it about?
PopCap is known for intriguing casual games like Bejeweled and Peggle. With PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES, a humorous riff on tower defense strategy games, you have to save your house from zombies who want to invade your happy home and – cue the B-movie organ music -- chew up your brains. And you do it by planting plants at stategic places in your backyard.
This PC game falls into the category of being simple to learn, but challenging to master. Once the adventure portion of the game begins, you see a suburban house and a yard, the latter of which is your battleground. You click on a plant in the upper left portion of your computer screen which will give you sunlight or which will attack the slow but steady onslaught of zombies. Then, you place a plant by clicking on a portion of your yard. Clicking on sunlight dropping in your yard provides you with points with which to buy new plants. The strategy comes in when you must choose from a variety of plants which do different kinds of damage to different kinds of zombies.
Is it any good?
This tower defense game feels quite new because of the humor injected by the developers, like the undead soul who dons Michael Jackson's "Thriller" outfit. With nearly 50 unlockable plants with which to war against nearly two dozen kinds of zombies, you'll be testing out ways to blow up, freeze, or burn zombies like Buckethead, who's very tough to kill or Screen Door, who is best annihilated by a Fume Shroom whose spores pass through the screen shield to gas the lunking monster. When all else fails, a cherry bomb plant will blow up and burn nearby zombies to a crisp. (You don't see them burn, though, due to the bomb's cloud.)
When hordes of zombies head at you at one time, it's a complete rush. You hurry to place your plants and collect your sunlight as if nothing else matters. As you progress in the game, you unlock mini games and a survival mode. It really gets tough when a creeping fog is introduced. While Plants vs. Zombies is a terrific experience, it's not as tough as, say, Sony's PixelJunk Monsters, which, with each level, features a different layout and approach paths for the creeps who deign to destroy your kingdom. Yet it's just as cute and charming and almost as hard to beat.
What families can talk about
Parents can talk about strategies for winning the game. If hint videos were on YouTube, would you go there to check them out? Or would that be considered cheating?
Which are cooler, the crazy plants with cool powerups or the whacked out zombies?
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Kid, 12 years old
February 27, 2011
AGE
Great game I also have for iPod touch. Because it's a strategic game it is often beyond small kids though they may enjoy watching, my 7 year old sibling can't play very well but is catching on to the technique adores watching it, my 9 year sibling can play well and likes to watch it. A great game for the whole family, don't worry about the violence, it is practically nonexistent with only the heads rolling off when the zombie dies. Mostly however it is just a lot of goofy kid fun.
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Kid, 12 years old
May 1, 2011
AGE
Just fun madness
There really isn't much of any thing to say, it's a fun game. That's it, there's no messages, no meaning, it's just fun. The game's safe, no interactions with others playing, just the game.
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AGE
Zombies will ZAP you in!
A cute yet strange game. My eleven LOVES it and I almost can't help but play it with her. While it may be a bit creepy for younger kids I see no problem. It is strategic game so kids who play video games for pleasure may not enjoy it as much. Overall a good buy!
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AGE
HIlarious.
It's hilarious. It gets their problem solving gears going and we giggle at the descriptions. It's awesome.
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AGE
I find this harmless for my kids who get to play video games only during weekends and when all homework's done. This game is a bit silly (in a good way); I've played silly games when I was a child :)
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Kid, 11 years old
July 11, 2011
AGE
super
super!!!!!!!
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Kid, 11 years old
December 25, 2010
AGE
Great game I like it but may be a little to scary . When my younger sister introduced it to another 4 year old . I told the kid that zombies are not real. This is a strategie because you need to colect suns and spend them wisly.
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Kid, 7 years old
February 27, 2011
AGE
Club
Me And My Brother Love It!
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Kid, 9 years old
April 25, 2011
AGE
ITS AWESOME
SWEET! its so awesome! i play it every day! all ppl should have dis! :D
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| Platforms: | Xbox 360, Windows |
| Available online? | Not available online |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure |
| Developer: | PopCap Games |
| Release date: | May 5, 2009 |
| Price: | $19.99 |
| ESRB rating: | E10+ for ANimated Blood, Cartoon Violence |
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