Games like Plants Versus Zombies Garden Warfare 1 and 2

July 18, 2017

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Games like Plants Versus Zombies Garden Warfare

Plants Versus Zombies Modern Warfare is a first-person co-operative shooter based off the tower defense game of the same name. It transfers most of the elements of the classic tower defense game and drops them into the world of a multiplayer shooter. It’s an idea that shouldn’t quite work. I mean how are you going to turn a pea shooter that is literally rooted into the ground into an action hero?! Although it would be a shooter game that would appeal to many turn based players.

Somehow it defies all the rules of the universe and all my sarcastic little comments. It doesn’t just work, it is almost a masterpiece. The levels offer enough fun, madness and mayhem to make it one of those games that are hard to put down. The mechanics are simple, easy to pick up and play with little explanation. And there is always something new to unlock or level up giving you new play experiences and a reason to return. Well the first game at least, I won’t dwell too much on the sequel where characters were locked under walls of RNG and some of the characters were a little unbalanced.

Who knew running down a street as a ray gun wielding zombie whilst engaging a jet to leap onto a house roof top would be so fun? Don’t even get me started on my Zen Cactus…

Finding a game that is similar to it though is extremely tricky. Most first-person shooters have this silly notion of presenting their games with a verisimilitude that limits the crazy and quite mad antics of this game. To be honest it is a pretty surreal game, and that surrealism is hard to replicate. As a consequence most games seem to restricted in the insane powers, and characters you can choose to play.

The game has two main modes, campaign where you play cooperatively with other team members to defend a garden from waves of zombies and the much more fun multiplayer where your team faces off against another. There is also a huge amount of collectibles for you to unlock, and play with. As there is a huge focus on multiplayer aspect and a team-based element this is going to be the main focus of the recommendations in this list.

This game for me has four key aspects, the focus it places on team-base multiplayer tactics, the surreal crazy fun aspect and the first-person shooter. So, without further ado here are a selection of multiplayer first-shooters that may appeal to fans.

Team-Base Mutli-player Shooters Like Plants Versus Zombie

Overwatch

(PC – PS4 – Xbox One)

Overwatch is the best co-op style first person shooter game on the market. It’s the only game where you can make a statement like that and have it be more fact than opinion. That’s how good it is. Blizzard has taken co-operative gaming and team work to the next level with this title and in this aspect, it is better than Plant Versus Zombies Garden Warfare. In fact, if a entertaining multiplayer shooting game is what your looking for then stop reading this article right now, and go out and buy this game now.

Overwatch is a lot like Plants Versus Zombies Warfare because it isn’t too grounded within reality, there is are powers and guns that come straight out of a Batman comic. This gives it the same creative feel that flies into the face of reality and spits in its eye. Although the surreal element is not on the same level as Plants Versus Zombies Warfare it is still really fun and gives rise to unique powers such a freeze ray. Anyone else imagine they are playing as Dr Freeze’s attractive niece?

There are even characters that have defense tower aspects because they build turrets. As there are a lot of crazy powers floating around there is also a wide range of characters to select and play as. These characters belong to a class to such as defenders or attackers which gives the player a huge versatility to play style. Each character is built extremely well with an interesting backstory too.

So, Over watch hits a lot of the criteria I’ve set out. It is focused on co-op, there are heavy defensive elements, it has a lot of fun and unique powers to play with and there are a vast number of characters to choose from and stuff to level up. It is child friendly, easy to pick up and learn how to play. The only downside is that Plants Versus Zombies Warfare is slight more casual than Overwatch. The heighten cooperative play maybe too much for more casual gamers.

Truthfully, Overwatch would be the first choice in most of the categories below.

Team Fortress 2

(PC )

Team Fortress is just exactly what it sounds. It is a multiplayer game where your team has to defend a fortress. Players form a group of four to defend a position on the map. There may not be as many players as on Plants Versus Zombies Garden Warfare map but it is just as fun. Most multiplayer games that have some form of defensive first-player action that has taken inspiration for this free to play title – Overwatch included. Blizzard has openly credited this game as being a source of motivation for their creation.

As team fortress is a free to play game it means that it is not as polished or as good graphically as Plants Versus Zombies Garden Warfare. The game is old too, and is supported on the older consoles such as Xbox 360 which compounds the issues above. Despite all of this it still offers a fun and experience. It’s a great way to meet new people who share a love of first person shooters or to kick back with friends on the weekend. Although cartoon oreinted in appearance it move set is a little more realistic than others on this list.

The characters you can play as are a little generic in origin as well. There is nothing special about them that will make you come back for more of them. All classes play extremely well, and the game is simply minded find. It’s a game I highly recommend sinking a few hours into, especially if you’re between major titles and looking for some cheap entertainment.

Other titles to Consider:-

Battle Born (PC – PS4 – Xbox One)
Paladins (PC – PS4 – Xbox One)
Orcs Must Die 2 (PC)
Deathtrap (PC)

Comedic Multiplayer Games

Borderlands: The Handsome Jack Collection

(PS4 – Xbox One)

Borderlands: The Handsome Jack Collection is compilation of Borderlands: The Prequel Sequel and Borderlands 2 for PS4 and Xbox One. Borderlands allows a drop-in, drop-out fun cooperation play in the main campaign that is totally casual and really fun to play if you have mates over for a few beers. Gaming needs to offer more split screen co-op. It does have multiplayer options too, but it’s true fun is in the couch sharing cooperative. It supports up to a four person local co-op.

