2 years ago (to the day, in fact...nice little coincidence there), the first Garden Warfare game was released and hoped to do to the shooter scene what the original game did for the tower defense scene. What we got was a nice, fun, cute shooter that we could pass some time with. Generally well received, with myself being one of those fans. Sure, it had some issues and felt more like a "let's see if people would actually care about this" game, but it ended up selling well enough to warrant a sequel.
How does the said sequel fare? Did EA deliver or go too far? Here is what I think of Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2.
The first big change is the fully immersive menu system. In the previous game, you would boot up into a menu to do all of your character customization, sticker buying, and mode selecting. Now you are dropped into the "Backyard Battleground". You are free to roam around this map, going from station to station to do the things you would normally do in a basic menu. You can walk to a dressing room to customize characters, go to a vending machine to buy sticker packs, check out your stats on a big board in the back of the base, walk up to the multiplayer portal to adjust settings and jump into a match, board a ship for the Garden/Graveyard Ops Mode, and so on. The map is divided into three parts, the Plant base, the Zombie base, and the center. The center is sort of a "no-man's land" and will always have A.I. Plants and Zombies fighting and endless fight. You could roam out there and get some practice in, or you can raise the flag in the center and begin a wave survival mode, which is fine, but a little long.
This map is also where you get your single-player quests. Yes, a single-player component that was absent from the first game. Both Plants and Zombies have quests to complete. You talk to an NPC on your side and they will send you off on your quest. Sometimes they can be abridged versions of the wave-based survival mode, other times they can be as unique as giving air support to a comrade, protecting them from oncoming enemies. Completing these quests will reward you with XP and Coins to use on sticker packs. The single-player is a welcome addition, even if it's not where you're going to be spending the majority of your time.
The meat of the game comes with the multiplayer options and Garden Warfare 2 added some impressive features. When you boot up the Multiplayer Portal, not only do you get a great "retro" interface, but you get plenty of options. You have your choice of Public, Private, or Solo matches. Solo is pretty noteworthy since you can jump into any multiplayer mode against A.I. bots and earn the same XP and Coins that you would in an online setting. I personally love the idea of bots since it naturally extends the life of a game, with the added bonus that you still earn the same rewards, so you aren't being punished by going this route. Also, you can add mutators that can change the gravity on the map, give you low health, and more. You also can change the team composition, so if you just want a certain type of Zombie vs. a certain type of Plant, you can totally do that.
The online multiplayer is just as fun as it was in the first game. The modes range from simple Team Vanquish (Deathmatch), to Vanquish Confirmed (Kill Confirmed), to Suburbination (Domination), and more. Worth noting, I played the game before the retail launch, then at retail launch, and added around 10 - 12 more hours, and I have experienced VERY little online issues. Matches in GW2 can go by fast, which helps the frantic feel of the game as well. The maps are all unique, look great, and are fun, especially "Lunar Landing" which incorporates lower gravity, making your jumps float more than they would elsewhere. Gardens and Graveyards returns from the previous game, but only has two maps, though I am sure there will be more maps in future updates.
New characters have been introduced, 3 per side, and they all have their fun additions. The Plants have the Rose, which has the power to turn Zombies into Goats, which is hilarious and effective. The Citron is a powerhouse that can deploy a personal shield, and the Corn (my favorite, and not just because I live in Iowa) has machine guns and can deploy butter air strikes. The Zombies add the Pirate, who has a precision pistol and can deploy a cannon do deal massive damage, the Imp which has low health but can call down a mech to jump in and wreck house, and the Superhero who is melee focused but can throw fireballs as well. These new characters, along with the original roster, means that players will find more than one character to gravitate towards. On top of that, each character has different "hero versions" which take the base character and gives them a cool twist, usually elemental. The Pea Shooter, or instance, has a Toxic version which deals poison damage over time, an Electric version, an Ice version, and more. So even if you don't like the base character, perhaps these other versions may entice you.
This concept existed in the first game, and a really neat feature here is the ability to import your hero characters that you've unlocked from the first game for use here. You get rewarded for unlocking heroes, abilities, and leveling up in the first game and will continue to up until February, 2017.
Garden Ops, the wave-based "horde" mode, returns, but now, if you are playing solo, you actually stand a chance since you can add A.I. partners to help you. This is great, just know the enemies will be harder the more you add, and you can add up to three partners. Also, the Zombies have this mode with Graveyard Ops.
The leveling up system got a much needed change here. In the first game, you had to complete certain tasks with each character to earn stars to level up, which ended up changing how people played the game, since they would focus on those tasks as opposed to playing for the good of the team. Here, you earn XP the more traditional way; getting kills, assists, capturing points, reviving teammates, etc. You earn XP whether you are playing online or Solo. You also get XP and Coins from completing daily quests. Yes, the feature that is sweeping the nation has found its way in here and I love it. These quests can range from "Kill 'X' amount of Citrons as a Zombie" to "Win 15 Suburbination matches" and so on. Completing these quests will also boost your XP multiplayer, so you can start getting double XP after you complete enough daily quests. This resets every day or so, so "play a lot and play often" is the mantra here.
Worth noting, every character levels up individually, that includes hero variations. So, for instance, you level up the basic Pea Shooter and Toxic Pea Shooter separately. Each character can get to level 10 before you have the option to "Promote" (Prestige) to reset back to level 1, get a new title, and go again. It looks like characters can do this 5 times.
Sticker packs are back and buying them will unlock consumables for Garden/Graveyard Ops, tons of customization options for the characters, and new hero characters. There already seems to be a TON of customization options and likely TONS more through future updates, so chances are really high that your character will be quite unique. Also worth noting is the concept of "Hero Showcase", which is basically like a "Free Rotation" character from various MOBAs, allowing you to play as a certain hero character for a short period.
If it sounds like there's a lot going on in PvZ: Garden Warfare 2, it's because there is. It can seem a little overwhelming for GW newcomers and some of the single player quests feel like they go on for way too long, but the multiplayer meat is still there and just as fun as ever. I haven't even mentioned the fact that the art style is still fantastic and the sound design is superb. This game looks amazing, plays silky smooth, and has a great, bubbly personality about it that you'll probably be grinning throughout and not even know it.
The original Garden Warfare laid the groundwork for the franchise to reach past the tower defense roots, and Garden Warfare 2 takes the formula, makes smart and fun additions, and becomes a fully realized experience that you should definitely sink hours into. If you enjoyed the first game, this seems like more of that, so it will be familiar to veterans, while having a host of options for the new players to get in and see what the talk is about. I am having a great time with Garden Warfare 2 and will be sinking even more hours into this for sure.
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