Of all the older games getting a reboot, refresh or remaster lately, I didn’t have 2009’s Plants vs. Zombies on my bingo card or wish list. In its original form, it’s a fantastic puzzle-meets tower defence game, where sentient and weaponized plants are used to protect an unseen dweller (the player) of a simple suburban house against an expanding variety of zombies.

With cartoon-like visuals and a simple presentation, there wasn’t much more I wanted out of the original PvZ. It also works very well in mobile form on both Android and iPhone.

But along came Plants vs Zombies: Replanted anyway, and I simply had to give it a go to see if it has stood the test of time, albeit with a lick of paint.

Starting with those visuals, from what I can see support for higher resolutions and HD textures do make this version of PvZ look cleaner and sleeker that the 2009 one. But that arguably comes at the cost of a little charm and art direction, with the bold lines and shadows that helped lower-res assets stand out, somewhat flattened and dulled with an HD sheen. This gives the impression of the graphics looking both more and less refined in certain cases, with mild inconsistencies between the seed packets of plants and how they appear when planted.

This extends a little into the menus too, which seem to mix elements from different versions of the game over the years. In general this is fine but they occasionally felt like something was off with them, perhaps throwing too much into the mix compared to the purity of the original PC version.

A lack of precise refinement might be a bit of a theme here, as various bugs and glitches initially popped up around the release of Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted. Not many stood out to me other than the odd placement of an asset or two (see the screenshot above), but subsequent patches seem to have paved over a suite of these issues; obviously not ideal, but at least PopCap is taking action.

Art style choices aside, in motion PvZ: Replanted looks fantastic in my eyes. The way the ‘peashooters’ – a cute sentient pea plant that fires, you guessed it, peas – bop to the game’s fun, light and a little jingly music still brings a smile to my face. As does the huge creativity of all the other plants at the player’s disposal.

Unlocked as you advance through the game's levels, which take place on from the front and back lawns, and escalate from there, these plants vary from offensive, defensive, support and augmenting variants. All have a unique design that shows off the creative and left-field ideas that smaller developers had a bounty of, and the scope to explore, in the noughties.

The same applies to the zombies, which start off with that classic Shaun of the Dead shambling style and evolve into all sorts of fun, and challenging, variants. Developer PopCap’s sense of humour extends from just the design to a virtual almanac that describes the plants and the zombies, along either their individual personalities, in a very wry and quirky way.

Tower defence with brains

All this means Plants vs. Zombies is a lot of fun today. Not only is the idea of beating back a zombie invasion of a lawn or back yard amusing, it’s rather in-depth too.

Having played PvZ on multiple platforms I’m well-versed at forming established patterns of vegetable, spore, or fruit throwing plants, supported by defensive walls of nut plants, and paid for by carefully laid out grids of sunflowers – sunlight is the main currency of PvZ battles, and needed to fund the deployment of your selected plants.

So far this is all very much the same as the original. And maybe to a fault, as there are the occasional difficulty spikes amid a normally very balanced progression, which I recall being present in the original game.

As an experienced PvZ-er, I’m not against these, and I do enjoy some of the levels that change up how you tackle your defence, such as being given random plants on a conveyor belt rather than pre-selecting them. This injects a dose of chaos, but can fall foul of randomization not landing in one’s favour.

Small changes, like being able to speed up the game’s action can up the challenge, and help speed past the odd slow section where you’re left waiting a wave of zombies but have already got your core defensive lines and sunlight economy sorted. Equally, the light and fun music and just general pleasant vibe of Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted is so nice, I never felt like I wanted to hurry through it.

The meat – or should that be marrow – of Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted lies in how it’s combined all of the content from other versions of PvZ into one. There’s the co-op and versus multiplayer modes of console versions, the option to maintain a plant garden that came with the original, and all manner of mini games.

The latter shine, with one offering bigger sums of sunlight falling from the sky, which means a turbocharged economy and thus a lot more scope to mix up your defences with a host of plants that might be too expensive to use in volume in the standard game mode.

