PLANTS VS ZOMBIES: BATTLE FOR NEIGHBORVILLE

Will it leaf you wanting more?

How far the Plants Vs Zombies franchise has come. What started out as a way to pass time on mobile has grown into a different beast, evolving from a humble tower defence game into one of the most robust, kid-friendly online shooters around. The same is true for PopCap’s threequel, which smartly marches closer to Destiny-fication.

Story-wise, it centres on the continued war between flesh-eaters and shrubs, presenting you with a healthy suite of PvP and PvE modes to jump into. The main change this time is that all is accessed via the eponymous town, which serves as your central hub. This updates almost weekly with fresh events and items, as any good live-service game should.

Popular PvP modes like Garden Ops and Turf Takeover return and are perfect for testing your combat ability against others, but the best action is found in the new open zones. Travelling to these will see you undertake various quests, roaming the map in search of bosses to fight, bounties to collect, and puzzles to solve. You can experience everything in the company of three friends, and the areas play out differently depending on whether you enter them as plants or zombies.

TREE FOR ALL

Almost every action earns you the coins and XP you need to unlock more customisation options and upgrades. Opened a chest? Have some coins. Finished a bounty? Here’s some more. Battle For Neighborville does a great job of rewarding you, making revisiting open zones like Town Center or Mount Steep in order to upgrade all 20 classes alluring.

While there isn’t one microtransaction in sight when we play during the six-week beta period, EA has been open about premium currency arriving eventually. This is a shame considering how well-paced earning XP and coins currently feels. Only time will tell if letting players speed up their progression spoils the experience. Until that time, however, Battle For Neighborville is a bold step in the right direction for EA’s gaudy online shooter.

VERDICT

Oozing with things to do and inventive classes to do them with, it elevates the act of shooting plants and zombies to fresh heights. Aaron Potter