PoPCap Could Be Developing A First-Person Shooter Version Of Plants vs Zombies

Rumors surfacing today claim PopCap is developing a first-person zombie survival shooter in the Plants vs Zombies franchise, a game known for being a 2D tower defense title. What can PopCap possible hope to gain out of developing this game>

If you like Plants vs Zombies, you may lo-oh wait, you’ll probably hate this news: a first-person shooter take on Plants vs Zombies

Kotaku is reporting PopCap Games is developing a game in the Plants vs Zombies franchise. Apparently it’s going to be a first-person shooter, for a weird reason, despite the game’s roots (no pun intended, honestly) being in the tower defense genre on mobile devices.

A Canadian industry source with knowledge of EA spoke to Kotaku, informing the gaming culture website of the news. There is a small team at EA’s Burnaby campus developing the title, and seems to be a standalone game rather than a sequel.

Rumors earlier suggested Kotaku could be developing a 3D titles on the franchise, with a multiplayer focus on console. That seems like everything the source material isn’t.

We’re not getting a Call of Duty clone, however: the title PoPCap is developing is being compared to Team Fortress 2. Let’s think about this. TF2 has different classes, Plants vs Zombies has different plants. So are the plants going to turn into characters we can play as?

How Is This Plants vs Zombies? It Isn’t

The development team is comprised of former Black Box studio members, an EA studio with development experience on Need for Speed and Skate. Some of the studio’s members also worked on Sleeping Dogs.

PoPCap hasn’t approved the title – yet. The game is still in the early stages of development, the aforementioned source told Kotaku, so there’s a chance this seemingly bad idea won’t ever hit our retail or digital shelves. PopCap didn’t comment on the story.

Does this sound like a good idea to you? My thoughts are the source material should be respected. At least Syndicate tied into the universe. Plants vs Zombies is a light-hearted 2D tower defense game where I don’t care about guns or competitive matchmaking. I would have liked to seen a 3D tower defense Plants vs Zombies. As mentioned, there’s every
chance this won’t – and never should be – green lit.