Another mode introduces cloud cover that can reduce the output of your sunflowers or put them to sleep, meaning you need to economise for such eventualities or make use of plants that aren’t directly reliant on sunlight to produce sun. It’s a fun mode that offers a nice challenge for PvZ veterans.

All these modes and mini games will keep your attention well after the main adventure part is completed. Some are better than others, but all are worth a quick spin and make Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted a great game to dip into, especially as it even works reasonably well on a Steam Deck.

I still reckon the core adventure mode remains the true highlight, with its charm, style, creativity and well-paced progression on enemies and plant powers.

Part of me wishes PopCap hadn’t played it so safe with a few more fresh nuances to the adventure to really pull back players well-versed in Peashooter placement, even if that extended to refining the visuals that little bit more.

Nevertheless, I think Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted is easily the definitive version of a left-field game that I’ve sunk plenty of time into. And even putting aside nostalgia, it’s a fantastic puzzle and tower defence game that’s so very much worth your time today.

Should you play Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility

There’s no dedicated accessibility menu in Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted, but you can tweak a few settings like lowering the game’s speed to half speed and opting for a high contrast viewing mode.

As the game is available on multiple platforms, you have the option to play on the platform that most suits you, with PC and mouse control being the one I’d recommend.

How I reviewed Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted

I played some five hours of Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted, getting through most of the adventure mode, which I’ve already finished in previous versions of PvZ, and trying out various mini-games.

I’ve not flirted with the multiplayer options, but they follow the form of previous console releases. I played PvZ: Replanted on my Steam Deck and on my desktop gaming PC, and over that time the game received several updates, which appeared to squash some bugs and refined the remaster. As such, my review covers what I’d consider to be the most complete version of the game.

First reviewed December 2025

You would think the concept of a mature superhero story would be played out by now; who has room for yet another ragtag team of outcasts with questionable morals and a habit for swearing, but come together against all odds and become one messed-up found family? And yet, AdHoc Studio's episodic, choice-based narrative game, Dispatch, has proved me wrong.

Set in an alternate Los Angeles where enhanced individuals, demons, and aliens are the norm, in Dispatch, you play as Robert Robertson, a superhero who goes by the name Mecha Man. But after his mission to take down the supervillain Shroud goes wrong, Robert is forced to take a break from his hero duties.

Feeling dejected and forced into early retirement, he's soon approached by the celebrated hero Blonde Blazer, and in exchange for repairing his suit, Robert joins the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN), an organization aiding the people of LA.

Tell-your-own-adventure games are so back

AdHoc's first game was created by a team of Telltale Games alumni along with other industry veterans, so it makes sense that it manages to capture the spirit of what made Telltale's stories so memorable in the first place. From the very first episode, I was taken with Dispatch, and it made me realize how much I've missed these interactive stories after their long absence.

With its eight-episode runtime, Dispatch is structured like an animated TV series and looks the part, too, with its remarkable animation and fluid art style that pop like the panels of a comic book. Thankfully, though, this isn't just another run-of-the-mill mature superhero drama that has become popularized these past few years. Yes, it does have the dark humor and violence that are typically present in these stories, but this game manages to successfully set itself apart from shows like Invincible, The Boys, or Peacemaker by being original enough.

Dispatch is workplace comedy and also a redemption story at its core. But it's not Robert who is looking for it; rather, the team he is forced to take under his wing.

At the SDN, it's Robert's job as a dispatcher to oversee the Z-Team, a group of former villains and anti-heroes that have been recruited to do some good. There's drama, rivalry, and some hilarious interactions to be found with this bunch, as well as frequent sex jokes, but at its core, Dispatch tells a sincere story about second chances and proving to yourself that you're more than your past mistakes.

Since he's leading the team, choosing how to approach Robert's personality is up to the player, and choices will have a rippling effect on those around you. My version of Robert was a compassionate, all-around good guy who believed in his team, and through certain dialogue options, the game does a great job of humanizing these ex-villains through witty banter, corny yet genuinely funny gags, heartfelt moments that offer an insight behind the mask, and the natural familial environment that comes with it all.

