The laughter was infectious!
The quirky setup, paired with those ridiculous sound effects, turned the live stream into a riot of fun.
Right on cue, the other three friends chimed in with their own shocked outbursts.
"Haha, I'm a dang Corn Cannon!" Winter Melon shouted.
On the stream, Winter Melon was shaking his corn silk-topped head. His body was a sturdy stalk, his face pure corn, and his hands? Also corn. He looked golden and, frankly, kind of tasty.
But those corn-cob hands weren't just for show!
Winter Melon hit the training field's zombie shooting range. His corn hands fired with a vengeance—
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The classic Plants vs. Zombies sound effects rang out. Two cobs spun through the air, slamming into zombie targets!
Boom! Boom!
Popcorn exploded everywhere in a cloud of smoke!
The chat went nuts with laughter:
"Haha, popcorn explosions? That's hilarious!"
"Who even designs a game like this?"
"This is the weirdest game of the year, hands down."
"Winter Melon's got it easy, shooting with his hands. Poor Leo's probably worn out spitting peas!"
"Wait, Leo's doing his own sound effects? No spitting needed?"
"I don't care, I wanna hear the spitting!"
"Yo, check Eggplant's character—that's awesome!"
Following the chat's lead, viewers hopped to Eggplant's stream.
Eggplant had transformed into a tall, bulky Wall-nut, with a yellowish body and two mech-like arms sporting heavy gauntlets. In his right hand, he wielded a chili pepper gun that shot scorching flames. When the flames stopped, his left hand raised a translucent shield, kind of like Gibraltar's Dome Shield from Apex Legends.
"What in the world? This is cool!" Eggplant said, floored.
A flamethrower in one hand, a shield in the other—leading the charge, he'd be unstoppable!
"I'm invincible, boys!" Eggplant bragged over squad voice chat, blasting zombie targets with fire. "Follow my lead! Two words: charge in!"
The chat was buzzing:
"Eggplant's Wall-nut is awesome. A shield too?"
"Wall-nut's like Gibraltar's big brother."
"That shield's huge—could cover two people!"
"He's a tank, straight-up, with a flamethrower and energy shield."
"So, Peashooter and Corn Cannon are damage dealers, Wall-nut's the tank. Who's the healer?"
"Check Benny—he's got it covered."
Over on Benny's stream, he was playing doctor in the training field.
As a lively Sunflower, Benny didn't have Peashooter's rapid-fire, Corn Cannon's heavy damage, or Wall-nut's beefy shield and gun. His weapon? A grass-leaf gun that shot sunflower seeds like a submachine gun, with so-so damage.
But here's the kicker: he could link up with a teammate and channel sun energy to heal them!
As the only healer on the plant side, Sunflower was fragile but absolutely vital to the team.
The chat loved it:
"Benny's Sunflower is so chill."
"Everyone's out here blasting, and Benny's just vibing with heals."
"Sunflower's clueless but keeps everyone alive."
"That seed gun's ridiculous."
"Benny's like, 'I'm just a healing machine, pumping out sun energy.'"
"This game's a riot."
"No wonder it came together so fast—it's not your typical blockbuster."
"Hold up, an offbeat blockbuster is still a blockbuster!"
"Let's see a match already! I'm dying here!"
It was clear: playing as plants was a wild, fresh experience that had players hooked and audiences laughing in surprise.
And the game lived up to the hype.
If another time-traveler like Gus Harper existed in this world, they'd notice Garden Warfare wasn't quite the same as its namesake from another reality. It was a mashup of Garden Warfare, Garden Warfare 2, and Battle for Neighborville, with some custom tweaks from WindyPeak Games and Gus himself.
Take Winter Melon's Kernel Corn—it came straight from Garden Warfare 2, added to spice up the roster. Eggplant's Wall-nut? A reimagined Citron from Battle for Neighborville, swapped to feel more familiar to Plants vs. Zombies fans. Other plant and zombie skills got tweaks too.
But only Gus knew the full story. As the only one from another world, he understood the thought behind every change.
Seeing players having a blast made it all worth it. Games, at their core, were about joy—and Garden Warfare was delivering in spades.
"Capture the point! Come on, guys, why's everyone down? I'm toast!" Benny wailed.
Right now, his lone Sunflower stood on the capture point, panic in his voice.
Five minutes earlier, the four had teamed up and jumped into a match. The [Point Capture] mode caught their eye immediately.
