Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare

Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare does right by its namesake, putting the characters and charm to good use.

The gameplay of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is standard stuff, but the game's lighthearted tone makes it an appealing multiplayer shooter that stands out from the crowd.

It never hits the heights of Battlefield in its pomp, Call of Duty at its slickest or Titanfall in its explosive beta, but at its best Garden Warfare stirs the same emotions; the panic, the triumph, the tension and the elation. Whether anyone will stick with it once the Titans Are Ready is unsure, but PopCap has overachieved and delivered one of the most likeable games on next-generation hardware anywhere. Quite simply, I dig it.

The freshest shooter to sprout in recent memory, PvZ is shackled by asinine DRM.

Plants vs. Zombies is an elevating factor in a tired genre

Garden Warfare is a fun, polished shooter, and what it lacks in gameplay depth it more than makes up for with fun cosmetic gear you'll actually want to unlock.

Already-limited offerings are diminished by a quasi-free-to-play monetization scheme

With a few more tweaks, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare would be a must-buy for pretty much any shooter fan out there. But even with its blemishes, I was incredibly surprised by the amount of depth the game has to offer on top of all of its charm. Hopefully EA will ease off the microtransactions in the future and even more content will pile in, because with the right moves and support, Garden Warfare will be something special for quite some time.

A bright, colorful and friendly introduction to the world of online multiplayer shooters.

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare stays true to its roots, while at the same time branching out to new audiences by switching up the franchise's familiar format a little. The gameplay is rock solid, the music and visuals are adorable, and, while the release's multiplayer focus won't appeal to everyone, it's a finely pruned package overall. PopCap deserves credit for taking an existing concept, and making it blossom all over again.