While all this is going on, there's also the looming threat of the primary antagonist, Shroud, voiced by the excellent Matt Mercer. Shroud's overall presence in the main narrative is lacking until late in the game, and I would have liked to have spent more time exploring his history with Robert. That being said, when he eventually makes his reappearance, his arrival presents an exhilarating conflict that pays off thanks to the game's solid build-up and how invested I became in rehabilitating the Z-Team.

Similarly, I was hoping for more about Robert's backstory, too, more so a deeper look into his relationship with his absentee superhero father and what his life was like as Mecha Man before he became entangled with the Z-Team, and it's something I would love to delve more deeply into in a potential follow-up season.

Clocking in to save the day

As an interactive narrative adventure, Dispatch lets you sit back and watch the story play out while clicking your preferred dialogue options throughout. But outside of this, and executing quicktime event (QTE) scenarios that feel genuinely thrilling when they're combined with flashy fight scenes, the game offers additional ways to make you feel more involved in creating your preferred world state.

During Robert's SDN shifts is where the core gameplay takes place and where you must use your wits to strategically assign heroes to missions across LA by matching the requirements to the character traits and their respective attributes for maximum success.

It's a sort of management sim, with different mission types that present unique challenges, requiring you to use your initiative to figure out the best course of action while also completing a series of hacking mini-games that feel incredibly rewarding when you achieve your tasks.

For players who are looking for a more relaxing time, the game also offers a Cinematic Mode, which disables QTEs during the main story, and an option for unlimited hacking attempts, so there's no need to stress about messing up and ruining your playthrough.

Missions and hero training also go hand in hand. Depending on your performance during shifts, heroes can earn XP that can be used to level up their attributes, as well as unlock additional skills that increase their chances of top marks.

Synergy abilities between a pair of heroes can also make or break a job, and reaching max synergy will add another major buff to the success rate. Heroes also have specific characteristics that will make them the right fit for a caller's request, like a runaway train that needs someone with high Vigor and Combat stats; that's a job for Punch Man or Golem. Having trouble with a demonic threat? Malevola is your best bet.

Personal choices, low morale, and narrative events like someone leaving work early or heroes sabotaging each other can also impact your daily shifts. At one point, the game asks you to pick a new addition to the Z-Team, newcomer Waterboy or the famous Phenomaman, and either choice will have a positive and negative impact on missions due to their attributes.

If you choose Waterboy, he's a weak character from the start with poor attributes, but he's a clean slate, meaning you can build him up however you like, and I ended up pouring his XP into making him an agile fighter. On the other hand, if you add Phenomaman to your team, he's incredibly strong from the start and can complete a variety of missions easily, but he has a terrible debuff that makes him depressed whenever you fail a mission.

The entire concept is an inspired idea that feels like an evolution in the long-standing, tailored narrative genre, offering more autonomy to the player beyond simply selecting certain dialogue options.

Building bonds

The game consists of eight episodes, with every cliffhanger leaving me at the edge of my seat, but, oh, how I wish there were more, if only so I could spend more time with these characters. Before even reaching the finale, every single member of Robert's circle, whether it be the anxious yet charming Waterboy, the charismatic Prism with her illusion powers, the devil from down under Malevola, or the literal bat man Sonar, had grown on me.

There wasn't a single member of the Z-Team that I disliked enough to wish I could boot from my team, and that's mainly thanks to the endearing way each distinctive hero is written and presented within the group, and the fantastic cast that voices them.

The bonds that Robert builds with the Z-Team, as well as the accompanying characters like Chase and Royd, feel so authentic by the final episode that I didn't want to say goodbye.

But the shining star for me was Invisigal, voiced by the amazing Laura Bailey, an abrasive and complicated ex-thief with a desire to be a hero. Her chemistry with Robert is one of the strongest facets of the game and overall storyline, and she quickly became a standout character among the bunch by matching Aaron Paul's sarcastic energy, who is also excellent in his role.

