‘Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2’ Will Grow On You

When the original Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare — the online-only third-person shooter based in the world of the popular tower defense game Plants vs. Zombies — hit shelves last year, it did so with relatively little hype, and passed under the radar of many gamers.

As the year progressed, and the title dropped in price, an increasing number of players decided to give the game a try, and many them found the game to be quite enjoyable. However, the one common complaint that most gamers had was that the game felt somewhat bare bones, lacking enough content to justify its price, even considering it was a budget title that originally retailed for $40. Would the sequel, which sports the $60 price tag of most current-gen retail releases, address this complaint, and expand upon what was a very solid game at its core? I’m delighted to say that the answer to this is a resounding yes.

You’ll begin each session of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 inside the all-new hub area called Backyard Battleground. Here you’ll have access to all of the game’s competitive and cooperative game modes. You will also find a location for character customization, a stat room where you can check on a number of detailed statistics regarding your usage of each class and variant, and a quest board which offers various tasks for you to complete for bonus rewards. In addition to serving as a central hub for all of the game’s content, Backyard Battleground is a world in itself with plenty to explore. Here you’ll find side quests, mini games, and hidden chests to unlock for rewards, among other secrets. You’ll have to fight your way to get to some of these things though, as the central area of Backyard Battleground is in constant conflict between the plants and zombies.

While the original game was multiplayer only, the sequel offers plenty for gamers to enjoy solo. PvZ:GW2 features a campaign for both the plant and zombie factions in the game. Most missions feature basic objectives like attacking or defending a certain point, or fetching an item in the hub world. It’s nothing revolutionary, but nevertheless a welcome addition which should give gamers several hours of enjoyment. Every game mode can now be played with AI opponents and allies. This actually works quite well, as the AI is surprisingly competent. AI opponents provide an appropriate challenge based on the difficulty level you select, and your AI allies will generally do what you need them to do quite well, whether it be vanquishing opponents, capturing checkpoints, or keeping you healed. In cooperative modes, you can also switch to and control any of your allies on the fly by simply pressing up or down on the D-pad.

All of the original game’s multiplayer modes return, with some new additions. To complement the game’s trademark competitive tower defense mode, Gardens & Graveyards, there’s a new mode called Herbal Assault where the plants go on the attack. Likewise, in addition to the returning cooperative Garden Ops mode, where the plants must defend against multiple waves of zombies, there is now Graveyard Ops, where the tables are turned and zombies must defend against the plants. Players will fight these battles in all new maps with unique effects, including Lunar Landing which takes place in a low gravity environment, and Sandy Sands where you will encounter periodic sandstorms.

All of the classes from the original game have returned, and a total of six new classes (three plants and three zombies) have been added. Each class has several variants, and with the new classes there are a total of over 100 variants now in the game. Each variant levels up independently, but leveling up is more straightforward than in the previous installment, as pretty much any action you make in the game will net you some experience. Owners of the original game can also import all of the variants they unlocked in the original game. Whether you are a veteran or a newcomer to the series, it will take quite a lot of hours to unlock and level up all of the variants in the game. Though this is part of what makes the game so addictive, it can feel like a grind sometimes, especially since all unlocks are random, meaning you may not get that variant you really want for quite some time. Here’s hoping that PopCap will offer a double exp/double coin weekend or something of that nature in the future to give players an occasional boost.

With all of the popular (and more violent) shooters on the market, it’s easy to overlook this title, or dismiss it as being “too kiddie” with its cartoonish graphics and lighthearted nature. If you are among those people, I believe that you are doing yourself a great disservice, and are missing out on an amazing experience and one of the best games so far this year. We do not have any sort of standardized rating system here at Nerd Caliber, but suffice to say I would rate this game towards the high end of any scale, and suggest that you go out and get this title right away.