I would LOVE to give this game 5 stars, I really would. In many ways it was more streamlined and better then the 2nd, but there is just a few too many glitches and issues to ignore. Wandering why you somehow got taken out by a soldier standing in an area that makes no sense? You'll find out several games later when the landscape doesn't form for YOU properly and you are doing the same things to other players. There was one time I probably drove the plant team insane trying to figure out WHO THE SNOT IS SHOOTING THE SUNFLOWER LIGHTHOUSE (this will make sense once you play Gardens and Graveyards mode). Well is was me......not inside the lighthouse. Because it was one of the few times I've had this occur to my advantage.Using the Garlic drone and Engineer bot is risky business. When those things get shot down, there is about a 5% chance your game is just NOT going to load back properly to your actual character.These and a few other glitches notwithstanding........this is the GOLD STANDARD on how to do "Pack Progression" correctly. Random unlocks are nothing to be feared. Gamers have turned into spoiled little biotches thinking the ENTIRE game should be unlocked immediately. The game rewards you for doing ANYTHING in the form of in game currency. This then can be spent on a large assortment of "sticker packs" which give you anything from summonable zombies, plantable plants, cosmetic adjustments, modified abilities, new character variants (which all play a bit differently from the base class with a different primary weapon) and more.The game also rewards individual classes for doing their job. Engineers can make bank by establishing forward teleporter positions, making it easier for you team to raid (and getting coins everytime someone then uses it). Cactus get extra coins if OTHER classes are able to take advantage of well placed cover. Chompers get a hefty amount of coins for "shield breaking" the outer shell of tougher zombies with a burrow emerge (no idea why this got omitted from the second game). Pretty much every class has special coin boosts and it promotes newer and inexperienced players to AT LEAST do their job if nothing else.As for basic random progression, this should be considered a good thing. Some folks will get frustrated that they don't get exactly the variants the want and have no where specific to go to find them, but the upside is it makes it a VERY unique experience for every player. I still remember my first Zombie unlock on my XBOX One account, The Goalie Star. To me, he looked great, did a little less damage then normal but slowed and froze enemies, and gave me my love for the All-star Class. A friend of mine unlocked the Toxic Pea first, arguably the best "trooper" type on the plant side, played that guy once and never looked back. This makes for a fun experience where you never know what you are going to get. These classes all have downsides to their standard variant, and don't break the game that some players get some before others.One could argue that there are 3 upgrade stickers that get thrown into the sticker pool once a particular zombie or plant has been unlocked and they are too weak to play until you get those. One, the upgrades are marginal. Two, you gain a crap ton of coins from the co-operative mode, Garden Ops, which you can play until you unlock those. Three, there is always the welcome matt you can play until you get enough coins to buy more packs to unlock their extras.Finally, the achievement vs experience system is great. To level up your characters, you need accomplish achievements such us a particular move so many times, take out so many enemies, or even take out so many players. Some of these can be rather circumstantial, tricky, or just plain really difficult. Not to worry. The packs have you covered on that as well. As you are opening packs you get "Star Challenge Skip" stickers which always you to automatically unlock that achievement. So basically, however you want to play the game, you will eventually, through attrition, get everyone to max level anyway (which is more a bragging thing then anything. The later levels just give you additional coins, not more hit points or new stickers or anything). It allows the game to be goal oriented, encourages players to try new things, but at the end of the day, if you are struggling or the other players are making it impossible to accomplish some (take out Bonk Choy plants for example.....if the players aren't planting them, you can't exactly get this done) you can skip it. And you earned it by some other means, since that was you sticker in your pack!!So all and all, it would be nice for more games to use this overall method of progression if they are going the "pack/loot box" route with microtrans as a side income. At no point did I feel I needed to buy additional coins, and there was an obvious "pros vs cons" for any character that I saw people using once I really got a decent amount of exposure to them before I got them.(As a side, the one exception was the Tank Commander Zombie. I was always floor how fast they could kill me all of a sudden and thought they must be broken and was confused I didn't see them more......until I unlocked him. Guy is literally running around with a tank cannon that is hard to hit with, doesn't do the greatest damage, until you CRIT on someone. Explains the sudden drops, and always explains the seldom use)muy buenoKeeps grandson happy and was the perfect birthday giftMany of the 1-star and 2-star reviews seem to be motivated by the fact that the game must be played online with only a multiplayer mode and no single player campaign. I think people can figure out for themselves whether this is a problem, and whether the price point is acceptable given the lack of single player campaign. The rating should be based on the content that exists.The game is addictive, with classes leveling up for completing tasks (usually 15 for each level), such as "vanquish 25 zombies with your primary weapon" or "vanquish 5 peashooters with imp punts." Some tasks are more onerous than others, but you can collect "skip stars" from card packs that you purchase with points that allow you to skip those tasks that you don't want to bother with.The number of points you earn is based on your performance in game. Typically 2 rounds of Gardens & Graveyards (G&G, a mode where zombies must occupy 7-9 gardens in sequence, each for a certain amount of time and within a certain amount of time before advancing to the next garden) will get you at least 20K points, with sticker packs costing anywhere from 1K (for consumables) to 40K (for weapon upgrades, new characters, and consumables), with prices being based on the items they potentially contain. It's an addictive system that encourages you to play "just one more game".As for the price point vs. lack of single player campaign... let's just say a game with only a single player campaign will typically take 10-15 hours to complete. The multiplayer for this game will keep you occupied for dozens upon dozens of hours, if not more. To unlock every level for every character class could take you upwards of 100+ hours, so I don't personally see being cheated by no campaign.As for my review of 4 vs. 5 stars given my glowing remarks....there are a lot of hiccups with the servers. Usually 1 out of every 3 G&G matches will have hang ups where characters start glitching and the game comes to a virtual halt. About 1 out of every 10 or so G&G matches will results in getting kicked to the starting menu, losing the opportunity to collect the points you've been earning in the match.This is an absolutely adorable game! The graphics aren't too bad for a game meant to be silly. The characters and class variations are very fun. The game does not require you to buy coins to unlock characters, weapons or customizations...the amount you can earn in game are quite generous, and I have never even considered paying for extra coins. The publishers have continued to provide seasonal stickers and in-game variations, so that is a big plus.There are only two things I could gripe about is that the number of maps feels quite limited at times. Also, while they have "classic vanquish" or "classic gardens and graveyards" modes, not many people play those, and I usually end up solo. That isn't against the game, it is just people queuing up in the other variations.The second is the party system. In garden open, you go to a screen where you can select the map, difficulty, invite friends, and all that, and it works well. However, in standard multiplayer, it only has the option to "join as party," meaning who you have in your PS party chat. I'd be fine with this, however, the person who queues up finds a match, joins, and then it sends an invite to the other player(s) via PSN. The person/people then have to accept it, and hope that they can get into the match...and that they are on the same side. My friend just got the game, we tried to play together, and it pitted me against him...in my highest vanquish match ever.This game is a rip off. Bought it for my grandson not having seen the one line that states you need ps plus or knowing what that is. Once you have paid for the game it won't let you play it until you pay£50 a year extra to play online, which we don't want to do. So you are buying a game you can't use, it is a ripoffPaid for this, then needed PS4 account at 50£ to be able to play the game. Combined price....70£. Definitely not worth anywhere near this. Daylight robbery!Good game, but I've only given 3 stars as you have to pay for playstation plus in order to use this, which is £20 for 3 months. Bought as a gift so i had no choice but to pay it or have a disappointed child.The game was for my grandson and he loves itUseless