This was originally posted on the now-defunct Random Fury! videogame blog.
Well, that was unexpected. I booted up Plants Vs Zombies 2 earlier today only to find it has undergone an almost complete metamorphosis.
Gone is the isometric overworld map, and in it’s place is a linear zig-zag of levels. Some which the game has decided I have completed, some which it has decided I have not. I guess it has decided this by determining which power-ups I had already obtained, as upon replaying one or two of them, it didn’t seem to me like I had even played them before. Also gone are the level variations. There used to be three of these per of level, and if you fulfilled certain criteria (like not planting on the two columns nearest your house because Crazy Dave had planted some of his pretty little flowers there, or only being able to use certain plants, or keeping within a tight budget, for example), you got a star. I’m not sure what the stars represented, or what you were rewarded with for getting lots of them, but they were fun challenges and kept you from being too bored when playing similar levels over again. Anyway, all that is gone now, so forget it.
Zombies are faster now, and the sun you collect is worth double. It does feel slightly more like an action game, in the initial stages of a level, at least. Plant quick to build a bit of a defence, which is easier because of the increased sun, and back yourself up with the more expensive plants a lot quicker than usual. When you have built up a collection of plants you think can hold it down for a while, hit the new fast-forward button – ideal for those Egyptian levels where the zombies carrying the giraffe slates are walking so damn slow. The three endless levels are a nightmare now – I think they may have increased the difficulty a little too much, mostly thanks to Gargantuars. The new conveyor-belt action levels featuring Gargantuar battles weren’t too tricky to be honest, the game gives you decent plants to win against the giant bad zombies – but surviving in endless is so difficult.
I imagine this is what it must have been like to play something like World of Warcraft, or any other long-running MMO that has adapted to its changing audience, from the beginning, and watched it change into something that has become unrecognisable compared to its initial appearance. I know that Phantasy Star Universe changed a lot in the time that I played in on the Xbox 360 – I kind of chronicled the changes on my personal blog here – feel free to have a read. PSU was a great game that took over my life for a while – I learned a lot about myself, and about the dangers of videogame addiction.
But I digress.
PVZ2.1 is an interesting one. It’s a simpler game and feels a lot fairer, but somehow it’s a whole lot more tempting to plough real money into for easier progress.
