It was at that moment I saw myself rushing around a theme park as a mushroom, with three friends each playing as different zombie-vanquishing plants, that I realised I had completely fallen in love with new release, Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville.
After the success of Garden Warfare and its follow-up, it was only a matter of time before publisher EA treated their most loyal fans to another Plants vs. Zombies outing. With new characters available to get to grips with, as well as the inclusion of old favourites, there's a welcome layer of familiarity alongside the fresh additions.
This isn't your typical third-person PvE and PvP shooter - that much is obvious from the game's title alone - but it is without a doubt one of the most fun on the market. The difficulty of taking out an opponent has been ramped up a little with this release, as though developers PopCap Games have realised that their audience is actually older and more adept at playing video games than the colourful graphics and kooky characters would suggest. Time-to-kill has increased, with enemies able to dip behind cover with ease, allowing for more escapes than usual, and more competitive matches.
Whilst children are still able to have fun here, the PvE mode is more challenging than ever before. Some of the boss battles I’ve faced are incredibly difficult, but the extremely entertaining mechanics keep you coming back for more if you fall at any of the hurdles. Fortunately, checkpoints are offered at a number of different parts within those battles, so that if you do fail to take down the likes of Olds Cool and his fellow Big Bads, you won’t be sent right back to the start of proceedings.
The ability to play the story missions with up to three friends - for a total group of four - is one of the best decisions developers has made. If PvP isn’t your thing, and you’re here to try and make sense of the ridiculously brilliant plot that’s in place, then the campaign is one for you.
As a hub, Giddy Park has been made more social than the past, and there's a brilliant pad emblazoned with a question mark that, upon standing atop it, will show the player exactly where everything is. This makes getting around the area and doing what you want to do easier than ever before, allowing for seamless gameplay and progression.
I must also note that this is the first time a PvZ game has allowed for split-screen local co-op for up to two players. It's another brilliant way to engage with multiplayer modes, and is perfect for families where a parent or guardian will be able to play alongside a child, and help with some of the more difficult moments of the game.
When it comes to characters and their abilities, there's been a stripping away of different classes within the same species, but an increase in the upgrades available, which only gets bigger as your plants and zombies become prestiged. It's a swap-off that some may not be too happy with but, as somebody who's returning to the franchise as a fan, hasn't had any impact on my overall enjoyment levels.
There's also been the removal of sticker packs, which were available to purchase at different levels of coin prices. Now, there's simply a machine with a flat fee of 30,000 coins, which can give you anything from a common item to personalise your vanquish stone, to a legendary costume for one of the 20 playable characters.
I have experienced a handful of bugs and glitches when playing the game, both in single player and with friends. PvP runs exceptionally well, but some of the PvE missions will throw a spanner in the works at what seem to be random places. The most frustrating bug came in an early mission when I was playing solo, and had to trigger the next part of a battle. I went and taunted the opponent, which was supposed to move things on, but everything stalled. I tried to respawn, but then my abilities were removed completely, and there were no NPCs to chat to on the map. A reload of the entire game fixed things up - hopefully moments like this will be patched in the coming weeks.
Overall, I've had an awesome time with Battle for Nieghborville so far, and can't wait to keep on playing with my friends online. This is another win for the series, and the perfect stepping stone to the franchise's future.
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville is available now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. A copy of the game on Xbox One was provided to Female First in exchange for a fair and honest review.