For more on Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, check out our full Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 review. Or, for more of the best Playstation 4 games for an 8 year old, why not try our Family Game Finder
What is Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2
Plants Vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2 is a team-based, third person shooter - although one that's much more family friendly than other games in the genre. Pitting a team of anthropomorphic plants against a team of zombies across a variety of game modes, it's a funny, brightly-coloured, and often zany shooter that supports up to 24 players online - or up to two players offline in split-screen, across all game modes (although split-screen is only supported on PS4 and Xbox One).
How do you play Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2
A team-based third person shooter, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is played from an over the shoulder perspective, and lets you choose to play as one of a variety of characters, either for the plants side, or the zombie side, which you can then customise, both in terms of looks, and abilities (at least, once you've unlocked the new abilities through play). There's a variety of modes on offer, from Team Vanquish (effectively a "most kills wins" team deathmatch game), to Gnome Bomb (which asks both teams to carry a bomb to one of three places, and turns into a race of bomb planting and defusing), and Suburbination (where the two teams battle for control of three marked locations), there's a fair few modes to get stuck into - but it's the characters you can play as that offers the real variety.
With a wide range of characters on offer, each with their own play style and special abilities, the idea is you'll be able to find a character that suits you. For the plants, that means you can play as characters as varied as Citron - an orange that can roll around for speed, but turns into a turret with segments for legs when it needs to shoot, or Kernel Corn, a corn on the cob with tommy gun corn hands; while the zombies get bruisers like Captain Dreadbeard, a pirate with a cannon and a laser parrot, or the nefarious Scientist, who comes packing a goo blasting shotgun, and the ability to teleport.
How easy is Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 to pick up and play?
Although it's a third person shooter, and as such has a dual analogue control scheme (left stick moves your character, right stick moves the camera), Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 at least feels a little bit more accessible than other, similar games. The addition of the split-screen/offline play versus computer controlled "bots" is a great addition, as it means you can tailor the challenge of the game to suit - if you're just learning to play third person shooters, you don't have to go online and face off against the best in the world. Instead, it's a fast paced blast-a-thon with one liners aplenty, and funny acronyms used throughout, keeping the mood light. That said, with precision aiming required, and nothing in the way of an "auto-aim", the youngest of players may struggle to find their footing, if they're new to dual analogue control scheme before.
If you choose to venture out of split-screen, you will require the relevant online membership (either Playstation Plus for Playstation 4, or Xbox Live Gold for Xbox One).
Despite being a shooter, there's actually very little in the way of mature content in Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2. While you will be shooting at other characters, you're mostly going to be firing peas. Plants will wilt, and zombies break into their constituent parts when defeated, but there's no blood - just the odd flash of green goo. There's also nothing in the way of bad language, or sex.
Age Ratings
Format Reviewed: Playstation 4
