A Mutant Crop Of Plants Vs. Zombies Blooms On Facebook

While fans of the war between plant life and human undeath wait anxiously for July’s Plants Vs. Zombies 2, the eternal battle has spilled over into Plants Vs. Zombies Adventures, a Facebook game where planting virtual crops could save your life. Rather than the corridor-based battles of its big brother, Plants Vs. Zombies Adventures reverts to more traditional tower defence.

Multiple lanes snake about each playfield, your plants (for the most part) placed on the side instead of directly in the path of the oncoming hordes. And be careful what you plant, because those seeds aren’t endless anymore.

In order to facilitate free-to-play social game features, the plants you plant in Plants Vs. Zombies Adventures are picked fresh from your ever-expanding home base. You’ve got a row to hoe if you want to go toe-to-toe with the hungry forces of evil, and while standard peashooters and sunflowers bloom in under a minute, more powerful ordinance takes time to cultivate.

Along with growing plant battlers for the war, your base also features upgradeable buildings offering power-ups and coins. As you progress through the game you’ll unlock new lots, giving you access to advance buildings and — most important — more places to plant.

When you’re ready for adventure you’ll set out in your RV, battling back the undead on stop at a time. You’re driven by a sense of justice. You’re also driven by the need for gold and a regular stream of quests that pop up along the edge of the screen. Mainly justice.

Plants Vs. Zombies Adventures is quite different from regular old Plants Vs. Zombies, but it’s a good sort of difference. The fresh format gives players a chance to get to know some of the characters inhabiting this comically tragic world, perhaps paving the way for things to come. It is a Facebook game, and I’ve already had to badger friends to unlock a new episode, but I’ve yet to feel pressured to buy virtual goods, so there’s that.

PopCap has planted the seeds of a rather nifty little Facebook game with Plants Vs. Zombies Adventures. Give it a try, or hate it simply because it’s on Facebook. Your choice!

Plants Vs. Zombies Adventures [Popcap]