By Alec Meer on May 5th, 2009 at 10:54 pm.
We have all played Plants vs Zombies by now. And we all have a favourite plant, right? Maybe it’s the triple pea plant. Maybe it’s the sweetcorn catapult that lobs hunks of ghoul-paralysing butter. Maybe it’s the impressively apocalyptic Jalapeño pepper. For me, there is no question. Tall-nut is my super-unit, the answer to all my problems, the nemesis of all zombies. My one true love.
Tall-Nut is Wall-Nut Plus: the least conceptually interesting of all Plants vs Zombies 40-something defensive units, the static wall that has no ability beyond mere delay. Wall-nut is a suicide bomber without the bombing: he is there only to be destroyed in the name of a noble cause. He’s simply absorption, delaying the inevitable. His big bother Tall-Nut, though: brrrrrrr. No-one’s getting past Tall-Nut.
Of all the many units deployed to PvZ’s slightly too repetitive battlefields, the mighty Tall-Nut stands out the most by a country mile. Significantly bigger than anything else in the game, and with an expression that screams only rage, murder and contempt, nothing is his equal. If zombies somehow manage to chomp their way through his hairy chitin skull, you’ve failed – and not because Tall-Nut has some inherent weakness, but because you’re so poor at the game that your last, ultimate defense is too little, too late. Tall-Nut can defeat pogo sticks, ladders, zombie dolphins… You name it, he’s nemesised it. If he falls, it’s only because you’re bloody rubbish.
Tall-Nut. King of all the plants.
I mean, really, read his bio from PvZ’s incredible almanac:
“People wonder if there’s a rivalry between Wall-Nut and Tall-Nut. Tall-Nut laughs a rich, baritone laugh. “How could there be anything between us? We are brothers. If you knew what Wall-Nut has done for me…” Tall-Nut’s voice trails off and he smiles knowingly.”
Brrrrr. Marry me, Tall-Nut.
That stiff, strangely tiny lower-lip, those furious, vengeful eyes, the way he towers beyond anything else on that tile-based grass battlefield: truly, Tall-Nut is a hero for the ages.
05/05/2009 at 23:04 Baris says:
So far my favourite has to be Repeater. He may be a bad-boy with a foul attitude now, but I can change him, I swear it!
05/05/2009 at 23:05 Stabby says:
Tags: “horribly confused homoeroticism”
Haha. Awesome.
05/05/2009 at 23:07 Chris Evans says:
Tall-nut is a true warrior, his kind will never be forgotten!
05/05/2009 at 23:12 Z says:
Tall-Nut is wonderful, until you run into the rock for his scissors.
Of course, that particular pair of scissors slices through everything. *shudder*
“If he falls, it’s only because you’re bloody rubbish.”
Or you’re playing Suvivor: Hard. Oh god, my army is composted…
05/05/2009 at 23:19 Ginger Yellow says:
Oh goody. I’ve only just unlocked Tall-Nut, and I’ve been desperate for something to stop zombie dolphins. I wasn’t sure he’d float on water.
05/05/2009 at 23:24 PaulMorel says:
He looks like angry Stewie.
05/05/2009 at 23:36 Z says:
Ginger: the lilly pad is your friend. I must return to my zen garden.
BTW, has anyone tried replaying the campaign after beating it? Stupid crazy dude.
05/05/2009 at 23:49 Monchberter says:
Fitting Meer opts for the nut.
Nurse, the straitjacket…
06/05/2009 at 00:13 The Poisoned Sponge says:
It’s all about the Spikeweed. He’s the hero for all those downtrodden masses, the inspiration for anyone who’s been called a doormat. He’ll let you walk, alright, but he’ll make sure you leave without an arm, or a head, if you spend too much time hanging around. He’s the best friend of the Tall-nut, and he’s the only thing to slow down the Gargantor (well, in his upgraded form, at least).
06/05/2009 at 00:19 Patrick says:
I have to say, the wall-nut is my favourite so far. That chipper vacant smile, the off-center eyes, the way that smile turns to a frown progressively as zombies literally eat his brains.
The penetrating scowl of the Tall-nut is a close second.
06/05/2009 at 00:24 Dozer says:
PaulMorel said what I wanted to say! so I guess there’ no reason for me to post this.
