Electronic Arts announced this morning that Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare will launch for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 on February 18, 2014 in North America (February 20th across Europe) for $39.99 and $29.99, respectively. A PC version will bring up the rear on an unspecified “later date.”
The multiplayer only shooter is powered by the Frostbite 3 engine and gives players over ten different maps and three gameplay modes to choose from. Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare‘s two 12v12 competitive multiplayer modes are called Garden & Graveyards (the plants team must defend their base against the zombies) and Team Vanquish (ie. team deathmatch). The lone co-op mode is referred to as Garden Ops, which is basically a wave-based survival mode.
Xbox One players will get a little extra bang for their extra bucks with two additional modes; co-op split screen and Boss Mode. The split screen co-op mode is nothing more than an endless horde mode, while Boss Mode takes advantage of some of the next-gen console’s new features. It allows players to use either Kinect or SmartGlass to aid their teams (provide intel, health drops, artillery strikes, etc.) in any of the other game’s modes.
While the subject matter in Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare certainly has the potential to make for a whimsical little game, I can’t help but to feel slightly depressed that this is even a thing that will soon exist. Does every IP really need to include a multiplayer shooter element or, even worse, become a multiplayer-only shooter? I mean, if Plants vs. Zombies must be expanded out past tower/lane defense, can’t we at least explore options in some other less-saturated genre of games?
Still, it does look kind of fun…