When it comes to shooter sequels, the delightfully animated and colorful Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 shows just the kind of growth I like to see. Like a big juicy brain, there’s lots to chew on with a variety of single-player and multiplayer modes, maps, and customization options.

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“ If the Imp lives long enough, he can summon a powerful mech.

Feeling Wilted

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Spruce Up Your Produce

“ I play an extra match here and there to earn enough for a more promising pack.

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Grow It Alone

“ Just about every mode can be tackled with AI, and in split-screen co-op.

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While the simplicity and ease of use of the original quartet of characters on each side will be attractive to series newcomers and can certainly hold their own in battle, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2's Then there’s the original set of four characters on each side, but they’ve been in short supply in online matches thus far for good reason; short of the healer class, there’s little beckoning a return to Garden Warfare’s founders when the new classes have so many more interesting things to do.Across the board, Garden Warfare 2 could be a bit more welcoming to newcomers; instead of proper tutorials introducing each new skill, there are only brief videos without any text or dialogue to demonstrate, and it doesn’t give you much of an idea as to how they’re actually best used. If you're a complete newcomer, good luck – there are no such intros for the original Garden Warfare warriors.With almost every standard shooter mode under the sun already a part of the PVZ experience and carried over from the original and its DLC, Plants vs Zombies 2’s truly new features are more about making sure Plants and Zombies can enjoy everything equally. There's now a Plant-focused version of the highly competitive capture-and-defend mode Gardens and Graveyards called Herbal Assault, while the prize flower of Plants vs. Zombies – the wave-based co-op of Garden Ops – can now be played with Zombies under the name Graveyard Ops. Allowing us to use all these diverse classes in every mode is a great improvement.The go-it-alone experience is best in the wave-based Ops modes, where you can spawn three teammates and hot-swap between them to take on the randomized enemies. Garden Warfare 2 never needles you to switch up characters, but doing so is the best way to learn new ways to fight outside your preferred Plant or Zombie.Aside from that, Garden Warfare 2 has some underwhelming mission-based campaigns for each side. Each mission is a slight tweak on a multiplayer mode, save for the crazy final mission. I don't want to spoil it, but the insanity of the new wave-based combat style is a wonderful capper that I was glad to jump right back into, even if it is a weird thematic shift. While the less-dynamic missions are still a good way to earn some coins and learn the ropes before heading online, I’ve had more of an impetus to keep playing thanks to the constantly changing active quests that offer up bonus XP multipliers and extra currency. Whether it’s taking out a specific enemy type a certain amount of times, notching kills with particular abilities, or just winning in a specific mode, I’ve found myself using the active quests as inspiration to try mix up my playstyle.