06/05/2009 at 00:29 Filipe says:
Only halfway through the game, but yeah, never go into a battle without Tall-Nut.
06/05/2009 at 00:44 The Poisoned Sponge says:
Also, reinforce him with a pumpkin and he’ll love you forever.
06/05/2009 at 01:44 Film11 says:
Doom-shroom will put Tall-nut in his place I’m afraid.
06/05/2009 at 02:12 The_B says:
Aw, nuts.
D’you see what I did there?
06/05/2009 at 06:18 Jody Macgregor says:
Sometimes I love the tags as much as the posts here.
06/05/2009 at 06:57 SPLastic says:
Fun fact: Wall-Nuts serve as a great deterrent at night while you set up enough sunflowers to generate money!
Imagine a solid line of Tall-Nuts, backed by Repeaters and Catapults.
06/05/2009 at 07:25 Mad Doc MacRae says:
Tall-nut is like a medic with uber all the time, with the stalwart determination of the heavy.
And when he’s on his last legs, that one single tear…
Goddam.
06/05/2009 at 07:51 Jazmeister says:
Oh Mr Meer. You hilarious cad, you.
06/05/2009 at 07:58 Bigfoot_King says:
Although tall-nut is the best, wall nut is cuter
06/05/2009 at 08:10 Freeks says:
And IIIIIII~ will always love youuuuu~ …
Jeah before Tall-Nut I was unhappy, cranky, didn’t know what was missing… Then there he was, tall, strong, the perfect man… Tall-Nut I’m there for you… forever…
06/05/2009 at 08:19 itsallcrap says:
I notice in the screenshot you’re not using the chomper plants right behind the wallnut. I found that to be a winning combination as they can eat zombs on the other side of the nut but always have time to finish chewing the last one.
Then again, you’ve clearly gotten further than me, so what do I know, eh?
06/05/2009 at 08:27 Ginger Yellow says:
“Ginger: the lilly pad is your friend.”
Yeah, I know. I just had a strange (and wrong) feeling it wouldn’t be enough to keep Tally afloat.
06/05/2009 at 09:59 Ian says:
I love how the upgrades look just like their predecessor, but angrier.
I have yet to play far enough to find the Tall-Nut, but now I’m waiting.
06/05/2009 at 10:51 Down Rodeo says:
Dammit! I managed to tear myself away from this last night but now you make me want to play it all over again. I hope you’re happy.
06/05/2009 at 16:44 Z says:
I just bought the lilypad cat thing. I like it, but I haven’t used it against balloon zombies yet. I pefer keeping a spot open to use a blowflower–that way I don’t have zombies dropping inside my defenses when they get shot down.
06/05/2009 at 16:47 Alex says:
Tall-Nut is as nothing to my mighty SHOVEL.
06/05/2009 at 16:55 archonsod says:
The humble and ever useful Frozen Pea has to be my favourite. A solid line of those guys and the shuffling horde becomes even more, erm, shuffly, giving you ample time to choose which particular means of disposal takes your fancy.
06/05/2009 at 16:59 Ian says:
Yeah, I’m a big fan of the frozen pea too. Bucket-head zombie gonna get to your first plant before you can knock his bucket off? No problem. But a blue in there and he’ll be dead before he’s shambled halfway across the lawn.
06/05/2009 at 17:03 Ginger Yellow says:
Yeah, the Slow Pea is definitely the ever-present workhorse of my garden, but it’s not really sexy. On the other hand, the hypno shroom doesn’t get a lot of use, but it’s dead handy for those American footballer zombies.
06/05/2009 at 17:25 Ian says:
Of course, a well-protected chomper is always a hoot.
06/05/2009 at 17:28 Schaulustiger says:
Have to agree with Ian here, a chomper behind a wall- or tall-nut is a nearly unbreakable defense. At least, with some pea shooters that pick off the rest of the horde whilst the chomper is crunching zombies to pieces.
Have to go play again.
06/05/2009 at 17:52 Z says:
I just wish fire didn’t cancel ice. Maybe there’ll be enough slowdown to make it worthwhile, because winter melon + gattling peas + torchwood is really tempting.
