Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville (Xbox One)

Great game that needs new features released
Let me start by saying that I’m a massive PvZ fan, MASSIVE! I absolutely loved PvZ GW2 and played it to the point of where there was nothing else do to in the map.

So what has changed:

– The graphics seem a bit more cartoony is this one, it took me a while to get used to.
– It’s online only so you will need Xbox Gold to play as it joins you to the starting area with players there already, unlike in PvZ GW2 where you could only access online features by going through the portal. Not sure if this changes anything in the game, feels like a forced way to make players purchase Gold.
– Split screen is still available. As soon the 2nd player connects his controller an option to join appears, which has been made smoother than in the previous game.
– Has new maps to explore with an arcade mode of it’s own and this time it gives you hints on where to find gnomes, I think this is a major improvement
– The fire, toxic, ice etc. characters have been joined in one where you can add upgrades, which is cool but I still miss the elements characters.
– Money seems to be completely useless. There is something called Reward-o-tron where you can buy stuff like a lucky dip but it is only consumables and eventually I had them all so I have millions on coins but nowhere to use them. You can also pay to earn XP which I don’t think is a necessary feature.
– Turf takeovers are still great, but could use more maps. I know they did release a new one – Storm Time machine map which was exciting but that was a while ago.
– Online maps now have computers playing against you as well if there are not enough people in the opposing team which really helps as they are not easy so the whole game isn’t wasted if there are not enough people like it was on the previous version.
– Quests. You get 2 daily quests + 1 rainbow stars quest (split in 3) a week. I feel like it’s not enough. Once completed you get bulbs which you can then use for Monthly rewards map which is pretty much the only thing that keeps me playing the game at this point.

One thing that I find frustrating is if you have a zombie quest but get joined only to plants teams and vice versa. I get it if the opposing team is full, but most of the time it has computers playing so why not let players who need it join?

It’s a great online game, but I am desperately hoping that new stuff will be added – new features, new maps. I think the setup is great and new things could easily be added without having to create a full new game. Hell, do a new maps upgrade for a 10 I am sure people like me would be more than happy to pay.