Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2

Unreleased

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 (stylized as Plants vs. Zombies GW2 or PvZGW2) is an upcoming third-person shooter video game developed by PopCap Games and published by Electronic Arts. It is the fourth game in the Plants vs. Zombies series and the sequel to Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare. The game was announced on the Xbox E3 briefing on June 15, 2015. Only a trailer was shown, but gameplay footage was later presented on EA Games' E3 press conference. According to the online game stores, the game is scheduled to be released on February 23, 2016 (North American version) and February 25, 2016 (European version) for PC and current generation consoles.

On a GamesRadar article, EA has confirmed that players who unlocked playable characters in the first game will have their characters in the sequel already unlocked. However, the promotional characters (Berry Shooter, Citrus Cactus, Chester Chomper and Dr. Chester) are confirmed not to return to the sequel. In the same article, a single-player mode was confirmed, along with 6 new classes including Citron and Super Brainz, over 100 playable characters and 12 new maps. Also a new ranking system has been introduced, however this means that every player will start from rank 1 when they begin the game for the first time. Most, possibly even all customization items from the first Garden Warfare are not returning to Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 (This does not apply to gestures, as they will return). Some of this information was later added to the official website. If players pre-order the game they receive a free in game item which is also a spoof of Mass Effect, the Z7 Mech.

Setting
Long after the events of Garden Warfare during the long, crazy war between Plants and Zombies, the Zombies have finally conquered Suburbia and renamed it Zomburbia. Now, for the first time in the series, the Plants are on the attack, and it's the Zombies' turn to defend their homeland. Six all-new heroes join the battle with brand new abilities, from the past, present and future.

Game history

 * June 15, 2015: Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is announced and is set to release in Spring 2016. A new trailer for the game is released, along with a gameplay video of new zombie classes and Graveyard Ops.
 * July 8, 2015: A second trailer for the game has been released announcing the new "Seeds of Time" map and split-screen gameplay.
 * August 5, 2015: A new gameplay video showing off plant classes and Moon Base Z is revealed. The game is demoed on Gamescom.
 * August 8, 2015: In an interview with IGN, producer Kyle Duncan reveals more gameplay from the mode Herbal Assault showing plant gameplay of the three new plant classes on Moon Base Z.
 * September 17, 2015: A dev diary has been released, going into detail about the new characters and strategies for each of them.
 * October 29, 2015 - Present: Short trailers showing some of the new variants for returning characters have been shown on Facebook and Twitter. The only variants seen so far (in order) is the Park Ranger, Yeti Chomper, Stuffy Sunflower, Zen Cactus, Roadie Z Engineer, Tennis Star, Rock Pea, Captain Flameface, Zoologist, Vampire Sunflower, Computer Scientist, AC Perry, Petrified Cactus, Druid Rose, Electro Brainz, and Cozmic Brainz.
 * November 5, 2015: A teaser showing gameplay for the Z7 Mech alongside a release date of February 23, 2016.
 * December 9, 2015: Another new teaser showcasing the new Solo Mode, Solo Ops, new character variants (Vampire Sunflower, Druid Rose, Electro Citron and Pops Corn), and Crazy Settings is released.
 * December 16, 2015: A gameplay reveal of the Backyard Battleground was released, showcasing the new hub and most of its features, gone over by senior creative director Jeremy Vanhoozer.
 * January 7, 2016: A trailer advertising the open beta for the game is released, revealing it will be available from the 14th to the 18th of January.
 * January 14-18, 2016: A multiplayer beta version of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is released, letting players play in the Backyard Battleground, and lets them play Gardens & Graveyards and Herbal Assault on the Seeds of Time and Moon Base Z maps, and can also progressively play Team Vanquish, Vanquish Confirmed!, Gnome Bomb and Suburbination on the Z-Tech Factory and Frosty Creek maps.

