EA reportedly scrapped a Plants vs. Zombies game years ago to focus efforts on Visceral's Star Wars project. Yeah, that's the one that ended up being cancelled too shortly afterwards.

As reported by IGN, sources describe the scrapped Plants vs. Zombies game as pretty distinct from anything we've seen in the series so far. Developed by a small PopCap Vancouver team in 2015-2016, this so-called Project Hot Tub was pitched as a story-driven action-adventure game "with the 'open corridor' progression of an Uncharted, the combat of something like Batman: Arkham Knight, but the family-friendly vibes of a Ratchet & Clank." Quite the mix it was, yet the game sounds like it could have been something original that would take the series in a very different direction.

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The story centres around two teenage siblings, teaming up with familiar crops from the Plants vs. Zombies series to fight off zombies while travelling through various historical eras. There was also time travel. According to the main idea, players would share a special bond with a Peashooter, who would accompany them through the entire journey. Peashooter offers a wide variety of possibilities, including its short-range firing abilities in combat, background chit-chattering, as well as more sophisticated mechanics like the one allowing you to use it as a glider.

Project Hot Tub Early In-Game Footage featuring Sunflower
via IGN

Other iconic plants would also appear throughout the game, each presenting unique gameplay mechanics. For example, a Sunflower would serve as a torch in a dark cave, while a Chomper could be used as a grappling hook to cross over large gaps.

Initially, Project Hot Tub was planned for a late 2017 release, and the team has progressed far enough judging by the project's early in-game footage seen by the reporters. When presenting a vertical slice of the game and a solid development plan to EA's executives in late 2016, it had been received very well. However, in the following days, the company decided not to greenlight the project and assigned the team to a much bigger project it had in mind: Visceral's Star Wars. The rest is history.

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