Dr. Zomboss, leader of the zombies, has finally taken over the suburbs from the defending plants. So now it is the plants' turn to go on offense and take back the suburbs. As the sequel to Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare the game retains the previous game's online-only, class-based, third-person shooter gameplay. However, this sequel adds additional gameplay modes as well as six new character classes.

The new character classes for each side are:

Plants

• Kernel Corn: comes equipped with dual Cob Busters, an explosive Shuck Shot, and a Butter Barrage air strike.
• Citron: can roll around the battlefield in its ball form, then switch into its attack mode using its Orange Beam.
• Rose: she comes equipped with homing Magic Thistles, a Time Snare to slow down zombies, and a Goatify ability (transforms zombies into goats).

Zombies

• Super Brainz: a melee fighter with short-range Heroic Fists but can also use a Heroic Beam for anything that's far away.
• Captain Deadbeard: uses a Scurvy Scattershot and the Spyglass Shot.
• Imp : comes equipped with dual rapid-fire Imp Blasters and can call in a Z-Mech for reinforcement.

The new game modes are:

• Graveyard Ops: similar to Garden Ops mode from the previous game but now the zombies are on the defense and the plants are the aggressors.
• Herbal Assault: similar to Gardens & Graveyards mode from the previous game but now with the plants attacking and zombies defending..
• Solo Ops: similar to the Garden Ops and Graveyard Ops modes, except the player has to play solo and can spawn three A.I. teammates for help.
• Backyard Battleground: a hub area where a player can choose to do quests, enter game modes, buy sticker packs, among other things.
• Flag of Power: a King of the Hill mode where players have to defend their flag for a period of time
• Turf Takeover: a combination of Gardens & Graveyards and Herbal Assault modes as the player has to play on both offense and defense.
• Infinity Time: an unlockable game mode where the player controls an Infinite Robot with the goal being to eliminate as many waves of gnomes as possible.

Another change from the previous game is that experience is earned from a lot more activities than before, such as killing enemies and planting plants instead of strictly just from finishing quests only.