New plants
Other:
 * Citron (character class)
 * Iron Citron
 * Electro Citron
 * Frozen Citron
 * Unnamed Dark Citron Variant
 * Rose (character class)
 * Druid Rose
 * Unnamed fire Rose variant (Weapon named "Scorching Scepter")
 * Ice Rose
 * Kernel Corn (character class)
 * Pops Corn
 * BBQ Corn
 * Mob Cob
 * Unnamed red and white skinned Kernel Corn variant
 * Weeds, the plant equivalent to the AI zombies in Garden Ops (the standard ones are the plant equivalent of Browncoat Zombies)
 * Pumpkin Weed (possibly the plant equivalent of the Conehead Zombie)
 * Terracotta Weed (possibly the plant equivalent of the Buckethead Zombie)
 * Vase Weed (possibly the plant equivalent of the Coffin Zombie)
 * Porcelain Vase Weed (possibly the plant equivalent of the Outhouse Zombie)
 * Leaf Shield Weed (possibly the plant equivalent of the Newspaper Zombie)
 * Wood Shield Weed (possibly the plant equivalent of the Screen Door Zombie)
 * Trunk Weed (possibly the plant equivalent of the Barrel Zombie)
 * Heal Weed (possibly the plant equivalent of the Heal Zombie)
 * Flag Weed (possibly the plant equivalent of the Flag Zombie)
 * Dandelion (possibly the plant equivalent of the Exploding Imp)
 * New spawnable potted plants:
 * Lightning Reed (potted plant which deals electric damage)
 * Toxic Gloom-shroom (potted plant which deals toxic damage)
 * New Peashooter variants:
 * Rock Pea
 * Unnamed electric-themed Peashooter variant
 * New Sunflower variants:
 * Stuffy Sunflower
 * Vampire Sunflower
 * New Chomper variants:
 * Unnamed disco-themed Chomper variant
 * Yeti Chomper
 * New Cactus variants:
 * Zen Cactus
 * Petrified Cactus
 * New bosses:
 * Giga Torchwood as a Graveyard Ops boss
 * Super Bean
 * Queen Sunflower
 * Big Stump
 * EMPeach (Citron ability)

Returning plants

 * All Peashooter variants except Berry Shooter
 * All Sunflower variants
 * All Chomper variants except Chester Chomper
 * All Cactus variants except Citrus Cactus
 * Garlic Drone
 * Artichoke Drone
 * Heal Flower
 * Spikeweed
 * Chili Bean Bomb
 * Bonk Choy
 * Gatling Pea
 * İce-shroom
 * Goop-shroom
 * Snap Dragon
 * Doom-shroom
 * Scaredy-shroom
 * Pea Cannon
 * Fume-shroom
 * Bamboo Shoot

New zombies

 * Super Brainz (character class)
 * Electro Brainz
 * Cozmic Brainz
 * Captain Deadbeard (character class)
 * Captain Flameface
 * Captain Sharkbite
 * Imp and Z-Mech (character class)
 * Z7 Imp and Z7 Mech
 * Pylon Imp
 * Lil Drake
 * S.H.R.IMP
 * Unnamed armored knight themed Imp (which has a dragon-based Z-Mech)
 * New Foot Soldier variants:
 * Park Ranger
 * Scuba Soldier
 * New Engineer variants:
 * Roadie Z Engineer
 * AC Perry
 * New Scientist variants:
 * Zoologist
 * Computer Scientist
 * New All-Star variants:
 * Tennis Star
 * Moto-X Star
 * New bosses:
 * Zen Sensei as a Garden Ops and Backyard Battleground boss
 * Gargantuar Prime as a Backyard Battleground boss
 * House Gargantuar as a Backyard Battleground boss
 * New spawnable turrets:
 * Mr. Toasty (possibly the zombie equivalent of the Snap Dragon)
 * Gatling Bot (possibly the zombie equivalent of the Gatling Pea)
 * Super Heal Bot (possibly the zombie equivalent of the Heal Flower)
 * Mr. Freezy (possibly the zombie equivalent of the Ice-shroom)
 * Breaker Bot (possibly the zombie equivalent of the Fume-shroom)
 * Rocket Bot (possibly the zombie equivalent of the Doom-shroom)
 * Boxer Bot (possibly the zombie equivalent of the Bonk Choy)
 * Mr. Electro (possible the zombie equivalent of the Lightning Reed)
 * Loudmouth Bot (possibly the zombie equivalent of the Goop-shroom)
 * Explody Bot (possibly the zombie equivalent of the Doom-shroom)
 * Mr. Toxic (possible the zombie equivalent of the Toxic Gloom-shroom)
 * Hide-n-Shoot Bot (possibly the zombie equivalent of the Scaredy-shroom)
 * Orbital Bot (possibly the zombie equivalent of the Bamboo Shoot)