Yes, Dispatch also features romance, but it's not a deeply rooted aspect of the game, unlike other personally tailored adventure games that let you smooch your companions. This isn't necessarily a negative thing, but your options are very limited to either Invisigal or Blonde Blazer, and both are equally enjoyable as the other.

The thing is, the Z-Team is comprised of a bunch of great personalities that I would have loved to explore in additional playthroughs if given the chance beyond platonic relationships.

Nevertheless, despite being all-in on winning Visi's heart from the get-go, at times, it felt as if the game was pushing me towards her anyway, so much so that it almost feels like her and Robert are the canon pairing.

There are also many points in the game where your decisions will make or break your potential bond with Visi, and even if you don't romance her, her prominent role in the narrative presents major repercussions depending on your decisions, including an ambiguous outcome that leaves questions about the possibility of a season 2.

Should you play Dispatch?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility

Dispatch offers a ton of accessibility features, including a Cinematic Mode that turns off QTEs during scenarios, an Unlimited Hacking Attempts option, a colorblind mode with intensity options, visual warping and additive FX monitoring, and subtitle size options.

Some filters also replace licensed music and offer options to censor profanity and mature visuals.

How I reviewed Dispatch

It took me roughly 13 hours to complete Dispatch on my gaming PC with my Logitech G G715 wireless gaming keyboard and Logitech G703 wireless gaming mouse, which just included the main storyline using the game's main Interactive mode.

I also tested the Cinematic Mode, which turns off QTEs, on my Gigabyte M28U 28-inch 4K gaming monitor, repeated some scenarios to discover alternative outcomes, and compared the game's gameplay elements to Telltale's The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us.

First reviewed December 2025

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond's title screen is somewhat indicative of the game as a whole. The hypnotic, curvy eye motif and mysterious purple hue are backed by yet another belter of a title screen track; a series staple I'm glad is intact here. The presentation is immediately absorbing, and it's hard to suppress the goosebumps at the feeling that Metroid's 3D subseries is truly back. And then the whole aesthetic is ruined by a massive 'Nintendo Switch 2 Edition' logo slapped dead center of the display.

Nevertheless, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond absolutely holds up against the games that came before it. It's leagues ahead of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and its Wii Remote waggling gimmicks and unsatisfying exploration. Beyond also returns to an atmospheric feel very much in line with the original Prime.

The usual biomes are all present here - dense jungle, arid desert, abandoned mines, motorcycle dealership, et al - but all feel richly developed with distinctly alien traces. Ancient ruins, industrial installations, and evidence of twisted experiments lend each major area a rich history long before the arrival of protagonist Samus Aran.

Of course, this is helped by just how gorgeous of a game Metroid Prime 4: Beyond really is. Naturally you'll get the most out of it with the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and its support for 4K resolution. Returning developer Retro Studios clearly put a ton of work into environmental design, and an impressive amount of detail helps most areas stand out as a real visual treat.

But I can't quite say Beyond stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the GameCube masterpieces that came two decades before it. The large open desert is the feature that Nintendo arguably made the most noise about in Beyond's marketing, but its enormous size and barren nature ultimately make it serve little outside of boring, needless padding.

Enemy variety is alarmingly lacking, too, with just a couple of actually threatening types across all areas. Bosses follow suit; they often share simlar types of attacks and don't make much use of the various power-ups you'll accrue throughout the game.

There's clearly some rustiness on display here, 18 years on from the last mainline Prime entry. But when Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is firing on all cylinders, it still delivers a deeply rewarding and satisfying first-person adventure.

Can't complain about the View(ros)

If you're not caught up on the Metroid Prime games or the Metroid series in general, don't worry; like most games in the long-running franchise, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is designed to be enjoyed as a largely standalone entry. There are callbacks, such as the presence of the Galactic Federation and returning antagonistic bounty hunter Sylux, but don't feel like you have to get up to speed in any sense.

