• Information
• Gamerip

Year: 2013

Type: Gamerip

Composer(s): Laura Shigihara; Peter McConnell

Number of tracks: 211

Rating

★★★★★

Withering writing

What do you do as an indie development studio when you have successfully released several little gems into the world that have almost achieved cult status and have a loyal fanbase around them? That's right, you get acquired by big publishers and produce sequels non-stop so that the money printing machine never rests. That the games and their mechanics cannot be spun on forever without becoming redundant is irrelevant.

This was the case with PopCap Games, which launched Bejeweled in the early 2000s, laying the foundations for the later success of the Candy Crush-series. Peggle another entertaining puzzle series, was created in 2007 and, last but not least, Plants vs. Zombies (2009) became a mass phenomenon. The company was then bought by Electronic Arts in 2011, and anyone familiar with the early 2010s will know that they were all about mobile games and microtransactions.

Consequently, a successor was developed for the very popular PvZ . It was released four years later exclusively for mobile and was given one of the best subtitles of all time: It’s About Time . Not only did it acknowledge the impatience and anticipation of many fans (myself included) for a sequel, but it also elegantly incorporated the story about time travel.

The tower defence concept with plants defending garden and house against waves of zombies worked just as well on cell phones, but of course the monetization concept was not very customer-friendly. As a game-as-a-service, we can play thousands of levels in the different eras, but this became quite monotonous due to a lack of innovation. As a result, like many other fans, I turned my back on the series and picked up the original Plants vs. Zombies , which is as timeless as it is entertaining to this day due to its finite scope.

What made PvZ special, however, was not just the charming look, but the outstanding soundtrack. The OST from the first game didn't make it into my Top 10 Indie scores for nothing and still brings a smile to my lips today when I listen to the sweet sounds of this absurd property protection game. Conversely, I'm a little nostalgic for the sequel.

To make matters worse, as is usual for a mobile game, there is no original soundtrack. Instead, we are presented with an over 200 track long gamerip with a few shortcomings. In addition to the usual limitations that this circumstance entails (more on this in the FAQ), there are ...

• Problem 1: Since PvZ2 is free to play and works as a game-as-a-service, new levels and corresponding pieces have been added over the years. The fact that the composer of the first installment, Laura Shigihara, and the main composer responsible for this score, Peter McConnell (Hearthstone, Psychonauts), were not always involved and other people wrote for the mobile game in their place makes it difficult to gain a comprehensive overall impression. That's why I'll stick to Wikipedia, which lists McConnell and Shigihara as the composers responsible for the score.
• Problem 2: As a mobile game, Plants vs. Zombies 2 was released on different operating systems and in different country-specific versions. Accordingly, there are tracks that were only available in China, for example. Although I was able to get a rudimentary overview using the Fanwikis , I honestly don't have the time to check all track names, artists and versions for accuracy.

For this reason, I will keep this review short. Basically, we visit different eras in PvZ2 due to the time travel concept, such as the mummy-infested Egypt (Ancient Egypt), the oceans at the time of piracy (Pirate Seas) or the dinosaur era (Jurassic Marsh). This leads to the expected stereotypical soundscapes, but is implemented quite well.

This is mainly due to the fact that motifs and pieces we know from Plants vs. Zombies were used, primarily from Grasswalk and Brainiac Maniac. Their variations and remixes for the respective tropes are mostly enjoyable, but never really outstanding. This is also due to the fact that the gamerip divides the levels into the repeated categories:

• Short jingles: Choose Your Seeds (starting phase), Victory! & Reward (success), The Zombies Ate Your Brains! (defeat)
• Music during the levels: First Wave, Mid Wave A, Mid Wave B, Final Wave
• Music during the boss fight: Ultimate Battle
• Music during the minigame: Demonstration Minigame

Naturally, the jingles are less interesting here, while the more fast-paced tracks at the end of the level are a little more exciting. It's a pity that the strengths of the first Plants vs. Zombies were not built upon here, which was also convincing in its quieter moments with original melodies. It doesn't become inventive here, however, at most when in Ztalemate Escape (Mid Wave A) the classical piece In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg is quoted. So the music of Plants vs. Zombies 2 remains just a repetition that throws the familiar into new settings without adding anything new to the whole ... just like the game.

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No.	Title	Artist(s)	Rating

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Rating
001	Title Screen	Peter McConnell	4
002	Player's House	Peter McConnell	4
003	Player's House (Reward)	Peter McConnell	3
004	Here's Your Reward!	Peter McConnell	3
005	Player's House (The Zombies Ate Your Brains!)	Peter McConnell	2
006	Hey Neighbor!	Peter McConnell	3
007	World Map	Peter McConnell	2
008	Zen Garden	C. Andrew Rohrmann	2
009	Ancient Egypt (Choose Your Seeds)	Laura Shigihara	2
010	Ancient Egypt (First Wave)	Laura Shigihara	3

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