But I think I’ve found my new friend: Imitater. My dear, curious french noir master of disguise, letting me roll out 3 columns of sunflowers in 1/3-1/2 the time in survivor mode.
Why so many? You need to build up a reserve of sun for the later flags. As I build up a surplus of sun, I start replacing them with double sunflowers/rear spikestones (vs. miners)/marigolds+gold magnet (vs. my poverty)/or melonpults.
By the last wave, I usually have 2000+ sun in reserve and only 2 double sunflowers left.
Now I just need to beat Survivor: Fog (hard) [ugh] and Survivor: Roof (hard) [shudder], and some of the minigames.
06/05/2009 at 18:40 Adventurous Putty says:
Does the “homoeroticism” tag indicate that we can look forward to more — ahem — gushing articles?
06/05/2009 at 18:42 Z says:
Technically, squashes are actually better than chompers–they’ll destroy a dozen zombies if they’re all packed together tightly enough. Impossible to roll them out fast enough, though.
06/05/2009 at 19:20 Nick says:
@Adventurous Putty: Doubtful.. RPS has lots and lots and lots of tags they just put in for amusement in individual posts =)
06/05/2009 at 21:00 army of none says:
RPS, I love you.
06/05/2009 at 21:03 Schaulustiger says:
Yeah, that’s why I keep the squisher ready to only use it for special zombies like the bob team.
I can’t even stop smiling while writing this. PvZ is so hilarious :)
06/05/2009 at 21:09 Daniel says:
I dunno, wall-nut is cooler in his own way. I mean, these zombies beat on him and he just stays there smiling as he cracks away into nothing. I’ve only had one wall-nut break on me. I cried. But then I built another, and he continued his fallen brother’s legacy, so at least wall-nut did not die in anything close to vain.
06/05/2009 at 21:24 Theoban says:
I wasn’t going to buy this game until this post. I don’t really like tower defence games but the characterisation of these nuts and plants has sold me. DAMN YOU RPS.
06/05/2009 at 21:31 Jim Rossignol says:
“an expression that screams only rage, murder and contempt”
I felt the Tall-Nut’s expression was steely-resolve, which is heightened by the single tear that forms at the corner of his eye when he’s under attack.
06/05/2009 at 21:38 Moonracer says:
I played the demo and wasn’t too impressed, but all this talk is making me think again.
06/05/2009 at 21:54 Rei Onryou says:
I knew I was going to buy it as soon as I saw the music video. Tom Francis’ review only confirmed that. I’ve been holding out, but don’t think I can any longer!
06/05/2009 at 23:38 CakeAddict says:
Well I’ve gotten my copy today and I’ve been hooked since, I shall get that golden trophee *mumbling*
Anyway my favourite is probably Gattling peas especially if you put a fire in front of it.
I had a nice combo going in the first (very easy) survival level.
Twin sun plant -> Mellon -> Gattling -> Fire -> Piranha plant -> Tall nut.
They certainly got their asses kicked, but then again it was only the first level. x)
07/05/2009 at 01:40 Lunsku says:
I’ll root for Squash at the moment. Wonderful grumpy expression, and always there for the early game squashing that one getting away when I’m trying to build up economy!
07/05/2009 at 01:51 Matosh says:
You name it, he’s nemesised it.
I never thought I’d see the word ‘nemesis’ verbed.
07/05/2009 at 03:46 Rufust Firefly says:
The Potato Mine won my heart in one of the early movies of the game. SPUDOW. I’ve never really looked at any others.
07/05/2009 at 05:53 Mad Doc MacRae says:
Reading the almanac of plants and zombies is also some cool/quirky characterization.
07/05/2009 at 13:25 Rosti says:
I like to read this article in the light of John’s piece on L4D’s Witch. Who’s next to give into the article-on-game-character-with-emotional-feeling urge, then?
07/05/2009 at 20:09 simplicio says:
My new best friend is the cattail. Homing repeater with aerial attacks included? Woof!
08/05/2009 at 00:16 D says:
My favorite would have to be the Potato Mine, on account of always arming itself riiiiiiiight before catastrophe.
