Video Game Review: Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2

Developer PopCap
Publisher Electronic Arts
Distributor Prima Interactive
Where we got our copy Prima Interactive
Genre Third-Person Shooter
Game modes Single Player, Multiplayer, Co-op
Players 1 - 40
Reviewed on Playstation 4

Available on PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One

MJ Khan

Published March 22, 2016

Jumping into Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 I did not know what to expect: would it be a superficial one-trick pony? Would it lose the trademark humour and creativity of the main franchise? Would the single-player component be longer than Journey? Well… 25 hours in and I’m still loving it! Here’s why…

Videogame spin-offs are a mixed bag because for every Portal, you get Link’s crossbow training. Luckily for PVZ fans, this game is definitely more Donkey Kong Country than ‘Dead or Alive: objectified volleyball’ in terms of quality.

The game picks up after the original, with the zombies winning the war and turning suburbia into Zomburbia, complete with bases, and hot spots. The hub is fun to explore and adds an interesting flavour to the game, great for practicing with a specific character. PVZ: GW 2 adds six new classes to the original eight, with each class offering unique loadouts that keep the game interesting – it’s like the opposite of the early Mortal Kombat games where some fighters were copy and paste jobs with different colours. The upside to this was that I was genuinely keen to learn how to play with the different characters, and while I did prefer some to others (kernel corn, or ‘Military Mielie’ as I liked to call him being my go-to for tough missions) I enjoyed the variety of the different characters (this was different to my experiences with first-person shooters where I wouldn’t play with certain loadouts at all). Each character also has a number of variants so there was quite a strong pull to keep playing to unlock it all (the variations aren’t simply cosmetic and remind me of the upgrades you get in Ratchet and Clank – a series I adore). The one thing I did struggle with was switching between plants and the zombies – mostly because I’m more a plant guy at heart and kept shooting at my team-mates – good thing friendly fire isn’t a factor (friendly fire is the equivalent to negative marking in a school quiz).

I’m not going to go into all the modes as I don’t think it’s necessary for this review, suffice to say you that if you’ve played a commercial shooter before, you’ll be right at home with the different formats including a fun take on Kill-Confirmed. The graphics are bright and cartoony, with fun sound effects (especially on headshots) and a hummable soundtrack that I found myself jigging my head along to on more than one occasion.

A lot of reviewers slate the single-player mode and while I can see where they’re coming from (it’s not as crafted as say for instance the last Medal of Honor which I can’t remember even though I completed it), I see it as a step in the right direction, and I actually had fun playing through it and it works well as a tutorial for virgin olive oils like myself. The daily quests (e.g. kill a disco zombie, or use a certain power-up a few times) is a masterstroke and will ensure I keep coming back to the game at least twice a week for the next six months. You upgrade your characters using sticker packs that you purchase with coins you win – while the grind to upgrade is slow, it is very rewarding.

The game is extremely robust in terms of multiplayer, and you can play through in single player with bots, split-screen multiplayer (although I had a really tough time reading text in this mode, even though I have a fairly decent sized screen), and online multiplayer. The split-screen was a huge hit at my place and my wife and I probably spent about 12 hours playing through the various modes before I had to travel for work. It’s testament to how great the game is that we can’t wait to get back to it when I return to Joburg.

Some reviewers criticize the lack of content, and compare P VS Z :GW2 to the new Star Wars: Battlefront. I think that’s a little unfair – having played both I can safely say there’s a lot more to do here – I would have liked a few more maps, but that should come through as free DLC (hopefully). EA have said they will support the game with free content so I’m optimistic.

The only mental hurdle I have with the game is that I find it difficult to pay full price for a PopCap game. I know it sounds weird having just justified its content, but I’m used to PopCap games being cheaper and would have hoped the price point be lower. Also – I would be chuffed if more people tried it out and at full retail price, most South Africans will probably opt for Far Cry Primal.

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 wasn’t high up on my most-wanted list, but I’m glad I got to play it as it’s great fun and will be a hit for anyone who is looking for a family-friendly couch co-op shooter (bit of a niche there), or anyone who enjoys online shooters and wants to take a break from Battlefield and Call of Duty. It’s my sleeper hit of the year.

I’m a Plants vs Zombies fanboy, well, a fan of the first game anyway (Wasn’t a fan of the freemium sequel, which speaks to my general attitude towards microtransactions). I never played the original Garden Warfare as it was online only (in a time when my internet connection was less reliable than my garbage collector). I just realised that everything I typed so far makes me a worse fanboy than the person who directed Ben Affleck’s Daredevil. Jumping into Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 I did not know what to expect: would it be a superficial one-trick pony? Would it lose the trademark humour and creativity of the main franchise? Would the single-player component be longer than Journey? Well… 25 hours in and I’m still loving it! Here's why... Videogame spin-offs are a mixed bag because for every Portal, you get Link’s crossbow training. Luckily for PVZ fans, this game is definitely more Donkey Kong Country than 'Dead or Alive: objectified volleyball' in terms of quality. The game picks up after the original, with the zombies winning the war and turning suburbia into Zomburbia, complete with bases, and hot spots. The hub is fun to explore and adds an interesting flavour to the game, great for practicing with a specific character. PVZ: GW 2 adds six new classes to the original eight, with each class offering unique loadouts that keep the game interesting – it’s like the opposite of the early Mortal Kombat games where some fighters were copy and paste jobs with different colours. The upside to this was that I was genuinely keen to learn how to play with the different characters, and while I did prefer some to others (kernel corn, or ‘Military Mielie’ as I liked to call him being my go-to for tough missions) I enjoyed the variety of the different characters (this was different to my experiences with first-person shooters where I wouldn’t play with certain loadouts at all). Each character also has a number of variants so there was quite a strong pull to keep playing to unlock it all (the variations aren’t simply cosmetic and remind me of the upgrades you get in Ratchet and Clank – a series I adore). The one thing I did struggle with was switching between plants and the zombies – mostly because I’m more a plant guy at heart and kept shooting at my team-mates – good thing friendly fire isn’t a factor (friendly fire is the equivalent to negative marking in a school quiz). I’m not going to go into all the modes as I don’t think it’s necessary for this review, suffice to say you that if you’ve played a commercial shooter before, you’ll be right at home with the different formats including a fun take on Kill-Confirmed. The graphics are bright and cartoony, with fun sound effects (especially on headshots) and a hummable soundtrack that I found myself jigging my head along to on more than one occasion. A lot of reviewers…

Video Game Review: Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2

2016-03-22

MJ Khan

Sleeper hit of the year

Total - 8.7

87 8.7

Don't let the price deter you, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 has everything you could wish for in a game...great humour, engaging gameplay, and zombies!

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MJ Khan

Gaming / Entertainment Author at Geek Node

A veteran gamer and award-winning strategist, MJ enjoys eating chocolate eclairs and watching WWE. He completed his Masters coursework on videogame theory and enjoys writing about representation in games.