Up until now, the PvP shooters they knew stuck to three modes: Team Deathmatch, Elimination, and Bomb Defusal. Garden Warfare's style ruled out Bomb Defusal, so they expected a standard free-for-all.
But this? Weird gunfights, Apex Legends-style skill assists, and role-based teamwork—damage dealers, tanks, healers—mixed with a cartoonish, over-the-top vibe. It screamed for an all-out plant-zombie brawl.
When they checked the game list, though, Team Deathmatch and Elimination weren't the stars. They were there, but the top two modes in bold red stole the show:
[Point Capture]:
A fast, brutal mode! Run, fight, dominate!
Team up to drive enemies off the point, hold it, and win!
Best of three—victory's decided in a flash!
[Target Escort]:
Seed Car Escort Battle!
Dave's self-driving seed car hauls flower seeds across town.
Plants escort it; zombies aim to wreck it.
Fight around the car—its fate's in your hands!
"These modes look like a blast!" Winter Melon said, eyes wide.
The clear descriptions, combined with their FPS experience, told them one thing: these modes were fast. Point Capture and Escort forced both sides to clash over a tiny area, shutting down campers who'd hide and snipe. Victory was all that mattered, not kills or scores.
Winners got more points and coins. Points unlocked character talents, like turning Peashooter into Ice Peashooter. Coins opened loot boxes for shiny skins, like a golden Sunflower.
For better skills and flashier looks, it was time to fight.
They jumped into a 6v6 Point Capture match, joined by two random teammates playing Cactus and Pylon Imp.
Eggplant's Wall-nut, Winter Melon's Kernel Corn, Leo's Peashooter, and Benny's Sunflower led the charge. With their pro streaming experience, they adapted fast.
Eggplant took point, and they formed up, rushing the objective.
The energy shield went up! Two corn rockets roared out!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Boom! Boom!
A Pole Vaulting Zombie charging the point got blasted by popcorn and went down. The Zombie Doctor's healing smoke saved him from first blood, but then—
Dong! Rumble!
Eggplant's Wall-nut shrank into a bowling ball, rolling straight at the zombies like in Plants vs. Zombies's bowling mini-game!
A cheery enemy Sunflower bounced behind, but Eggplant popped back to Wall-nut form, unleashing a torrent of flames from his chili gun!
Whoosh!
The Zombie Doctor went down in the chaos, sent back to respawn.
"Haha, let's go! Come get some!" Eggplant cackled in voice chat, honking like a goose. He raised his shield, blocked shots, and fell back to guard the point's main entrance.
The capture progress bar appeared—green for plants, purple for zombies. The green bar was halfway full!
The zombies panicked. A Foot Soldier Zombie unleashed a bean blaster barrage and fired a missile. An Engineer Zombie on a jackhammer sent out a shockwave and called in a drone. An All-Star Zombie charged, spraying his Gatling gun.
Bang! Bang! Tudududu! Dadada! Boom!
The tiny point erupted in chaos. Beans and popcorn flew, flames and fireworks swirled, and Benny's Sunflower healing beam glowed through the purple toxic fog.
The wild fight and goofy skills had the audience cheering:
"This is nuts, haha!"
"This game looks like a blast!"
"Everyone's got three skills: regular, ultimate, support!"
"Eggplant's bowling roll is a secondary skill. What's his main one?"
"Whoa, Bowling Charge! He just yeeted that Foot Soldier off the map!"
"Pylon Imp's ultimate is like old-school Fiora's Blade Waltz."
"Poor zombie healer's getting wrecked."
"Leo's ultimate is comedy gold…"
All eyes turned to Leo in the point's center. With zombies closing in, his Peashooter rooted into the ground. A steel helmet dropped onto his head, and six Gatling gun barrels sprouted from his trumpet mouth.
Leo took a deep breath. "Here we go—"
Peh peh peh peh!
Zooooom!
The six-barreled gun spun, unleashing a storm of pea bullets. Everything in its path—Foot Soldier, Doctor, even the tanky All-Star Zombie—got shredded. Cover skills turned to dust. The peas cut a straight line, sending zombies flying.
[Round One/Victory] [1:0]
The green bar hit 100%, and a slick victory screen flashed for the plants.
The plant team roared in excitement. Leo's Peashooter slumped, exhausted.
The audience lost it, laughing their heads off.