Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare Reviews
Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare does right by its namesake, putting the characters and charm to good use.
The freshest shooter to sprout in recent memory, PvZ is shackled by asinine DRM.
Players looking for a co-op experience will find something worth playing with friends casually in Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, and it offers polished, harmless and simple gameplay that works for all ages but at a stiff price. The game as its currently designed however, seems to lend itself well to the free-to-play model, supported by microtransactions and we wouldn't be surprised to see it go that path in the future. Right now, there's only one barrier to entry and it's the price.
It never hits the heights of Battlefield in its pomp, Call of Duty at its slickest or Titanfall in its explosive beta, but at its best Garden Warfare stirs the same emotions; the panic, the triumph, the tension and the elation. Whether anyone will stick with it once the Titans Are Ready is unsure, but PopCap has overachieved and delivered one of the most likeable games on next-generation hardware anywhere. Quite simply, I dig it.
Garden Warfare is a fun, polished shooter, and what it lacks in gameplay depth it more than makes up for with fun cosmetic gear you'll actually want to unlock.
Already-limited offerings are diminished by a quasi-free-to-play monetization scheme
The gameplay of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is standard stuff, but the game's lighthearted tone makes it an appealing multiplayer shooter that stands out from the crowd.
Plants vs. Zombies is an elevating factor in a tired genre
A bright, colorful and friendly introduction to the world of online multiplayer shooters.
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare improves upon the Xbox One debut thanks to the addition of a few more maps, characters and modes.
I wanted to love Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare with the same zeal I have for the original series, but this shooter variation lacks a lot of imagination. The action gameplay generally feels forced, and the bits of strategy that do exist are minute in comparison.
Garden Warfare is different enough to compliment those long sessions of other online shooters, and acts as a great palette cleanser in a genre dominated by greys and browns that often takes itself far too seriously. The inclusion of local multiplayer is also a huge plus and, depending on how often you play with family and friends, can add much to the value.
There's fun to be had here, but it feels like a nice change of pace rather than a long-term alternative.
Standing next to titles like Titanfall or Call of Duty in a genre that's even more crowded, it may not be the next "big" shooter to take online multiplayer by storm -– and it probably never will. But, with more than enough fun unique twists than several other shooters by comparison, it's assured that this game easily stands apart from the crowd — whether it's the brain-munching kind or not.
With a few more tweaks, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare would be a must-buy for pretty much any shooter fan out there. But even with its blemishes, I was incredibly surprised by the amount of depth the game has to offer on top of all of its charm. Hopefully EA will ease off the microtransactions in the future and even more content will pile in, because with the right moves and support, Garden Warfare will be something special for quite some time.
Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare injects some fresh ideas into its multiplayer shooting, but PopCap Games' lack of genre experience is apparent.
With all the playtime, all the free updates, all the unique class-changing items, and the online community that will surely stick with the game post-launch you'd have trouble finding a game with much more to offer.
The least brown shooter ever made, with the colourful graphics and accessible controls supported by an imaginative and surprisingly well-crafted online experience.
Remarkably, PopCap has managed to create an experience that delivers all the strategic twitch combat of a shooter, presented with PvZ's unique charm.
Garden Warfare was a surprise when it was announced, and you'll be surprised when you play it what PopCap managed to accomplish. But it can get repetitive when the jokes run dry, and the system designed to combat this is locked behind piles of crumpled tinfoil and stacks of unwanted stickers. If you're starving for more brains, charge in. But don't be afraid to let this plant grow a bit before enlisting.