There are a few characters to play in Borderlands and each character is well developed with a range of different playing abilities. They usually encapsulate some idea of role-playing class, like a big damage absorbing tank or a damage dealing assassin. The game has a fantastic and funny script if you like the typical stoner style of comedy. And it is this script that makes it a fantastic game to enjoy and share with friends. The graphics are presented as stylish cartoon but it has to be noted it is not a child friendly title. The humor does revolve around adult concepts and it also contains taboo language.

The game play is different from Plant Versus Zombies Warfare as it is not a team defense game, but more of a straight first-person shooter. It does possess the same sense of fun and fantastic abilities and weapons. As well as well thought out characters with great abilities. It’s actually one of my favorite series.

Earth Defense Force 4.1

(PS4 – PC)

In Earth Defense Force you basically play through a Japanese monster movie. You fight your way through overwhelming waves of giant insects whilst listening to badly delivered one liners that make little to no sense but are so funny you’ll find yourself repeating them. It’s like a really low budget Star Ship Troopers, which itself is a frightening thought. It is one of those games that are funny, but you’re not sure if it is supposed to be funny. I love the whole classic B movie trope so its a game I really enjoyed.

There is little story to the game and you are just dropped into the middle of the unrelenting swarms. The controls are very easy to pick and learn. There is a split screen co-op option where your friends can join in the fun and help you fight through the swarms of enemies. It’s the kind of mindless fun that I crave after a hard days work or after that five hour exam. It is one those games that just sucks you in and keeps you playing until three in the morning. I love that this is the games own promotional video advertise it dropping frame-rates in such a wonderful manner:-

It is just so unashamedly bad it is amazing. Be warned, the voice acting might be a little better in the video than in game. If you think that’s great you should checkout some of the Japanese trailers for the fifth game. I wouldn’t be surprised to see fan based satirical B-movies arising from game-play videos and voice-overs Red vs Blue style.

There are no defense elements like Plant Versus Zombies Garden Warfare, but it has the same fun attitude. It has a great overwhelming large waves of enemies and this is similar to Plants Versus Zombies Garden Warfare’s main campaign. The map can easily become a typhoon of madness and destruction too, as your gun fire destroys a building or the ants launch a citizen into the stratosphere.

EDF! EDF! EDF! Come on, you know you want to.

Others to Consider:-

Serious Sam 3 (PC)
Saints Row 4 (PC – Xbox One – PS4)
Magicka 2 (PS4 – PC)

Zombie Based Multiplayers Games

Killing Floor 2

(PC -PS4)

Killing Floor 2 is a 6-player co-op zombie slaughtering game that allows you to play as a team of soldiers or the zombies themselves. This game is a gore fest – the developers have boosted about their new gore system that allows you to obliterate zombies, allowing you to maim them in twenty-two different ways. If you don’t like gore, don’t go near this game.

There are a variety of classes to play, such as medic, commando, fire bug are just a few on the list. There are also perks for you to unlock and a whole arsenal of weapons for you to use. It also has a great melee system – I absolutely love how the katana feels and plays. The community is great and extremely supportive which provides a lot of custom maps for you to play and explore in addition to the official maps released with the game.

Although ultra-violent it has the same play style as Plants Versus Zombies. As the waves get bigger your ammo dwindles and it descends into an uncoordinated maelstrom of chaos where everyone is fending for their-selves, and it’s this chaos that makes the game fun.

Left 4 Dead 2

(PC)

The Left 4 Dead series of games are a cooperative multiplayers that takes place in a zombie apocalypse. There are a few classes to play in each game, as you undertake campaigns. The number of campaigns available are a limited but play-through the campaign can change dramatically depending on the skill level of cooperative players and the enemies encountered. There are various tactics and ways to play which provide great replay value.

The cooperative play will be a little different from Plants Versus Zombies Warfare because it doesn’t always revolve around protecting or defending a structure. The zombies are more realistic and based in horror rather than being cartoon like and fun. This is a game that is for adults’ due to the blood and horror involved. If you are looking for cooperative game for children it maybe better to try those listed in the first section.

The character classes in this game are not as numerous or in depth as the other games, and the abilities and skills used are not as fun graphically, or as silly. Despite this it can still be an enjoyable game to play. It is a game that will get everyone working together, and were people having different levels of skill simulates, and even enhances the experience it sets out to reproduce.

Other Suggestions –

State of Decay (Xbox One – PC)
Resident Evil 5 (PC)
Resident Evil Revelations 2 (PC – Xbox One – PS4)
DayZ (PC)

Miscreated

(PC)

I only going to briefly mention this one as it’s something I’ve heard about but not play. Miscreated is a game that is still in development that you can get early access to through Steam. Despite the fact it is still in production, it has created something of a buzz on Discord. If you want to play a zombie survivor game that fulfills the promises that Dayz made this might be worth a play. I’d recommend reading some of the reviews too, some of them read like novels:-

A Great Steam Review

A Very Funny Review.

If you like this you might also want to try Rust another early access game.

Conclusion

There are a lot of team-based multiplayer shooters out there at the moment that are child friendly and have comic book style powers due to Overwatch’s success. There are a wide range of first-person shooters that offer co-operative play that I haven’t mentioned like GTAV’s Heist system or Pay Day 2 mainly due to them being a more classical representation of reality without any fantasy generic elements like ray-guns or zombies. There are also a wide range of cooperative games that aren’t shooters, like Portal 2 which always rates highly on comparison lists to Plants Versus Zombies Warfare. So there are a wide range of options out there for you beyond first person shooters. Did I miss your favorite co-operative experience? Leave a comment below and let me know about it.