With Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, the developers have taken everything that was good about the first game, plonked it in a grow bag, lobbed it in a greenhouse and given it a daily sprinkling with water piped in from Chernobyl.
Not a lot has changed from before in terms of the way it plays, but as EA and PopCap put it, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is “Bigger. Badder. Bigger.”
It’s kind of like a genetically modified, super-sized turnip that’s been grown in a lab. There’s lots more here to admire, but it’s still a turnip.
Mind you, if you like turnips as much as we do, you’re going to love this…
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS PLANTS VS ZOMBIES: GARDEN WARFARE 2?
Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is a bit different to the grid-based strategy game you’ve probably played on your mobile or tablet.
It still pits potted plants against zombie scientists and seed shooting sunflowers against undead quarterbacks, only this time it takes the form of a third-person shooter spread across a load of different maps and game modes.
On top of the classic team deathmatch, there’s also kill confirmed – where kills only count if you collect orbs from fallen enemies – and even a mode where you try to detonate an exploding gnome in your opponent’s base.
Exploding gnomes aside, you’ll probably recognise this lot from the likes of Battlefield and Call of Duty. The only difference here is that PopCap has injected everything with a healthy dose of playfulness, proving that shooters don’t need to be brown, grey and life-like to be fun.
BACKYARD BATTLEGROUND TIES EVERYTHING TOGETHER
The plants vs zombies feud is bigger than Blur vs Oasis, topsy-turvier than United vs Liverpool and even more bitter than Katie Hopkins vs, well, absolutely everybody.
Finally, thanks to the brilliant Backyard Battleground game hub, this lot have a warzone that befits such a rivalry.
Essentially, plants live on the sunny side of the map and zombies on the opposite, darker end of the game world.
Start the game as a plant and you can access all of the single and multiplayer content within your part of town, check messages and customise your characters. It’s the same for zombies, only their part of town is messier.
Venture outside of your little community, however, and you’ll suddenly find yourself battling it out in King of the Hill-style turf battles, playing footy in the park, or honing your skills in underground shooting galleries.
It’s a really novel and interesting way of tying everything together, adding a sense of size, scope and context that was missing from the first game.
SERIOUSLY, THERE’S ABSOLUTELY LOADS TO DO
The wider game world may be brimming with hidden surprises and secrets, but even if you stick to your own little part of town, Garden Warfare 2 is absolutely jam-packed with things to see and do.
The multiplayer portal transports you to all those brilliantly barmy game modes we mentioned, or you can team up with friends and attempt to survive waves of increasingly powerful enemies in Garden Ops. This time around there’s even a zombie version of the survival mode called Graveyard Ops.
And while the last game was a strictly multiplayer affair, Garden Warfare 2 introduces solo play, letting you tackle a variety of missions laid on by Crazy Dave and his zombie equivalent.
The missions are designed to get you up to speed with the multiplayer modes, so don’t expect an epic campaign that’s on par with Call of Duty. That’s not to say they’re not useful, it’s just not as much fun as playing with friends.
You can even play the competitive and co-operative game modes by yourself, spawning computer-controlled helpers that can be switched between at will.
It’s all about giving players options. And even though solo isn’t as enjoyable as multiplayer, you can’t fault PopCap for giving players the choice.
AND SPEAKING OF CHOICE…
If all that wasn’t enough, the game introduces new character classes for each side, including the much-needed Kernel Corn heavy assault class with dual-wielding Cob Buster guns.
There’s also a character called Rose, who can slow down zombies for a brief period of time and even transform them into goats.
It sure beats your generic soldier with their weedy pistols and assault rifles.
What makes Garden Warfare 2 particularly moreish is the ability to unlock tons of cosmetic items and new abilities via sticker packs – because everybody loves stickers – which transform the way characters look and play.
With seven classes on each side, loads of spawnable plant and zombie helpers, and hundreds of accessories and new abilities, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 will keep you busy for absolutely ages.
[Source:- Digitalspy]