Returning zombies

 * All Engineer variants
 * All Scientist variants except Dr. Chester
 * All All-Star variants
 * All Foot Soldier variants
 * Browncoat Zombie
 * Conehead Zombie
 * Buckethead Zombie
 * Flag Zombie
 * Newspaper Zombie
 * Screen Door Zombie
 * Coffin Zombie
 * Disco Zombie
 * Gargantuar
 * Giga Gargantuar
 * Outhouse Zombie
 * Baron von Bats
 * Vampire Zombie
 * Yeti Zombie
 * Yeti Imp
 * Berserker

Backyard Battleground
''Welcomes to your very own Plants vs. Zombies playground. In your Backyard Battleground you can edit your character’s abilities and customizations, choose quests, jump into co-op or multiplayer action modes, or invite up to 3 friends in to your backyard to start a party and take on AI – defeat a wave, and a more powerful wave will show up. You can also switch teams to challenge your friends! ''

Backyard Battleground is your own frontline base to plan your attack before you enter the battle for Zomburbia. 

New

 * Graveyard Ops
 * Herbal Assault
 * Solo Ops

Returning

 * Garden Ops
 * Team Vanquish
 * Gardens & Graveyards
 * Gnome Bomb
 * Vanquish Confirmed!
 * Suburbination

New abilities
Several gameplay videos have shown new abilities for returning characters:
 * A heal beam for the Scientist called the Zombie Heal Beam (replacing the Zombie Heal Station)
 * A stationary turret for the Engineer called the Big Bolt Blaster  (replacing the Zombot Drone due to Parrot Pal)

Returning Abilities
Upon gameplay, all abilities from the original Garden Warfare will return to ''Garden Warfare 2. ''Currently, it is unspecified if any of the abilities from the Garden Variety pack (besides the Artichoke Drone) will return as well. With the exception of Chester Chomper and Dr. Chester, the Cheetos abilities will not return to Garden Warfare 2.
 * Chili Bean Bomb
 * Pea Gatling
 * Hyper
 * Goop
 * Burrow
 * Spikeweed
 * Heal Beam
 * Sunbeam
 * Heal Flower
 * Potato Mine
 * Garlic Drone
 * Tallnut Battlement
 * Zombie Stink Cloud
 * Rocket Jump
 * ZPG
 * Jackhammer
 * Sonic Grenade
 * Sticky Explody Ball
 * Warp
 * Imp Punt
 * Sprint Tackle
 * Dummy Shield

New customizations

 * Note: Zombies can now be accessoried with tattoos like the Plants.

Peashooter

 * A carousel hat (hat)
 * A purple hairstyle (hat)
 * Space helmet (hat)
 * Anime hair (hat)
 * Red hair with headband (hat)
 * A Mardi Gras mask (accessory)
 * Googly eyes (accessory)
 * An emoji mask (accessory)
 * A new pair of goggles/glasses (accessory)
 * Extended eyelashes (accessory)
 * Boxing gloves (organic)
 * Large cyan crystals (organic)
 * Bat wings (organic)
 * Foam fingers (organic)

Chomper

 * A frying pan with two eggs (hat)
 * An emoji mask (accessory)
 * White lips with herbivore teeth (accessory)

Sunflower

 * Bunny ears (hat)
 * An emoji mask (accessory)
 * Science goggles (accessory)
 * White fuzzy eyebrows (accessory)
 * Donut hands (organics)
 * Beehive hands (organics)
 * Red lips (Tattoo)

Cactus

 * A chimney (hat)
 * A pink cowboy hat (hat)
 * Pink glasses (accessory)
 * An emoji mask (accessory)
 * Neon signs (organic)
 * Meerkats (organic)

Rose

 * An emoji mask (accessory)
 * Spiral cape (Tattoo)
 * Butterfly Mask (Accessory)

Kernel Corn

 * A viking helmet (hat)
 * A golden fish (hat)
 * Red trucker cap (hat)
 * Police hat (hat)
 * A tin can (hat)
 * A tall Victorian popcorn wig (hat)
 * Gray glasses (accessory)
 * A viking beard (accessory)
 * Red glasses (accessory)
 * An emoji mask (accessory)
 * A viking cape (organic)
 * A brown collar (organic)
 * Green bush (organic)
 * Large purple curls (organic)
 * Glowsticks (organic)
 * Rocket neck (organic)
 * Cowboy hat (Hat)

Citron

 * An apple tree (hat)
 * An emoji mask (accessory)
 * A glowing red eyepatch (accessory)

Foot Soldier

 * Orange hair with ponytails (hat)
 * Pacifier (accessory)
 * Skeleton face paint (facial feature)
 * An emoji mask (accessory)

