Pirates vs. Zombies vs. Ninjas vs. Pandas
Pirates vs. Zombies vs. Ninjas vs. Pandas screenshots. (Click to enlarge)
Pirates vs. Zombies vs. Ninjas vs. Pandas really wants to be the next Angry Birds. You can see it in the goofy projectiles, the elaborately-constructed levels and the funny cartoon trailer on their website. From Pan Vision, a European game company that’s just recently dived into the mobile device scene, PvZvNvP is a pretty clever and funny take on the physics-based demolition game. It has some interface issues which (along with an unwieldy title) may prevent it from becoming the juggernaut that Angry Birds has become, but it’s still worth a look if you’ve finished all the levels and are looking for something just a little different.
The various worlds are Everyone vs. Pandas, Everyone vs. Ninjas, and so on. In each world you get various projectiles: for example, there’s a regular pirate and then a flaming pirate that will scatter sparks to burn things down. You shoot the projectiles out of cannons, and if you have more than one type of projectile you can even choose which one to shoot next. In some levels, there are even two different cannons and you can decide which to use for each shot.
Each of the teams has a regular projectile form and a special form with additional powers: the rotting zombie drops small bombs; the farting panda can change direction; the slicing ninja slashes straight down. To make things trickier, several of the levels will have your allies scattered about—killing them causes you to fail the level.
One nice thing about the interface is that, in addition to the dotted path showing your last shot, there’s a small target circle as well—so if you want to shoot in exactly the same location as last time, you can just match up your current target circle with the previous one. There are currently 57 levels (including 12 in the Christmas-themed “Santa Ninja vs. Panda Claus” update), and there are many that will have you scratching your head to find a solution.
A few complaints: the level selection screen looks like your iTunes Cover Flow—3D screens that you scroll through to find the level you want to play. What that means is that you can’t tell at a glance how many levels you’ve completed, how many there are total or how many stars you’ve gotten on a particular level. Also, for some reason there’s a long loading time when you’ve completed a level. You’d think it would be pretty easy for it to give you your one-to-three-stars rating and get on with it, but I encountered a little spinning load icon after every level.
Still, I enjoyed the variety of options in PvZvNvP. What can I say? I’m a sucker for Pirates, Ninjas, Zombies and Pandas. You can get theiPhone version for $.99 or the iPad version for $1.99. You can also try the 12 Christmas levels for free by getting the Santa Ninja vs. Panda Claus app (though they’re included in the paid version as well).
Wired: A physics puzzler that pits four sworn enemies against each other. Challenging levels, versatile projectiles.
Tired: Some interface issues and long loading times.
