Plants Vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville Complete Edition

Genre: Third-Person Shooter

Players: 1-16 Co-Op / Team Competitive (Online)

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Review:

The Plants Vs. Zombies franchise has gone through some strange mutations since it first began. The original Plants Vs. Zombies, released in 2009 on PC and mobile devices and later ported to numerous other platforms, was a Tower Defense game with a fun aesthetic and a fairly original lane-based take on the genre. This fresh and inspired take on the genre was widely celebrated. Its 2013 free-to-play sequel, Plants Vs. Zombies 2, was met with similar critical praise, but players’ reactions were less enthusiastic this time around, thanks to this game’s new focus on microtransactions.

After this, in 2014, the series changed its focus to a new spin-off series, Garden Warfare, which took the core idea and aesthetic of the franchise and reinterpreted it as an online-focused team-based multiplayer Third-Person Shooter. With the exception of the card-based mobile game Plants Vs. Zombies Heroes, that focus on team-based shooters is where the series has stayed ever since, with Battle for Neighborville being the third such game in the franchise, released on PC PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2019.

When Electronic Arts announced a renewed interest in bringing more of its library to Nintendo Switch in 2020, Battle for Neighborville seemed a likely candidate, but not one that there seemed to be much excitement around. Fans of online shooters would have undoubtedly preferred a Nintendo Switch version of EA’s Battlefield series, and more casual players would have likely preferred to see the original Plants Vs. Zombies ported over, or at least a game in the Sims franchise. So it was that when Plants Vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville Complete Edition came to Nintendo Switch in 2021, I didn’t hear too many people talking about the game.

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Sliced Vegetables

I can’t help but feel like that lack of interest may be a mistake – Plants Vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville is an outstanding game, and one that runs surprisingly well on the Nintendo Switch. The amount of detail in the game’s stylized, slightly-cartoony 3D visuals is wonderful, matched only by its excellent animation. Every character in this game is lovingly animated and full of personality, and overall, this game is visually gorgeous. This may be one of the best-looking games to release on Nintendo Switch in 2021.

Having said that, this game didn’t make the transition to Nintendo Switch without making some sacrifices. The resolution has been reduced, framerates have been chopped in half from 60FPS to 30FPS, some details have been trimmed down, and even with these cuts, you’ll still see occasional pop-in. Make no mistake, the Nintendo Switch version of the game is the worst-looking version of the game. However, even with that being the case, it’s still a gorgeous-looking game.

Perhaps just as surprising as the game’s excellent graphics on Nintendo Switch is the online performance – online play in this game is fast, effortless, and runs without a hitch. What’s more, as of this writing, there are still plenty of players enjoying the game online, meaning you’ll have lots of great competition. Or conversely, you can opt to play a co-op mode and work with other players rather than against them.

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A Cornucopia

For those unfamiliar with this game, probably the most well-known game of this kind would be Overwatch, and Neighborville offers a similarly strong amount of variety and gameplay depth here, with both plants and Zombies each offering up a good number of unique characters to play as, and diverse enough to fit multiple types of play styles.

However, there’s another surprise here, with the Complete Edition version of the game adding in a new single-player campaign not available when the game first launched, giving players a full-fledged solo experience so they can get used to the game’s characters and enjoy some unique challenges not present in the multiplayer modes. Of course, this content is still secondary to the online multiplayer modes, but it’s still a welcome addition to the overall package here.

If I can point to a complaint regarding this game, I do feel that enemies are often bullet sponges, and goals in the campaign can be a bit tedious as a result. However, overall this is a wonderfully fun game that generally makes up for these issues.

One more thing before I wrap this up – Battle for Neighborville makes good use of the Nintendo Switch’s unique features, giving players the option to use gyroscopic motion controls, as well as supporting the touchscreen (in menus only, apparently). It’s clear that a lot of care and attention was given to the Nintendo Switch port, and it shows.

I’ll admit it, Plants Vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville: Complete Edition is one of my most delightful surprises of 2021. This is a well-crafted port of the game from other platforms, reasonably scaled-down to fit Nintendo Switch, but still visually gorgeous, and riotously fun to play online, with a solid solo campaign to boot. Nintendo Switch owners looking for the next fun online shooter to enjoy on this platform would do well to eat their vegetables.

tl;dr – Plants Vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville is a surprisingly good port of the online-focused team-based Third-Person Shooter. The graphics are scaled down from other versions of the game, but this game still looks outstanding, the online play is excellent, and there’s even a solid single-player campaign to enjoy as well. Fans of games like Overwatch and Paladins should definitely consider giving this game a try.

Grade: B+

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2021 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: The “Wow, this game was way better than I expected!” Award

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