You have to love mild upgrades to solid titles. Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville launched its Season Eatingz upgrade ($9.99) this past week and brought with it some mild additions that will certainly get you in the mood for the holiday season (or Feastivus). I had the pleasure this week of snagging a code for the upgrade and felt maybe it was worth it, though, it might have been best priced at $4.99 for the content you get with it. The majority of the content is just cosmetic, which might be enough for fans of the game. Heck, I would purchase this for my son for the Christmas season here in the Stevens’ household. He’s a huge fan of PvZ, so the minor additions would make him happy. That said, let’s dig right into my thoughts on those additions.
Costumes, homes, and punchers
The biggest plus from the Season’s Eatingz upgrade is the inclusion of the Wrapping Corn Costume, which is essentially the Holiday/Christmas model of the Corn avatar. It is wrapped up in shiny paper and a firecracker for the head. It’s incredibly pretty for the holiday motif of the game and slightly cool just because it’s actually kind of pretty to look at during this time of year. This was my favorite part of the upgrade to the game.
Moving on, there is also a Downhill-Jingle Slide Costume for Electric Slide, who is covered in lights, and, much like the Corn costume, definitely adds some holiday cheer to the ambiance of the game. There is something to be said about getting you in the mood for the winter, and this certainly pushes you towards that direction. It’s like going to the mall (when you’re in a good mood) and just taking all the decorations and such in. *sigh*
In addition to the above, you get a festive victory slab and punchers. Gingerbread people (?) and houses, again, add to the ambiance of the season.
Having not played Battle for Neighborville up to this point, it took me a good while to try and figure out what the heck this upgrade actually added to your experience. Essentially, the Feastivus launch on December 2nd (in-game content launched by the devs) provided you with the main body of content (new maps, new missions, split-screen co-op — see video below), as well as the pretty awesome Feastivus cityscape that will certainly put you in the mood for the holiday season. The holiday-themed city is so damn cool and how it works well thanks to all the lights/sounds/targets/moving platforms that come with it and just screams how much work was put into this experience. It’s breathtaking to see for the first time.
Anyway, all the upgrade pack provides you with is exclusive items, which are mentioned above. Again, I love that they holiday-themed character models and extras to fit right into the Feastivus spirit. The efforts of the devs shouldn’t go unnoticed, and hopefully, you will appreciate it as much as I did, but that price tag is still a sticking point for me ($9.99). I honestly would pay $4.99-5.99 for the exclusives. It would be an easy sell for me personally. At the current price point, I want more from the upgrade. EA does provide a $49.99 option for a Seasons Eatingz Edition of the game, which comes with everything including the original Battle for Neighborville. If you don’t have the game, like I didn’t, then that deal is solid.
