Egotastic
Pop Cap’s grotesquely popular strategy title has made an appearance on just about every format known to man. The game is so ubiquitous I wouldn’t be surprised if intelligent toilets in Japan now ran it, for when players need their fix mid-dump. In honour of the recent Playstation Vita release, however, I’m taking a look at Plants vs Zombies anew.
The concept is a simple yet refreshing one. Zombies, video game experience tells us, like to gang up on heavily armed soldier-types, and hobble threateningly towards them en masse. The scene generally resembles a riot at a retirement home, perhaps following a deficit of incontinence pants or a heavily-disputed bingo result. The inevitable Pyrrhic victories that resulted from this tactic have practically added zombies to the endangered species list. These particular rotting bastards, then, decide to prey on a safer target: an ordinary, firearm-free home. What they didn’t expect was a frenzied counterattack from a vast crew of sentient plants.
To be fair, even those of us without maggots growing on our groins couldn’t have predicted that. These guys were utterly screwed.
The playfield is your yard. It’s divided into a grid of sorts. The undead march from the right, while on the left is the entrance to your home. (And your delicate brain-meat.) The centre serves as the battleground, where you plant your vicious vegetable warriors. There are just short of fifty types on offer, and each has been perfectly designed to complement a myriad of strategies. If zombies with a crude screen door shield shuffle your way, Fume-shrooms that blast out noxious gases will be needed to bypass their bolstered defenses. If it’s a foggy night, Planturns must be deployed so you can see where the enemies are before they start chewing your face. All are presented in a delightfully endearing cartoon style, plants and zombies alike with charm you effortlessly. The fearless foliage has also been endowed with hilarious anthropomorphic animations.
Unit 13: How Many Damn Drug-Lords Can One Video Game Hold?
Unit 13 is a shooter for Playstation Vita, from the makers of the SOCOM games. It’s a genre that’s seemingly tailor-fit to the fledgling handheld, with its twin sticks offering precision control and aiming capabilities. It neglects to provide intricate plotting of any sort, which would have been superfluous in any case. Nuts to that, Zipper Interactive insists, we’re above such capers. Suffice it to say: there’s reams of bad guys to gun down, and you’re... holding the gun.
However you’re thwarting the merry band of drug dealers, assorted miscreants and general bastions of bastardry, there’s a squad member for the job. Unit 13, the elite military group you control, comprises six agents. Each has their own specialism and range of abilities to augment their talents. Alabama the sniper, for example, could blast the balls off a gnat from a mile away. At close range though, the gnat could probably kick his ass if it got the drop on him, such is his feeble nature. Stats contribute to this as well, with some sacrificing speed for greater survivability and so on. Further, the members level up with experience which allows them to unlock different weaponry to enable various arsenal alterings. The caveat here is the fact that each character has items that can only be unlocked by another in the squad at a certain level. Your personal favourite death machine with legs and a penis will only get you so far, if you’re hunting the collectables. It’s a great mechanic to encourage all of Unit 13 to get involved in the trigger-happy action. There’s a recommended operative for each task, but you’re free to go freestyle and play with whoever you wish.
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