Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 Preview - E3 2015

The original Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare took a lot players by surprise. Despite its cartoony look and a questionable premise (take a tower defense game and make it a shooter), the game pulled it off. With a balanced mutliplayer, tons of character customization and a fair microtransaction model, it was the sleeper hit of the year that ended up nominated for a few GOTY awards. It's not surprising, then, that EA and Popcap have announced that a sequel is in the works. We got to see and play PVZ: Garden Warfare 2 at E3 this year.

For the first time in franchise history, zombies have taken over Suburbia and plants are now the ones on the attack. This obviously changes thinngs up a bit, and requires the introduction of new characters that better suit the new offensive roles for the plants and defensive roles for the zombies. All 8 classes from the original Garden Warfare will return, plus 6 new classes will be joining them. For example, Super Brainz is a zombie super hero who thinks he’s an 80’s action movie star, and the first melee zombie class. Citron is a bounty-hunting orange from the future, while Kernel Korn is a run and gun class. Rose is a sorceress for plants while Captain Deadbeard is a ranged specialist for the zombies. Each new character offers unique powers and abilities that will hopefully be balanced with the existing classes. Overall, the game promises over 100 playable character variants.

The progression system will be tweaked, and each individual item will now be required to be leveled up separately. So for example, your Pea Shooter won't level up across all your characters variants as you use it - only the character you're using at the moment. But returning players don't need to worry - all your characters and unlocks will be importable into Garden Warfare 2 from the original game. But, should you wish to start from scratch, there's an option to opt out of the import. The character transfer will be free, of course.

Garden Warfare 2 also promises to deliver plenty of content at launch, as well as long afterwards. The game will ship with 12 maps to start with, everything from a Moon level to a time travel park, to a zombie factory, to a snowed-in ski lodge. On these maps players will be able to participate in the brand new 24-player Herbal Assault mode where plants are on the attack, or join in on the 4-player co-op mode called Graveyard Ops where zombies must defend objectives from incoming plant foes. The developers at Popcap point out that they want fans to enjoy the game in as many games as possible. That's why there are a variety of options - play local split screen, solo, versus AI, private matches, or even mix and match players and AI opponents. GW2 promises a lot of flexibility to let you play just how you want.

We got a chance to go hands-on with the game in the Graveyard Ops mode. Taking up the station that was using Captain Deadbeard as the character, the first stage was to setup some stationary defenses around the objective grave. The design felt quite similar to the Garden Ops from the first Garden Warfare, except now it was zombies defending against plants. After planting some turrets and flamethrowers in the available pots, the first wave began. AI enemies started to swarm and converge on our location, and included both classic enemies like the Pea Shooter as well as new plants that focused on melee. However the first wave was no match for our four player squad, and we easily dispatched of foes using just the basic weapons.

As the waves started to grow in size, it was time to flex some abilities. Playing as Captain Deadbeard, there were three varied and useful skills to utilize. Parrot Pal, An ability similar to the Garlic Drone and Zombot Drone, allowed us to take control of the parrot and fly around the map, dealing small amounts of damage and also providing an opportunity to scout the map. As enemies drew closer, we needed something bigger than our default primary weapon (which was great for ranged shooting, but not so much up close). So we used the Cannon Rodeo skill, hopping on a small cannon and shooting repeatedly at everything in the nearby area. IT was a great skill to use for targeted splash damage. Finally, with too many enemies surrounding our grave that needed to be defended, it was time to use Barrel Blast. With this skill, Captain Deadbeard hides in his barrel, lights the fuse inside, and then explodes to damage all nearby foes.

While holding our own, we observed our teammates (also using new characters such as Super Brainz, Zoologist, and Imp) performing well and keeping the enemy waves away from the objective. With the round drawing to a close, the game threw on a random wheel spin to choose a boss monster. As seen in the trailers, a large Giga Torchwood appeared. Our team had to focus fire and bring down this large beast. With that, the mission was complete, but we still had to evacuate. To make our way to the evac point, plants started spawning all over the map and trying to overwhelm us on the way to safety. However, we fought through, and also used the randomized map teleports to get closer to the extraction point. With all four zombies making it, we survived for another minute until the transport actually arrived and carried us to safety.

Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 looks to continue the momentum of the original game, brining more characters and gameplay variety into the fray, while also supporting the efforts of original fans and letting them bring in their existing unlocks. What we've played of the game seemed fun and varied, just like we remember the original being. As long as the developers get the multiplayer balance right, fans are likely to be happy with this sequel. Look for Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 to release in Spring 2016 on PC, Xbox One, and PS4.