PopCap reloads PvZ with a genuine freemium experience

DEVELOPER: PopCap PUBLISHER: EA PLATFORMS: iOS, Android GENRE: Strategy, Towerdefence PRICE: Free I hate the word “freemium.” It has ruined mobile gaming for me. Freemium games, without naming any in particular, are intrusive, rely on the ‘ addiction’ factor, and abuse the players need to be rewarded. The mobile games industry has embraced the freemium model and that is a very bad thing for gaming in general. The quality of a gaming experience is declining, becoming less involved with the player’s skill and emotion and becoming more of an instant gratifier.

But then again, we have games like Plant Vs. Zombies 2 (PvZ 2). At first sight, a freemium game published by a company like EA gives you the impression that this is just another money laundering game on the pretense of being freemium. That is what I was expecting. But considering that I am a massive fan of the original, released for the PC in 2008, I thought I’d give this one a try too.

One thing is for sure, PvZ 2 is nowhere close to the gazillion freemium games on the iOS and Android app stores. This is a genuine free-to-play game, which doesn’t require any money to access the features the game offers. Nor does it require money to unlock levels and items one needs to progress.

Sure, it is up to you whether you want to purchase something to fasten your in-game progression, but it is only an added bonus. At the core of the game lies a challenging and fun experience. The challenge lies if you don’t purchase any bonuses. Nothing is held back from you if you succeed, you are rewarded and allowed to progress appropriately.

PvZ 2 is a tower defence strategy game, where you play the plants, and you’re supposed to protect your plants against zombies. The plants come in vari- ous shapes and sizes with a variety of functions. Some plants can electrify zombies, some just shoot at them, some freeze them, and it’s all done in a comically satisfying way.

You start by placing the sunflower plant which drops sunflowers (duh!), which is the currency you need to stack up to place powerful plants to stop the waves of zombies that come to attack. The game has four worlds, each with its own unique setting like Egypt and The Wild West. Every world also has a final boss, and the boss battles are tough and require quick thinking and execution.

PvZ 2 is the kind of a game that makes me feel that there is still hope in the mobile gaming space. I wouldn’t have minded dishing out an odd Rs 50, or Rs 100 even, if they asked me to, because this is a genuine game that has no loopholes to abuse the gamer’s credit card.