Plants versus Zombies 2 - It's About Time

When I heard that Plants vs. Zombies 2 was out, I quickly visited the App Store.... and my heart sank. Because it was free.

This may sound weird, but I have some reservations (and aversions) to free games. Because it usually means one or a combination of the following:

• The app is going to be chock-full of advertisements
• The game is not that well designed
• You will be asked to do some in-app purchases at every corner of the game
• Without the in-app purchases, there is almost no way to complete the game properly

I would rather pay an upfront amount for the app, and that's it - don't disturb me with advertisements, or give me the "incomplete" feeling that I can't enjoy the game without relying on in-app purchases. Thus, it is crucial that free games strike the right balance between the game challenge and monetisation. 

The gameplay is largely similar to its predecessor. You collect sun energy, then plant plants that attack the zombies advancing. This time, there are some new plant additions, like the bonk chye (a parody of the Chinese vegetable bok chye), lightning reed (hey, is that a plant?), stacked pea pods (can stack up to five pea shooters). There are new zombies too of course, and another welcome change is the introduction of different worlds.

Pros:

• Excellent and rich graphics
• Addictive gameplay
• New plants, zombies and worlds make the gameplay an entirely different experience

Cons:

• Unstable - the game has crashed or hanged quite a few times
• Battery drainer - the rate at which it drains battery is ridiculous
• The classic plants are all unavailable... unless you pay. A lot. Check out the screenshot below.
• Coins can be used for in-game attacks like beheading or tossing the zombies away with your fingers. It..... feels like cheating. Oh and you can win coins during the course of the game, but more coins require real cash. Of course you knew that.