Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare - Review and Overview

Hey guys, if you were here a year or so back, you may remember I did some kind of "Review and Overview" thing on Bloons TD 5, and just gave up on it because I felt it wasn't substantially needed as most of you guys don't play it. Well, I decided to do one on Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, as there's not SO MUCH things I would have to go over that it would be a novel of a page. Depending on how I feel about doing this, I might do one on Yoshi's New Island, due to it's mixed reviews.

Anyway...

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is a third-person shooter in which you choose one of four classes on either the Plants or Zombies side, and battle it out. There's massive amounts of customization, from accessories to weapon skins to completely different versions of characters, as well as a small, but wide variety of different modes. Lots of DLC is confirmed, and some is already released, but there is a mystery around whether or not the dreaded EA microtransactions will be included. PopCap producer Brian (or...BRAIN...ahahahahahaha) Lindley states that "Garden Warfare will not feature microtranscations at launch," but it is not ruled out. An EA developer also spoke about considering them, but I really hope not, free-to-play players will most likely have a major disadvantage and miss out on more powerful items. Part of this review is kind of like a rant, and you'll see more into why this may happen. Anyway, let's get into some specifics.

Garden Ops
Garden Ops is the sole co-op mode of the game. You, and up to 3 other players, must defend various gardens around the map from a horde of zombies. Some of these are regular "consumable" zombies, and others are the four classes. (I'll get more into them soon.) Kind of like "horde modes" or Mann vs. Machine if you play Team Fortress 2, the game is split into waves.

Any modes I list under this mark are multiplayer, 12 vs 12 modes.

Welcome Mat
If you're to the game, you may want to try this mode out. No customization or unlocked characters are permitted, and the worse you do, the more health you get when you die.

Team Vanquish
Essentially the Plants and Zombies teams fight to be the first to kill 50 players on the opposing team. Not much to talk about here. A Classic Mode version of this mode is also available, in which customization or unlocked characters aren't permitted.

Gardens and Graveyards
My personal favorite mode; the Zombies must capture 7 capture points, along with a unique final eighth one. There are currently 3 maps, which I'm listing in the order they most commonly end up as your map: Wallnut Hills, where the Zombies must take over Crazy Dave's mansion, Main Street, where the Zombies must blow up the Plants' secret weapon, the Tactical Cuke, and Driftwood Shores, where the Zombies must destroy the plants' main power source, the Mega Flower. Classic Mode is also available.

Mixed Mode
Literally a mix of the two modes I listed above. Plants and Zombies must defend/capture capture points as well as get at least 50 kills altogether. This is the first mode to be added through DLC.

Gnome Bomb
The most recently added mode, Plants and Zombies must take an exploding gnome and plant it on the other team's base, defending it until it blows up.

Cactus
The Cactus is basically the sniper of the team. It can zoom it extremely well, and fires needles that do 27 damage each, as well as 33 on headshots.

Abilties: 

Potato Mines: which are mines that blow up and deals massive damage when Zombies step on them.

Garlic Drone: A small flying drone that fires weak, but rapid shots. It also has the ability to use a Corn Strike every couple of seconds, which does lots of splash damage.

Tallnuts: A shield that you can hide behind when attacked. While it has lots of health, it blows up and damages anyone near it when destroyed.

Chomper
A unique, melee only class, the Chomper is a bit hard to master, but lethal. While it does decent damage when attacking, it's main role is to fully chomp the enemy by attacking from behind. This will kill them instantly, but slows you for a few seconds.

Abilities:

Goop: Almost completely slows a Zombie down, ideal for getting a chomp in. Also acts as poison, but doesn't do that much damage.

Burrow: The Chomper digs underground for a few seconds, and can perform an instant-kill chomp if unburrowed under an enemy.

Spikeweeds: Kind of like Potato Mines, they are planted on the ground, and will trap a Zombie in one for a few seconds when stepped on. Does some damage, but not lethal.

Sunflower
The medic of the team, the Sunflower fires weaker shot but is efficient in healing teammates.

Abilities:

Heal Beam: Literally a beam that heals teammates.