Btw, check the in-game help button. It’s brilliant :)
10/05/2009 at 07:42 geldonyetich says:
I’d have to go with Torchwood’s badass grimace. It’s a wonder the zombies don’t just turn around under his baleful glare – particularly if there’s a Gatling Pea behind him.
That’s in terms of attitude. In terms of overall effectiveness, Melon Pult. (If only because the Corncob Cannon is unshieldable runt fodder.)
11/05/2009 at 16:34 Ian says:
@ D: It’s not my fave, but the potato mine does appear to be able to read your mind.
No matter when you lay it, it seems to wait until right because you’re thinking back-up plans when it arms itself and makes some zombie mash. The little scamp.
SPUDOW!
@ Rosti: The Tall-Nut would keep right at it while the Witch failed to get past his mighty defences.
Oh, and if we don’t get any more articles with the “horribly confused homoeroticism” tag you can colour me disappointed.
11/05/2009 at 18:24 Koldunas says:
What strategies do you use for Last Stand minigame? I can’t get through it. Always get badly battered on flag 4 and subsequently loose on flag 5.
11/05/2009 at 20:28 NoahApples says:
Chomper + Tall-Nut is infallible.
12/05/2009 at 11:56 Michael Leung says:
Her Majesty should knight Tall-nut.
Sir Tall-nut, anyone?
12/05/2009 at 14:01 Morph says:
@Kolduna
For the Last Stand I use Cold Pease to slow down the enemy as they wander slowly over spikes. At the back are a number of 3-way shooters, and of course Tall-Nuts guard it all. Two magnet-shrooms (woken by coffee beans) help against screen doors, footballers etc.
12/05/2009 at 15:14 Morph says:
Top tip: Type ‘future’ whilst playing to make the zombies look like they come from the future!
12/05/2009 at 15:32 Malagate says:
We should probably make a forum thread at this point, as replying to comment threads the messages tend to get lost of just missed out…
anyway, soldiering on!
@Morph, that only works if you’ve got your Tree of Knowledge high enough to tell you about it. Otherwise you could discover all the codes by typing in random words (for instance, dance. I’ve typed it, the tree hasn’t told me it, but it made a little noise and told me a “no can do…yet” type of message).
Also I’d say a different stratergy for the Last Stand minigame, tall nuts + Torchwood + 2xRepeaters on each row (cheaper than 1x gatling pea) + associated lillies + about 2~4x magnet shrooms (with coffee beans natch) + some cattails (sacrificing a repeater on the pool rows if you need points/space). It’s just totally overwhelming.
Also also @NoahApples, the balloon zombie, miner zombie and possibly even the ladder zombie all laugh at your tall nut + chomper combo. The truly infallible plan uses a lot more magnets, lobbers, fire or ice (both is silly unless you’re using winter melons) and something to pop balloons/blow them away.
13/05/2009 at 00:48 Jochen Scheisse says:
Tall-Nut is definitely a standard pick in the equpiment.
I found the game to be exceedingly easy. Unless you combine stuff that REALLY doesn’t go together – or do not know the necessary hard counters – you need to go to Endless Survivor mode to find any challenge that is somewhat build related. At the moment, I am stuck at flag 21, but I think the trick is simply to use a lot of one-use explosives later on, together with a shitload of ice melons, cat tails and gatling peas, and those two way pea shooters in the last row to fight off those pesky miners (the gatling peas just to keep upgrade cost viable and be able to scale more effectively).
13/05/2009 at 16:18 Nallen says:
“explosives later on, together with a shitload of ice melons, cat tails and gatling peas”
A thousand cookies for anyone that can find another in context use for this sentence.
14/05/2009 at 18:41 Crescent says:
Gatling peas, torchwood, ice melons, cat tails, magnets, iron spikes and tall nuts combined made me all the way to flag 21 in survivor. After that it gets pretty impossible with 100+ zombies at the same time..
Back to the article, my favourite plant is the gold magnet cus it can easily earn me 10k money in survival ^^ Else I would be too busy to collect all the coins while I’m building my defences.
14/05/2009 at 19:05 Alex says:
In terms of most-used plant, pumpkins. Bar none. In survival I get every single plant which can be covered, covered.
Spike Rocks are by far my favourite ‘plant’ though. More durable than tall-nut (and angrier too!), lasts 3-5 blows from a [Giga-]Gigantaur, deals damage, stops zombonies and catapults before they become an issue… What’s not to love?
