This is a fairly negative thread because I think the question has a relatively obvious answer. I don't want to be negative because a lot of folks worked tirelessly on this game, but at the same time, I can't say I've been anything but disappointed with it.
From the outset it seemed like the wrong move for the series. It didn't seem to be the leap forward that folks might have been enticed by. Instead it takes several steps to the side, reinventing things from Garden Warfare 2, but not necessarily in a way that's better, or worse. For the most part, it's a very similar game, but with a fair bit less content in some areas, and more in others. Critically, the subclasses were removed, which gives you less of a reason to continue to play.
Yes it's more competitive than Garden Warfare 2 was due to the lack of weird and unbalanced variants, but it's also far less interesting, I would say. Playing the same class every match, which has the same playstyle feels a lot less compelling. It does feature a load-out system which technically allows to customise your character a little bit, but it isn't as drastic as the different character variants in PvZ. At the same time, it didn't release with anywhere near as much content in terms of maps and whatnot, and without the drive to unlock more subclasses I felt very little incentive to bother with the PvE content.
All in all, I feel like they really messed up the core gameplay loop of playing matches to unlock sticker packs and unlock new variants of your characters. They also changed the sticker pack system which I found really rewarding (sticker packs are basically loot boxes except you can unlock them at extremely regular intervals without using any real world money), into a really stingy free to participate gatcha system. When I last played there was no microtransactions involved here, but that didn't make it feel any more rewarding. Playing for an hour only to end up unlocking a hat for a character I didn't care about... great.
In any case, I was contemplating either installing this or Garden Warfare 2 today (I know Garden Warfare 1 is a great game too, but I want to play the one with the more active community) and I checked their numbers on gamestat to get an estimate of popularity...
I'm not really all too surprised but the data seems to point towards more players gravitating to Garden Warfare 2, than Battle for Neighbourville. I would contend that this is because it's cheaper, with more content and overall a more compelling package.
I guess the question though is where do they go from here? I don't know what the purpose of Battle for Neighbourville ever was, maybe to rebalance PvP? I can't really grasp what the idea of this game really was though. It just didn't move the series forward, and took so many features away, I can't understand where they anticipated this going.
In any case, 2 months ago they announced there would be no new content updates for Neighbourville, meaning it lasted less than a year...
A rather depressing end for a series that was once really quite popular. The reality is that perhaps there will not be another Garden Warfare title, and Battle for Neighbourville could be the end for the series. Do you think we'll see a Garden Warfare 3? I think the fact that this title was subtitled suggests that they had some awareness of the risk that this project was undertaking. The fact that it entered early access instead of a full release with proper marketing suggested the same thing. I live in the hope that EA still have some faith in the Garden Warfare property and that we might see a Garden Warfare 3 in the future.
From the outset it seemed like the wrong move for the series. It didn't seem to be the leap forward that folks might have been enticed by. Instead it takes several steps to the side, reinventing things from Garden Warfare 2, but not necessarily in a way that's better, or worse. For the most part, it's a very similar game, but with a fair bit less content in some areas, and more in others. Critically, the subclasses were removed, which gives you less of a reason to continue to play.
Yes it's more competitive than Garden Warfare 2 was due to the lack of weird and unbalanced variants, but it's also far less interesting, I would say. Playing the same class every match, which has the same playstyle feels a lot less compelling. It does feature a load-out system which technically allows to customise your character a little bit, but it isn't as drastic as the different character variants in PvZ. At the same time, it didn't release with anywhere near as much content in terms of maps and whatnot, and without the drive to unlock more subclasses I felt very little incentive to bother with the PvE content.
All in all, I feel like they really messed up the core gameplay loop of playing matches to unlock sticker packs and unlock new variants of your characters. They also changed the sticker pack system which I found really rewarding (sticker packs are basically loot boxes except you can unlock them at extremely regular intervals without using any real world money), into a really stingy free to participate gatcha system. When I last played there was no microtransactions involved here, but that didn't make it feel any more rewarding. Playing for an hour only to end up unlocking a hat for a character I didn't care about... great.
In any case, I was contemplating either installing this or Garden Warfare 2 today (I know Garden Warfare 1 is a great game too, but I want to play the one with the more active community) and I checked their numbers on gamestat to get an estimate of popularity...
I'm not really all too surprised but the data seems to point towards more players gravitating to Garden Warfare 2, than Battle for Neighbourville. I would contend that this is because it's cheaper, with more content and overall a more compelling package.
I guess the question though is where do they go from here? I don't know what the purpose of Battle for Neighbourville ever was, maybe to rebalance PvP? I can't really grasp what the idea of this game really was though. It just didn't move the series forward, and took so many features away, I can't understand where they anticipated this going.
In any case, 2 months ago they announced there would be no new content updates for Neighbourville, meaning it lasted less than a year...
A rather depressing end for a series that was once really quite popular. The reality is that perhaps there will not be another Garden Warfare title, and Battle for Neighbourville could be the end for the series. Do you think we'll see a Garden Warfare 3? I think the fact that this title was subtitled suggests that they had some awareness of the risk that this project was undertaking. The fact that it entered early access instead of a full release with proper marketing suggested the same thing. I live in the hope that EA still have some faith in the Garden Warfare property and that we might see a Garden Warfare 3 in the future.