Sun Pulse: A massive beam that pierces through enemies, and also heals players when aimed at.

Heal Flower: Plants a small flower that releases little stars that heal nearby players.

All-Star
The heavy weapons specialist on the Zombies, the All-Star has a rapid fire mingun that shoots footballs. It must be spin-up for a few seconds, but has infinite ammo. It does overclock if used for too long, though.

Abilities:

Imp Punt: Deploys a small but fast Zombie that explodes near plants.

Tackle: The All-Star quickly charges forward, knocking back or killing anything in it's path.

Tackle Dummy: Deploys a tall shield, similar to the Tallnut. Does not blow up, though.

Scientist
Though he doesn't seem like it by his name, the Scientist is the medic on the Zombies. Although his primary attack is only a somewhat slow and moderately powerful Goo Blaster, his abilties help him greatly.

Abilities:

Sticky Explody Bomb: Throws a bomb that blows up when stepped on, just like the Potato Mine.

Warp: Quickly turns invisible and transports forward. Great for avoiding Chompers underground or attacks in general.

Heal Station: Deploys a small machine that heals Zombies near it.

Engineer
No catch here, the Engineer of the group. Fires a slow Concrete Launcher that does splash damage. He's mainly useful for building teleporters for the team to get to objectives quickly, and turrets to protect them.

Abilties:

Zombot Drone: In all ways the same as the Garlic Drone. Cone Strike replaces Corn Strike.

Jackhammer: Allows you to jump higher and move much faster. Can be used infinitely, but when you get off it takes a while to cooldown.

Sonic Grenade: Stuns nearby enemies and raises Chompers from underground.

What Breaks the Game
If you read the top, you know I said there are 4 classes on each team, and that I had a rant incoming. Well, here are the two classes that not only break the game, but ruin the fun of it.

Peashooter
An extremely annoying plant that shoots pea cannons that do splash damage. Reloads extremely fast and is lethal at close range.

Abilities:

Chili Bean: For when Soldiers spam Smoke Bombs on EVERY capture point in Gardens and Graveyards, is barely visible and almost instantly kills anyone. Not only for when smoke bombs are placed, but it's most commonly used when this occurs.

Gatling Pea: Gives you a massive gatling gun, which shoots extremely fast, can shoot at long ranges, and is equipped with 100 pellets.

Hyper Mode: For a few seconds, the Peashooter runs extremely fast and jumps very high. Aids in getting on top of rooftops and spamming pea cannons.

Foot Soldier
Possibly worst than the Peashooter, you are equipped with a rapid fire assault blaster that does lots of damage. It does not spread, so you can nearly snipe and do tons of damage.

Abilities:

Rocket Jump: By the click of a button, you jump high in the air, so you can spam your Assault Blaster from rooftops.

ZPG: Shoots a massive rocket that does splash damage.

Smoke Bomb: Expect these a LOT. Does poison damage to enemies, and makes it hard to see for the Plants AND YOUR TEAMMMATES.

Why I Hate Them
It's obvious there's sometimes teams that are horribly bad in shooter games, and if 3/4 of your team isn't a Peashooter or a Foot Soldier, you will be that team. I have seen amazing teams end up losing because they switched to less braindead classes. Not to mention that I've been playing almost daily since it came out, and I've been killed by a class other than one of them maybe....10 times?

Coins
Every kill or assist you get, or objective you capture, you get coins. With these, you buy sticker packs to get character stickers to unlock different versions of classes with different stats, accessories, and consumables.

Consumables can be place in glowing plant pots or dirt for Plants or Zombies respectively, and consist of some Plants of Zombies from the main series, such as Bonk Choy, Snapdragon, Newspaper Zombie, and lots more.

Conclusion
That's about it, and I definitely spent too much time on this. :P

Anyway, thanks for reading if you did, and I'd appreciate some feedback in the comments! Since this is a huge game, more reviews will definitely be shorter.

OVERALL RATING:

7.5/10

While the game is addicting, Soldiers and Peashooters just ruin it in a way. If you get good enough, you can sometimes evade it and have fun.