Most disappointing, I would say, was the cob cannon. Sure, it’s “active” and fun to shoot and situationally useful, but you’re sacrificing two plant slots, and you can’t pumpkin it – which makes it very vulnerable to the Imps that gigantaurs throw. It’s just not worth it. Edit: I have been meaning to give only a couple of them a shot just on lilypads though, since the water way is typically less of an issue.
P.S.: I got to 28 in Endless before buying cob cannons. Upon trying them, I only made it to 22.
14/05/2009 at 21:54 BallisticsFood says:
@Alex
once you get above 6 cob cannons you can blast the gargs before they can throw the imps. Then you get 2 skulls falling into a pile of dust!
Most irrationally impressive plant i’ve found so far is the gloom shroom. Gloom shrooms in the pool kill pretty much everything in the four middle rows.
16/05/2009 at 01:09 Zindaras says:
I have to say, I’m amazed that more of you fellows don’t agree with me and Felice Leonardo Buscaglia (1924-1998) that
“There are many miracles in the world to be celebrated and, for me, garlic is the most deserving.”
Garlic totally revolutionized the game for me, transforming it from a game of “build relatively similar defenses on 5 lanes” game into a game of “build Garlic on 3 lanes, then you only have to defend two of them and do whatever you want with the extra space!” Tall-Nut is pretty great, but Garlic is cheaper, you can put him down faster, and they often last *longer* since they only get 1 bite taken out of them, plus they group multiple lanes together into a tight bunch for maximum winterpult awesomeness! Remember always, gentlemen and ladies, that
“Garlic used as it should be used is the soul, the divine essence, of [Plant-Based Zombie Defense]. The [Lawn Defender] who can employ it successfully will be found to possess the delicacy of perception, the accuracy of judgment, and the dexterity of hand which go to the formation of a great artist.”
Mrs. W. G. Waters in ‘The [Suburban Defender]‘s Decameron,’ 1920
16/05/2009 at 16:51 Cooper says:
I’m with you on the tall-nut.
I tend to double tall-nuts with pumpkins. That way, ladders, a tall-nut’s only weakness, can be dealt with by digging out the nut, and you still have some basic defence until the seed recharges.
My only fear is the gargantuns… a couple of them in the harder survival missions and you’re gonna loose your protection by tall-nuts pretty quickly…
16/05/2009 at 17:00 Fenchurch says:
@Zindaras.
Marry me <3
16/05/2009 at 17:13 Taill4f4r says:
I was disappointed the game gave no recognition of the fact I played through adventure mode without buying a single thing from the store, not even the seed slot. My RPG habits set in.
So, it sounds like the challenge is in the survival modes. Only played through the daytime survival, which I used to farm marigolds as I held off the zombies.
17/05/2009 at 15:59 Man Raised By Puffins says:
@ Zindaras: I find garlic is most effective when combined with gloom-shrooms, so much so that together they make a mockery of the Last Stand mini-game.
I’d have to say my biggest soft spot is for the humble Peashooter, who holds the line with a satisfying rhythmic splat while I gear up the economy and ready the big guns.
17/05/2009 at 18:42 Zeh says:
One of my favorites too.
18/05/2009 at 08:14 Bigfoot_King says:
i’ve changed my mind the gloom shroom is my fav
19/05/2009 at 10:42 Bobsy says:
I’ve only just started playing… and the number of plants I don’t recognise listed here is utterly befuddling. Here I thought I was being creative by placing potato mines and flytraps behind wall-nuts to surprise those dastardly pole-vaulting zombies.
20/05/2009 at 05:42 Zindaras says:
@ Fenchurch: Only if you promise not to vanish abruptly during a hyperspace jump. ;)
@ Man Raised By Puffins: NICE. I have to admit to wanting to try that myself. And by “wanting to try that”, I mean “doing that right now”.
Lessons learned: posting on RPS gets you awesome strategy suggestions AND marriage proposals from ladies who can fly. Remind me to post here more often.
23/05/2009 at 13:49 Joseph says:
Cattails are my go-to plant. Pop balloons and attack any lane. Awesome.