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Hi everyone, Chris Fox here, lead gameplay designer on Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare. We’re extremely excited to be releasing Garden Warfare on PS4 and PS3 this August 19th. To celebrate, I’d like to give a quick introduction to our split-screen survival mode, as well as some tips for beginners and veterans alike.

In our split-screen mode, it’s you and a friend teaming up to protect your garden from an endless zombie horde. With just two plants versus all of Dr. Zomboss’ minions, character selection is key. While all characters can be successful, choosing complementary classes can help to turn the tide in your favor. The Pea Shooter and Sunflower are natural companions. He’s a mid-range specialist, and she’s a healer. Pretty obvious stuff, I know. But what you might not know is that the Chomper and Cactus make quite the formidable pair. The Chomper’s ability to bite right through armor allows him to take care of pesky Coffin and Outhouse zombies, leaving the Cactus free to snipe ranged zombies from a safe distance.

In Garden Warfare, each playable class has up to seven unlockable Variants, complete with different weapons and characteristics. Some of these are better suited to our cooperative game modes than others. A great example of this is the Power Cactus. Her electric shots can arc across multiple enemies at once, inflicting damage to entire groups of zombies. This is especially helpful for clearing out low HP groups from around your garden.

Much like in the original Plants vs. Zombies, what you plant, and where you chose to plant it, can be the difference between victory and defeat. A good strategy is to plant your powerful, melee-based plants close to your garden. That way, you can protect them with your more common, ranged plants along your front line. Experimenting with different plant combinations can lead to interesting and powerful results. One of my favorite tactics is to let an Ice Shroom freeze a zombie solid, then have a Snap Dragon finish it off with his flame breath.

Garden selection is something that can be overlooked by newcomers. Each level features three different gardens locations you can choose to protect. Depending on your play style, some will be easier to defend than others. Try them all out, and then go for the one that suits you the best.

My final bit of advice is that there’s no shame in running away. If you’re finding yourselves overwhelmed by the horde, backing off and making a quick lap around the map can provide a critical chance to regroup and heal. Just make sure to keep an eye on your garden’s health. For those of you who want to see our strategies in action, I’ll be live streaming on PS4 via the PopCap Twitch channel, alongside fellow designer Jeff Shaw, on Thursday July 31th at 10:00 AM Pacific Time.

As I mentioned off the top, we’re thrilled to be bringing Garden Warfare to PS4 and PS3. The team wanted to do something special for all of the PlayStation fans, so we’ve created a batch of exclusive hats based on some of our favorite PlayStation characters. These will be available exclusively to those who preorder through PlayStation Store or retailers, however the Fat Princess hat is a digital exclusive! Thanks for your time. If you have any questions, or want to say hi, you can find me on Twitter.

Otherwise, I hope to see you all online in a few weeks!