All-Star

 * An emoji mask (accessory)

Scientist

 * Bride of Frankenstein hair (hat)
 * An emoji mask (accessory)
 * Purple face paint (accessory)
 * Purple goggles (accessory)

Engineer

 * An emoji mask (accessory)

Super Brainz

 * A knight helmet (hat)
 * An emoji mask (accessory)
 * An orange beard (facial hair)

Captain Deadbeard

 * A purple pirate hat with red dots (hat)
 * An emoji mask (accessory)

Imp and Z-Mech

 * An emoji mask (accessory)

Trivia

 * The Plants vs. Zombies Facebook page posted a "Letter from Zomboss" revealing how Zomboss managed to take over Suburbia, by summoning his future self.


 * Dear Citizens of Suburbia and Everywhere-

''Thanks to the limitless reaches of my limitless genius, I am overjoyed to announce that I have taken over Suburbia. You may have noticed from the change in your surroundings, but I realize that as humans your powers of perception are not near to my elevated level. Which is a very elevated level indeed! Your brains, streets, houses, telephone poles, brains, toasters, and game-playing devices are mine. Mine!''

''I can sense before the brain-feasting begins that you would like to know how I took over. Because why wouldn’t you? I am Dr. Zomboss, after all. And this was my most evilly inspired idea yet! I finally decided that only one was brilliant enough to aid me, and once realizing this, I asked myself for help. My future self! The only creature perhaps as smart as I am. Supplied with Z-Tech from future me (who is quite charming and really rather clever), I invented the most horrific, most wonderful, most clever invention of all time! More clever even than the Sun-blot Machine! Than the Awesome Air Stinkifier! Even more than the PopSmarts™ Handy Slicer!''

''I speak of the Z-Mech, which transforms giggly Imps into giggly giant machines of shimmering destruction! Oh, I also created Super Brainz, but he broke every mirror and had to stand in the Time-Out corner. But he is still a brilliant invention! And I, only I, Dr. Edgar G. Zomboss, could have unleashed the Z-Mech and then also put Captain Deadbeard, and all the other zombies, into the fray. You remember them, I know you do! Remember them, and remember it was I who used them to capture Suburbia. It was I! Admit it – you couldn’t have done it. Only I. Wait, what’s that orange roll-y thing that dares to roll on my streets? I must go attend, because no-one rolls on my streets. No one!''

Please desist from any thoughts of attacking me, as they would be futile.

Sincerely-

Dr. Zomboss
 * Said message above foreshadows the events that took place in the comic under the same name.
 * Various references to Plants vs. Zombies 2 is shown in this game:
 * Gargantuar Prime, Laser Bean, Lighting Reed, Dandelion, EMPeach all use the same appearance as they did in the second game, only 3D re-animated.
 * One of the Laser Bean's appearances is somehow showing its costumes. However, it seems to appear as a boss.
 * One of the Rose's abilities, Goatify, references the Wizard Zombie's ability to turn plants into sheep.
 * This game is based on time travelling just like how it would be to the former.
 * Captain Deadbeard and Parrot Pal is based on Pirate Captain Zombie and its parrot.
 * Kernel Corn's description is mentioning Pirate Seas and Kernel-pult's appearance in that world.
 * Knight Zombie did make a cameo in the beta trailer.
 * Dr. Zomboss uses his voice from the second game, but his sprite is from the first game.
 * This would make him, alongside Crazy Dave (who is confirmed in Use Your Brainz EDU trailer) to use their sprite from the first game.
 * The blue flame that came from Giga Torchwood references Torchwood's Plant Food ability.
 * A unknown Zomboss balloon that appeared in the trailer might be the Zombot Aerostatic Gondola, but different in shape.
 * Many of the maps in this game are all based on the second game:
 * Frosty Creek is based on Frostbite Caves
 * Boney Island is based on Jurassic Marsh.
 * Z-Tech Factory or Moon Base Z may be based on Far Future
 * A unknown castle map that appeared in the beta trailer is based on Dark Ages.
 * On Popcap's facebook account, a user on the Electro Brainz post leaked a picture that stated the game was going to have a beta from January 14th to the 18th. This was confirmed a day later.
 * This is the first game in the series where Plants actively attack Zombies while Zombies defend against attacking Plants.
 * This is a debatable case though, since in the original Garden Warfare, depending on the situation in a match, Zombies could have already defended while Plants could have already attacked.
 * Suburbination involves both factions attacking and defending at the same time.