Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare

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Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare
Windows
  • PlayStation 3
  • PlayStation 4
    • Release
    February 25, 2014
    • Xbox 360 & Xbox One
      • NA: February 25, 2014
      • AU: February 27, 2014
      • EU: February 28, 2014
      Windows
      • NA: June 24, 2014
      • EU: June 27, 2014
      PlayStation 3 & PlayStation 4
      • NA: August 19, 2014
      • AU: August 21, 2014
      • EU: August 22, 2014
    Multiplayer

    Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (commonly abbreviated as PVZGW or GW1) is a 2014

    Dr. Zomboss
    ), as they fight in various cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes. Upon completing matches and finishing objectives, players earn coins to acquire stickers that unlock customization items and character variants.

    PopCap Games began the development of Garden Warfare in early 2012. They decided to eschew the series'

    EA DICE
    when implementing its technology.

    The game was revealed at

    Windows, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 later in the year. The game received a generally positive reception from critics, with praise directed at its playful tone, art, combat, and character designs. The game's progression, lack of originality, and lack of content were criticized. The game was supported by several pieces of free downloadable content upon its release. By November 2015, more than eight million players had played the game. A sequel, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2
    was released in February 2016.

    Gameplay

    The Plants can place stationary defensive plants on flower pots, which provided combat support.

    Garden Warfare is a team-based

    area of effect attack, while the Chomper can burrow underground and ambush a zombie from below and eat them [3] As an added compliment to combat, most maps have scattered "Flower Pots" and "Bone Piles"; from these, the Plants can place stationary defensive plants while the Zombies can spawn lesser undead that roam the map on their own. This adds a player versus environment element to most game modes, which are otherwise player-versus-player.[4] These units are controlled by artificial intelligence (AI) and are consumed upon use.[5][6] Players earn coins, a form of currency in the game, by completing objectives, reviving teammates or killing enemies.[7]

    To progress in the game, players must complete unique challenges to each class. Once completed, these challenges level up the player character, allowing access to upgrades, new character variants, or cosmetic items.[8] In-game items such as character outfits and accessories, weapon upgrades, and spawnable units are obtained from sticker packs.[9] These packs are bought using coins from an in-game shop that contains random items.[5] There are multiple packs available, such as cheap ones that contain only AI units, or more expensive ones that contain items of greater rarity.[10] As for unlocking character variants, once a player has collected five stickers[11] to make a completed picture of the variant in question, it is unlocked for use.[12] In a post-launch update, PopCap introduced microtransactions, which enable players to unlock sticker packs using real-life currency.[13] Variants have different weapons, stats, or an elemental effects compared to their base version.[14] For example, Commando Pea, a variant of Peashooter, uses a fully automatic weapon but cannot deal splash damage,[15] while Cricket Star can inflict additional fire damage to enemies.[16] All unlocked items can be viewed in a sticker book.[12]

    Gameplay modes

    The game features a cooperative mode and several competitive multiplayer modes. Garden Ops has up to four players take control the Plants defending a garden through ten zombie waves,

    split screen cooperative mode,[21][22] in which two players engage in combat against endless waves of zombies.[21]

    Up to 24 players can compete with each other in various multiplayer modes.

    team deathmatch variant which ends when one of the two teams knock out 50 opponents.[24] In Gardens and Graveyards, players either capture (as the Zombies) or defend (as the Plants) various objectives in an expanding map. The last objective on the map is unique for each map.[25] Suburbination (released as part of the Suburbination Pack free DLC) is a classic back and forth zone capture game mode in which teams must compete for control of three different zones, with each zone held granting the team points based on how long the zone is held. Securing all three zones at once will trigger "Suburbination", where point production is greatly increased and players on the team with suburbination active are granted additional coin bonuses. The first team to reach 100 suburbination points wins the game. There is also Gnome Bomb, (released as part of the Garden Variety Pack free DLC), in which both factions attempt to take a respawning objective, the Gnome Bomb, to the opposition camp's base and then detonate it,[26] and Taco Bandits, (released as part of the Legends of the Lawn free DLC) where the Zombies attempt to steal three tacos from Crazy Dave's taco stand and deliver them to Dr Zomboss' mothership tractor beam, while the Plants attempt to defend the tacos at all costs. The game mode Welcome Mat pits newcomers to the game against each other, serving as a mode for them to learn the game's controls and systems. Each consecutive death in Welcome Mat after three deaths in a row will cause the player to spawn with increased health.[14]

    Development

    Garden Warfare had its roots in an internal gameplay concept produced by a team at publisher

    EA DICE when they were iterating the game's technology.[29]

