Welcome, welcome, readers and subscribers. You know what day it is! Thursday. Allow us to venture forth into a gaming paradise, filled with 8-bit cartridges, black PlayStation discs, and Dreamcast VMUs. But today, we're going to focus on a new game. A game that surprisingly has brought me back to the online multiplayer fold with a bang, not a whimper. To no surprise, it's a shooter. But it isn't your typical Call of Duty or Battlefield.
It's Plant vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare.
Plants vs. Zombies in all out Garden Wafare
Many of you may have played the original Plants vs. Zombies game for various handheld or home gaming consoles. This takes that same premise and expands it across the board. For those of you who have played Gears of War's "Horde" mode, think of that but with Pea-shooters, Cacti, Army Zombies, Potato Mines, and Sunflowers.
Sounds crazy, doesn't it? It is. But it's damn fun.
PvZ:GW features a cooperative mode and various multiplayer modes. Garden Ops, the co-op mode, pits you and 3 other friends against waves of Zombies who are hell bent on destroying your garden. There are ten waves of zombies to battle, with boss battles coming at the fifth and tenth wave. This was the first mode I played and it hooked me. I was skeptical at first, just going off what what the game looked like. But once I got in, I had more fun in 10 minutes than I had playing the last Call of Duty online.
Garden Ops.
After getting my feet wet with Garden Ops, I ventured into online battle with FrostForged and TropicoDoc. The online side has team deathmatch, domination, bomb-the-base, and conquest/rush modes. These are called Team Vanquish, Surburbination, Gardens and Graveyards, and Gnome Bomb. Obviously many of these modes pay homage to modes from Battlefield and Call of Duty. But the way they are executed sets them apart from the rest. There is also a Welcome Mat option if you're a newcomer to the game. This mode features only one map and no customization. I haven't played this one, as I prefer Gardens and Graveyards.
Gardens and Graveyards.
Gardens and Graveyards has you on the plants or zombies side. 12 vs. 12. As plants, you're defending your base from the zombies. As zombies, you're trying to take over the plant bases. There are 6 gardens to hold/assault. If the zombies reach the final base, they have to complete an objective to win. To win as plants, you need to hold a base until time expires. If one base falls, you move onto the next. This is by far the best game mode, in my opinion. It's also the best way to level up your character and buy card packs.
Card Packs: the latest craze in gaming.
Yes, there are card packs. By earning coins in Garden Ops or the multiplayer matches, you can buy card packs. These are purchased in the Sticker Shop. In each of these packs are character customization items like weird hats, glasses, and tattoos, and consumable item like self-revives and plant/zombie spawns. The more expensive packs have the possibility of unlocking weapon attachments and character skins. TropicoDoc unlocked a goalie skin for one of the zombies the other night, which brought hilarity along with it.
Normally, character skins are unlocked by collecting five stickers from the cheaper packs. But if you save 40,000 coins, you can buy the "Spectacular Character Pack", which guarantees a full character skin. The cheapest pack, the Reinforcements Pack, costs 1,000 coins and provides 5 consumables. There are zombie and plant specific packs, as well, which contain items/weapons/skins for their respective faction.
The amount of content in this game is vast, providing fun for single and multiplayer experiences. I've found myself playing for 30 minute one night and 2 hours the next. And each time, I'm not worried about my kill/death ratio or how many kills I get. I just want to collect coins, unlock wacky outfits, and get revenge on that bastard Don Lonley for eating my character 10 times with the Chomper plant. I hope I run into him online again...
My recommendation? Run to the store or sign into the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, or EA Origin and buy this game. It's a solid 8/10 in my book. With a price tag of $40 for PS4 and Xbox One, $35 on PC, and $30 for PS3 and Xbox 360, Plants vs. Zombies shouldn't be missed. You get a full online experience in addition to a fun, yet challenging single-player mode with Garden Ops. I traded EA Sports UFC for this game and couldn't be more pleased with that decision.
Oh yeah, there's a Disco Zombie boss.
I have to say, it's nice to have a fresh take on something done over and over and over again. This game is a unique take on a shooter. For the price, you are buying endless shooter fun in a gaming world over-saturated with military shooters. Plus, if you don't buy it, you'll have to deal with Disco Zombie. And trust me when I say you don't want to boogie-oogie-oogie with him. OW!
Oh...I hear the zombies at my door. It's time to head back to the Garden.
Game On.
-ML
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