Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted

Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted is an absolutely spot-on remake of an old, fairly simple game. The new things that are added in make a big difference, and the inclusion of multiplayer modes are a lot of fun.

The new content, with the added modes, combined with the already extensive hours of the traditional campaign, make this remaster worthwhile in terms of the amount of time you can enjoy the game.

PopCap and EA have managed to remaster a absolute classic. Plants Vs Zombies: Replanted is nothing if a brilliant oove letter to a game that could see a resurgence of the franchise or maybe some other classics that EA have twiddling its thumbs while sitting the vault.

Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted is a great and faithful remake of an excellent, simple, and now-classic game. The new animations and character designs are also wonderful, without changing what made them so memorable to begin with. It’s all a pleasant reminder of a different era for PopCap Games and mobile games in general, where monetization rarely extended beyond the premium price of purchasing a game, which allowed the creators to focus on the core experience while keeping it light and simple. Replanted makes me pine for that era, but also grateful that this revisitation of the original game has been handled with such reverence and care.

Retaining the look and feel of the original tower defence classic, Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted remains an unbridled joy sixteen years on – the colourful visuals are crisp and appealing, and the bonus content will keep you hooked for hours on end.

Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted is a worthy remaster of a classic, beloved game. When it was first announced, I was genuinely excited at the prospect of replaying this game. I imagine if you don’t have the same nostalgic feeling for Plants vs. Zombies, you might not share the same enthusiasm, but for fans, it’ll be nice to be back in the backyard. The updated visuals are crisp, but don’t expect anything too mind-blowing. I would have liked to see a deeper PvP mode, and the lack of any online mode might be a turn-off for some folks. The Co-Op mode is great and worth the price of admission alone. If you’re a fan of Plants vs. Zombies or looking to see what all the fuss is about, Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted is a great place to start.

After jumping back into the Plants vs. Zombies world, I can safely say this is my favorite way to play the franchise, classic tower-defense style gameplay loop. Not third person shooting or open worlds, just six lanes, some plants and some zombies. An argue can be had to whether we needed this as there are older GOTY editions, but I can’t lie and say I wasn’t excited to earn new achievements for it again. There is a little bit of new content but all in all this is just another repackaging of PvZ which if you’ve never played before … I definitely recommend it.

Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted is a good time, just not a great remake. It captures the heart of the original perfectly, but doesn’t do enough to justify itself as the “ultimate edition.” If you’ve never played Plants vs. Zombies before, this is absolutely worth jumping into. For returning players, though, it’s more of a comfortable rerun than a revitalized revival.

Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted's attempt to remaster the original comes with questionable choices, but it's still a good way to get re-acquainted with (or introduced to) one of the quirkiest puzzle-strategy games of the 2000s.

Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted has some rough edges, but the core gameplay loop still works like a charm 16 years later.

Don’t get me wrong – Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted is… fine, for the most part. If you’re not a purist, and can accept a few occasional glitches, it’s a decent way to experience a classic. But the very few improvements don’t quite offset the game’s increased price, nor its technical and design woes. I can’t say with certainty if art was enhanced via AI, as some seem to claim. Regardless, it is a bit of a moot remaster; unless you’re on a platform, such as Nintendo Switch, without access to prior versions of this fantastic game. If you’re on Xbox, like us, you’re better off with the excellent Xbox 360 version – which is still backwards compatible to this day.