    The game's target audience were players who liked action games and fans of Plants vs. Zombies. The game's tone was not as serious and grim as other shooters such as Call of Duty and Battlefield. This enabled players to simply "sit down, enjoy the game, and laugh out loud" because of its light-heartedness.[29] The team ensured that teamwork, balanced character gameplay and skills are important pillars in the game's gameplay, similar to traditional action games.[30] To introduce tactical depth to the game while maintaining a sense of playfulness, the team took inspirations from other team-based shooters with colorful visuals such as Team Fortress 2.[27] To make the game more tactical, the team allowed players to spawn stationary plants and zombies, which help assist combat.[31] Another way to add tactical depth was the introduction of character variants. Each of them has unique statistics that slightly alter the gameplay experience.[30]

    When choosing the playable plants from the roster of characters from the Plants vs. Zombies franchises, the team opted for characters that are projectile-based, which include the Peashooter and the Cactus.[29] Characters were "cool" and "humorous", so players would want to unlock them.[32] Other characters that have appeared in previous Plants vs. Zombies games returned as the artificial intelligence-controlled potted plants or zombies. As for the gameplay aspect, the plants were defensive characters, while zombies had more offensive skills and abilities.[27] The team faced more challenges designing the zombies than plants as all the plants easily fit into different gameplay archetypes whereas the zombies are more one-dimensional in the original game. The team had to create a diverse cast of characters to accommodate different gameplay classes.[30] The team also faced challenges when creating the plants' sounds; these were "abstract" to create when compared to their on-screen actions.[32]

    Release

    Electronic Arts officially revealed the game at

    EA Access, EA's subscription service on the Xbox One, in October 2014.[40]

    While PopCap revealed that microtransactions would not be available when the game launched; this function was added to the game in April 2014. By spending real-world money, players gain more coins, the in-game currency.[41] The company also supported the game after the title's launch by releasing several pieces of free downloadable content, including the following:[42]

    Reception

    Garden Warfare received a generally positive reception. Critics felt that the game was a polished shooter with charm and humor, and its playful tone was among its biggest strengths.[59][57][58][60] Some critics felt that it had successfully converted Plants vs. Zombies to a new and broader audience with the genre shift,[55][61] and recognized PopCap for creating a moderately successful shooter in their first attempt.[57][55] Reviewers praised PopCap for not fleshing out the franchise's silly premise of plants defending zombies.[61][60][55] Many reviewers criticized the small number of multiplayer maps and modes,[57][56][55] with Carolyn Petit of GameSpot saying that the content was thin even for a budget title.[58] The gameplay was praised for being functional, mechanically solid and precise,[55] with Gies noting the heritage it shared with DICE's Battlefield series.[61]

    Critics had a divisive opinion regarding the game's modes. Critics commented that they were polished and functional, but generally lacked innovation and creativity.

    GamesRadar as a clone of Gears of War's horde mode by Cooper, though he thought the concept translated well into the franchise.[57] Petit agreed, writing that she felt that it resembled the tower defense root of the series.[58] However, she commented that the mode was less exciting when compared with the competitive multiplayer modes since players are only fighting enemies controlled by AI. Jon Denton from Eurogamer regarded Garden Ops an introduction to the game's systems and felt that the mode was not substantial.[55] The two competitive multiplayer modes also received a generally mixed opinion from critics. Brian Albert from IGN called the modes "standard", and Jeff Marchiafava from Game Informer felt that most of the modes were uninspired and lacked originality.[56] However, critics appreciated the Gardens & Graveyard mode for its final stages. Albert felt that the final stage assault objectives added difficulty.[59] Denton applauded it for being innovative and its requirement for teamwork and player coordination,[55] while Cooper singled out its massive scale as one of its strengths.[57] Joystiq's Mike Wehner was disappointed by the Boss Mode, which did not enhance the game's experience due to its minimal impact.[60]

    Cooper praised the player's ability to plant potted plants and the asymmetry of gameplay classes, though he and Wehner noted that there were some balance issues with some classes being too underpowered and weak.

    grinding was needed to acquire the desired upgrades.[56][58] Marchiafava felt that the randomness of the sticker packs fundamentally hurt the game.[56] Challenges were also criticized by Marchiafava as he felt they were difficult to complete, making progression very slow. The character design was praised. Albert believed that they brought about "enjoyable silliness",[59] and Wehner wrote that the characters could "elicit a giggle".[60]

    Sales

    Garden Warfare was the fourth best-selling retail game in the UK in its week of release according to

    NPD Group.[64] As of November 2015, eight million players had played the game since its release.[65]

    Sequel

    Main articles: Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 and Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville

    A sequel,

    Windows, and Xbox One.[66] A comic series, written by Paul Tobin and drawn by Jacob Chabot, was released by Dark Horse Comics on October 28, 2015; it takes place between Garden Warfare and Garden Warfare 2.[67] A third game, Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville was released in October 2019 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, and in March 2021 for the Nintendo Switch.[68][69]

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