Title: Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare
Developer: Pop Cap
Publisher: EA
Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox 360 (reviewed), Windows, Playstation 3 (TBA), Playstation 4 (TBA)
Genre: Third Person Shooter, Tower Defence
Price: ₹ 1,999
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Since the announcement of Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare (PvZ: GW), the fans of the franchise have been worried about its transition from a strategy game to a third person shooter. After playing PvZ: GW, which feels like a natural evolution of the franchise, all their worries should be put to rest. Popcap have succeeded in maintaining the tactical approach of the original PvZ while making it a competitive third person shooter. In short, PvZ: GW is one of the most competitive, colourful and weird looking shooters available in the market. Being a multiplayer centric game, PvZ: GW lacks a campaign, but that is not a deal breaker.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer component of the game has three different game modes, namely ‘Team Vanquish’, ‘Gnome Bomb’ and ‘Gardens & Graveyards’. Each mode offers unique gameplay, but Gardens & Graveyards proves to be the highlight, as this mode pits the Plants and the Zombies in a heated battle. Playing as the Plants, your main objective is to protect your garden from the Zombies, while playing as the Zombies, the main objective is to turn the Gardens into Graveyards by capturing them in the given time limit. The other modes are fun, but do not bring anything new to the table, as they all feel like reskinned versions of generic game modes. The Plants and the Zombies both have the option to choose from four different classes, this might seem smaller in number than the original PvZ game, but all these classes are varied and have a different impact on the battlefield. All the characters can be customised to your heart’s content with different types of accessories, tattoos, weapons and so on. Besides all these, each class also has different character variants, like the Peashooter having different varieties such as the Berry Shooter and many more. At their core, these sub-classes are similar to each other, but depending on the situation, they can turn the tide in your favour during a match.
The Plants feel more inclined towards the defensive side of things whereas the Zombies are more on the offensive side. The defensive and offensive nature of the Plants and the Zombies is clearly visible during a battle. If your team spawns with the same class of Zombies it won’t matter a lot, but if your Plants team spawns with same classes, you are in for trouble. This promotes team work and co-operation. To keep the strategy elements of the franchise alive, you also have the option to pot Plants or Zombies through dig holes. They are not a major threat to players but if strategically placed, they can help a lot. Popcap has promised to support the game with extra content in thefuture. Moreover, they have already released two DLC packs for the game for free and several updates including the Tactical Taco Party Pack.
Garden Ops
Garden Ops is PvZ: GW’s twist on Gears of War’s Horde Mode. Your objective is to survive the hordes of Zombies, and in the end kill the Zombie Boss. Depending on your difficulty level, your play style changes. On the easy difficulty level no teamwork is needed and you can simply complete waves in a few minutes, but as the the difficulty changes the teamwork becomes more essential. The more varied classes you have ,the better you score, but it can be a bit frustrating to play with strangers who want to play on their own without any focus on team play. I recommend playing with a group of friends because it allows deeper understanding, which makes it simpler to fight on the higher difficulties.
PvZ: GW encourages you to select different classes and get better with each class because depending on the situation, you might need to play it in a different way. Potted Plants are a key part of this mode because they can provide you with extra fire power and reduce the pressure of enemies. Once you die, your teammates get few seconds to revive you, but if they fail, you spawn in the next round. Garden Ops also supports two player split screen on consoles and it is a great mode to play friends or family at home.
Graphics. Music and Controls
PvZ: GW may not be the best looking Xbox 360 game, but its artstyle looks new and refreshing. The charming character models, map design and textures all look great. On the Xbox One, Garden Warfare runs at 900p and it looks gorgeous, it is simply one of the best looking titles on the Xbox One. On PC, the game supports AMD’s Mantle thanks to the Frostbite 3 engine. In motion, the colorful world of PvZ: GW shines. The only problem I faced on the Xbox 360 was that during intense fight sequences, there were minor texture pop-ins; they can cause problems at times that can lead to your death. The frame rate was rock solid even during intense scenes. Pop Cap has done a great job in the music department as well. The music in lobbies and menus is so flawless that I would simply wait in lobbies and sit in menus just to listen to it. The controls have minor changes to them and it might take a little bit of time till you get your grip on the control scheme.
Most of the shooters in the market try to capture the realism of war but PvZ: GW does exactly the opposite while retaining the competitiveness of the Third Person Shooter genre and having the most colored and varied game world I have seen in a while. The game might not have a AAA budget or a big advertisement campaign, but it definitely has the quality and the fun element.