Beyond begins, unsurprisingly, in the same way a lot of these games do. Samus Aran responds to a distress call to aid in pushing back against a Space Pirate invasion at a Galactic Federation base. Things go awry when a mysterious artifact being kept in the base is activated, teleporting Samus and swathes of the base's personnel to the planet Viewros.

Not much is known about Viewros. Like Metroid Prime 2: Echoes' Aether, its existence appears to be something of an anomaly, undiscoverable on any galactic chart. It's on Viewros that we uncover the plight of the Lamorn, a now-extinct alien race that may or may not have invited tragedy upon themselves. The goal, then, is to reactivate Viewros's master teleporter and return Samus and the displaced Gal Fed troopers' home.

I really like Beyond's story. It's pretty unintrusive, and can largely be discovered through data logs and environmental details via Samus's scan visor. Uncovering the dark fate of extraterrestrial factions isn't anything new for Metroid, but the Lamorn are a particularly fascinating species in their aptitude for psychic abilities and technological prowess.

Much, too, has already been made of the Galactic Federation troopers, with fans worrying that their chatty nature might be at odds with the series' trademark feeling of isolation. I'm happy to say they're really not that bad, and a couple are even quite endearing.

Mackenzie is perhaps the worst offender, but not because of his socially awkward quipping. Rather, like a PlayStation Studios character, he has a habit of spelling out puzzle and progression answers to you before you've even properly had a chance to look around.

There's an element of hand-holding that just isn't welcome, especially when you're prompted to open the map to view an annoyingly unskippable animation showing you exactly where you need to go. That really becomes an issue towards the end of the game when you're just trying to do your 100% item and scan cleanup before the point of no return.

Third eye

In typical series fashion, Samus loses the lion's share of her abilities after being transported to Viewros. The game doesn't really make a song and dance of it this time, which is just as well; it beats the rather contrived ways Samus has undergone her nerfs in the past.

Progression in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, then, is as you'd expect if you're familiar with the series. You'll explore through a number of different areas, encountering roadblocks as you go that require you to discover power-ups elsewhere to progress.

On Viewros, Samus is able to inherit the psychic abilities of the Lamorn race. This lets her do things like open special doors, uncover hidden platforms, and make use of a psychic beam power-up that can be momentarily controlled to activate switches or hit multiple enemies.

Otherwise, power-ups are played safe in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Having the 'psychic' label doesn't stop morph ball bombs, the grapple beam, and various beam cannon types from acting the same than they used to. Even modifiers like fire and ice behave like you'd expect; dealing damage over time or freezing enemies solid respectively.

My guess is that Retro Studios didn't feel the need to push the boat out too much in regards to Samus's abilities. It's a robust kit that plays to the series' strengths of combat and exploration.

This time, though, the ball has been dropped when it comes to the boss fights. In fact, there's not many bosses to speak of, at least when compared to other games in the Prime sub-series. Unfortunately, this lack of quantity has not translated to a higher level of quality.

Bosses all share a handful of similar attacks, such as generating a wave of energy that Samus must jump over, or rolling around the arena at high speeds. They rarely, if ever, require Samus to make use of her various beam types, and it's not until the truly exceptional final boss that Retro presents a challenging and memorable fight - one of the best in the series, actually.

Level design and progression also isn't quite as ambitious or winding as we've seen in past games. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond definitely leans on the more linear side. That's not necessarily a bad thing; some of the series' best games, including Metroid Dread and Fusion, are fairly straightforward entries.

Like those games, Beyond more than makes up for it in the atmopshere department. The dense wilderness of Fury Green, the derelict, harshly-lit laboratories of Ice Belt, and the impressive industral scale of Volt Forge all lend their own unique atmospheric flavor, and it's a joy to scour these environments for items and snippets of lore.

Some areas are more painfully linear than others. There are rather annoying combat gauntlets in Volt Forge and the Great Mines, for example, that require at least a couple trips through for both story progression and late-game item hunting. Mercifully, you're never required to hop between gimmicky visor types in this game like Prime 1 and 2, but they show an occasional lack of care and ambition in overall level design.

