Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted Launch Fails to Impress Gamers, Critics Offer Mixed Reviews

The original Plants vs. Zombies, released in 2009, is a cult classic featuring charming plants that bravely battle a variety of decaying corpses with different professions and talents. Recently, Electronic Arts decided to refresh this beloved game and introduced Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted. The title launched on digital platforms yesterday, and it seems gamers have received yet another remaster of questionable quality.

This updated version of the classic has sparked significant emotional responses within the community, mostly negative. At the time of this news publication, Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted had only 48% positive reviews on Steam. Interestingly, on Valve’s platform, the original PVZ occasionally attracts more players than the remaster. The peak concurrent players for the «replanted» version is also lower, with only 6,710 compared to 16,225 for the 2009 version.

Players are accusing Electronic Arts and The Lost Pixels of cutting corners, greed, and failing to meet expectations. Many gamers believe that the project resembles a fan-made mod being sold for $20 or 9,999 tenge.

The main criticism revolves around the claim that developers did not introduce anything fundamentally new. Fans argue that upgraded resolution, HD textures, and 16:9 support do not justify the fourfold increase in price compared to the original. Moreover, the visual enhancements seem to have been created using neural networks.

Sound and music are also in poor condition. According to Steam users, the tracks sound flat, and some sound effects do not correspond with on-screen actions. Fans noted that the dynamic audio system from the original game, which adjusted the melody based on the battle tempo, has been removed.

Gamers also report technical issues: freezes, minor sprite glitches, and inconsistencies in the user interface. Some complain that switching to fullscreen causes the game to lock up.

The only aspect that some acknowledge as a positive is the slightly improved graphics and the addition of a few old modes from console and mobile versions, such as «permadeath» and local PvP. However, even these updates feel superficial to many.

Defenders of the project claim that it’s still enjoyable to play, and the day-one patch improved the experience slightly. Optimists hope that over time, the remaster will receive updates and a price reduction.

Reviewers from Western publications are more lenient towards the project than gamers are. At the time of writing, the PC version of the remaster holds a score of 77 on Metacritic and the same score on OpenCritic.

Below are several reviews with varying degrees of criticism.

Cody Medellin

James Lucas

Alessandro Fillari

You can try out Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted and form your own opinion on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch. The remaster does not include a Russian language option. It’s worth noting that the original version is still available on Steam for just 1,050 tenge.