Raise your hand if you live in Australia or New Zealand! Now take that hand and go download Plants vs. Zombies 2, PopCap's sequel to the 2009 defense game Plants vs. Zombies! The studio has just launched the iOS version in the above countries to test out all the new systems and features. Think of it as a trial run to make sure everything works behind the scenes, as well as a chance to get some feedback on the changes to the gameplay structure.
When Plants vs. Zombies 2 launches to the rest of the world it will be a free download for iPhone, IPod Touch and iPad devices, though there will be ample opportunities to buy upgrades through in-app purchases. The game was originally scheduled to launch July 18th, but PopCap announced it would push back the release to sometime "later in the summer". There's a joke in there about how the only people playing it now are in the middle of their winter season, but we haven't had enough coffee to think of it just yet.
We're eager to hear what folks in the southern hemisphere think of the game so far. Sound off in the comments and let us know how your Plants vs. Zombies 2 time is progressing!
Read more about the soft launch on PopCap's blog.
Update: Plants vs. Zombies 2 has launched in North America!
It's exceptionally irritating: the game requires a front-facing camera for some reason, and therefore only installs on newer models of iPhone.
That's... an unusual requirement for a game about zombies and wall-nuts. I'll update the article to reflect the device minimums.
...I hope the game plays alright without the upgrades. I'm not a big fan of the freemium model. Plus EA laid off the creator of the original PvZ after they bought PopCap so it'll be interesting to see how the sequel turned out.
I am playing this game on my iPad 2. The game rocks !!!!! It's far better than the first one which was already a great game (but really too short).
This one seems big : 3 worlds. I am currently at the middle of the first world. Many new plants, zombies and gameplay stuff !
I love the world map that allow you to see where you are and what you can do.
My only negative point is the price of the power ups (you can use three power ups to throw away zombies and elctrocute them of cut their heads by pinching the screen). You buy a power up (one use only) for 800 credits but each level you finish reward you with 100 max so I think PopCap should decrease the price else users like me who don't buy IAP will never use those power ups.
You will enjoy that game.
@denub... The reason they do that is because the appstore doesn't prevent people from downloading and paying for) something even if it won't work on their device... The game apparently won't run well on older devices, so they tell it it "needs" a camera so people with those devices can't download it... It's nit that the game actually requires a camera
I forget what game it is, but I tried to download a game for my iPod touch and it said I needed a compass. Same thing... It just doesn't work on the (apparently ancient) ipod 4g, and only on the 5
well thank you for telling about the freemium aspect of this game just tells me that EA has taken over popcap(i really liked them) and i will be avoiding this like the plague that is EA.
they should make the plants and IAP be like 99cents really popcap i adore this game ut the in app purcheses just cinda roiun the fun ...make it cheap like 99 cents and this games a fortune
Hate the freemium model. There are some illegal ways to get over it of which I will not discuss here. Sadly, only our iPad could support this game when it releases. Hopefully PopCap changes their mind.
To get PvZ 2 on old devices go to m.25pp(dot)com. Then press the search button in the top right corner. Then search PvZ 2 then press go. Then find PvZ 2 and press it and press the Chinese word on the left then press install when a box pops up. Wait for it to finish installing? if you want to start it press the icon and when a box pops up press open. This is a method if you don't live in Australia or if you have an old device.
Update