At least backtracking for items is a pretty painless and actually quite enjoyable affair here. Once you have a certain beam power-up, you can activate a droid in each biome that will reveal item locations on the map. This, paired with some really handy shortcuts in each level, make going for 100% completion doable and worthwhile on your first playthrough.

Deserted

But this leads me onto easily the weakest element of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and it's the barren Sol Valley. This is a massive, arid expanse, in the corners of which sit the game's major locations. And good lord is it dull.

Designed for exploration with Samus's new VI-O-LA motorcycle - which she gets partway through an earlier area - Sol Valley just isn't very interesting. It's simply an enormous stretch of desert with very little in it. Presumably, this is stripped back so the original Nintendo Switch can handle while maintaining 60fps performance.

The motorcycle is fun to drive, at least. It's fast and performs turns and drifts in a satisfying manner. It's even equipped with weaponry to help shoot down a few rather pesky enemy types that periodically bother you while you're out and about.

Unfortunately, the mostly flat terrain of the desert doesn't really play to the bike's strengths. There are a few jumps, and chunks of Green Energy crystals that can be smashed and collected for a handful of optional power-ups, but the desert largely just serves as unenjoyable padding in an otherwise pretty short game.

The good stuff

I've been pretty critical of many elements in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, but I do want to leave this review on a few high notes; things the game does exceedingly well. Samus feels better than ever to control in 3D, with tightened-up movement and improvements to physics in her morph ball form.

When Samus has all her abilities late in the game, and you're uncovering the last few rooms in each major biome, the game really comes alive. Backtracking and 100% item collection is superbly paced, and it feels as satisfying as ever to tear through areas with a fully-kitted bounty hunter.

I also really didn't hate the Galactic Federation troopers Samus partners with at various points in her journey. Yes, it's really annoying when Mackenzie points out the obvious or forces you into an unskippable map animation, but there's good chemistry between each of the team members.

Samus isn't with them for overly long, just a handful of sections. One that really stands out is when she partners with a couple of them to take down a massive gunship. And seeing your base camp in Fury Green evolve over time as troopers file in is endearing; you can even catch dialogue between them if you visit at certain times.

But once again I really just have to gush about how gorgeous of a game Beyond is, in both the visuals and soundtrack department. It's easily the best-looking game on Switch 2 so far, and a 4K 60fps lock (or 1080p at 120fps in performance mode) shows a real technical wizardry on both Retro and Nintendo's part.

Multiple control options are also welcome, and all are a success. You have your standard twin-stick movement more in line with contemporary first-person shooters. Or you can make use of the Joy-Con 2 for gyro aiming. Mouse controls are also excellent, providing a level of accuracy that you can't get on other control types without locking onto enemies first.

Flaws and all, I still think Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a brilliant entry in the series. If the desert was a touch smaller, and there were a few extra rooms to explore in each biome, it'd be on its way to sitting alongside the first two Prime games in quality. But, this is nonetheless a really welcome three-dimensional return for Samus, and I really hope it won't be her last.

Should you play Metroid Prime 4: Beyond?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has some accessibility features worth highlighting, though unfortunately not much. You can enable a background for subtitles for increased legibility, and fully remap button profiles in all control settings. You can also adjust cursor, camera, and stick sensitivity to fine-tune a setup that's right for you.

How I reviewed Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

My playthrough of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond lasted just over 15 hours on Normal difficulty. This was a 100% completion run, with all items and scans collected. That may sound short, but is still very much in line with the length of most Metroid titles, including those within the Prime subseries.

I primarily played in the default control scheme on a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller, mixing it up with the support for mouse controls later in the game during some boss fights and item hunts. I also switched occasionally between docked play on an LG CX OLED TV, and handheld play with the RIG R5 Spear Pro HS gaming headset for enhanced audio.

First reviewed November/December 2025