The war between plants and zombies rages on in an all-new addition to the popular franchise from PopCap Vancouver and EA, Plants vs. Zombies, as EA today announced an entirely new direction in its newest title, Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighbourville, available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Origin.
What’s more, players looking to stomp some seedlings or destroy doddering zombies early can do so, starting today, by purchasing the Founder’s Edition — a discounted early access into the game with new features rolled out each week leading up to the game’s full launch.
This time around the age-old battle between plants and zombies is going beyond the neighborhood as Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighbourville will introduce three free-roam regions that extend beyond the town of Neighbourville. Players will be provided with an opportunity to take in some of the narratives of the world — alone or co-operatively online or local split-screen on PS4 and Xbox One — by complete quests and jumping into a variety of PvP and PvE. At launch, players can explore Weirding Woods, a Zombie PvE region, Mount Steep, a Plant PvE region, and Neighbourville Town Center, a Zombie PvE region, each containing unique plant and zombie busting opportunities.
At the center of this new map, Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighbourville introduces a new social hub, Giddy Park. A colorful theme park environment, players can team up with up to three friends and socialize with other players, purchase new skins for their armies and practice their skills by participating in the mini-games that populate the park. Giddy park will also be the players access into the other areas of the map. At launch, a new premium shop, Rex’s Emporium, will allow players to purchase skins, customizable parts for their characters, emojis and emotes through premium currency, Rainbow Stars, which can be purchased. A limited amount of Rainbow Stars can be earned through in-game progression as well. The Reward-A-Tron 9000 — a giant gumball machine will be available from the start of the Founder’s addition, allowing players to unlock customization rewards of their choosing using coins gained through in-game progression.
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville will feature a host of PvP and PvE modes including Team Vanquish (PvP), Turf Takeover (PvP), Garden dn Graveyard Ops (PvE) and a new PvP Battle Arena. To help players stand their ground, PopCap has introduced 20 fully customizable character classes, including a team play class for each faction. And, of course, six new characters will join the fight. Zombies will meet the 80s inspired Action Hero, the rollerskating disco-zombie Electric Slide, and Space Cadet, whose special attack tuns the decomposing cosmonaut into a menacing space station. Joining the fight for seedling supremacy is Snap Dragon, Night Cap, a shadowy and stealthy ninja mushroom, and tiny Acorn, who turns into a devastating oak stump that acts as a turret for other acorn players to fire from.
Another new addition will be the introduction of festivals to the world, starting with the Halloween Festival at launch. Players can participate in a variety of festival themed events and gain exclusive skins, emotes and customizable parts.
Players who would like to opt into the Early Founders Edition, may do so from September 4th until September 30th, for $29.99 USD — a 10% discount of the launch title, fully priced at $39.99 USD — and will receive exclusive cosmetic rewards. All progression formed during the Founder’s Edition will carry over once Plants vs. Zombie’s Battle for Neighborville is fully launched on October 18th (October 15th for those with EA Accesss and Origin accounts). A full timeline for the Founder’s Edition can be found here.
