Some of you know that I have been a very obsessed and addicted gamer. Many years ago, it was pretty much all I did, and I spent many days for hours on end playing games on my playstation and x-box. My gaming days are behind me now, though the memories of those days certainly aren’t. One of my favorite gaming series was Resident Evil. This survival horror game, had you fighting the evil Umbrella corporation responsible for creating a deadly virus that turned people into blood thirsty zombies. There is a scene that I remember vividly from the first game. Your character was moving through a quiet hallway. You felt that something was about to happen, but you didn’t know what. Then all of a sudden a raving zombie dog crashed through one of the windows. I was playing with my headphones on, and it was enough to let me drop my controller on the ground. That’s how much it scared me. The series spawned many sequels, but a fan favorite has always been the 2nd part. That game was recently remade for modern consoles and looks so gorgeous that I was almost tempted to buy the game and a new console. But I resisted that temptation and instead got myself something entirely different: The Boardgame version! I know it seems strange to buy a boardgame based on a computergame, so let’s find out if cardboard can beat the computer!
Components
I have a lot of boardgames in my collection that have seriously beautiful components, and that’s usually one of the things that draws me in. I have to be honest though, this game isn’t one of those. With the exception of the miniatures and some of the cards, most of the material contained within the box is pretty bland, or even downright ugly. The game comes with a stack of tiles in all kinds of shapes that you use to put together the board. Most of these are so dark, that you can hardly see any details on them. Then there are doors, represented by counters, which are even worse. I often had trouble seeing if they were in an open or closed position when they were put onto the board. The price for the worst component however, goes to the walls, that look more like leftover packing material than anything even remotely representing a wall. Luckily the game is saved by the miniatures contained within the box, which look really cool. Most of these are the monsters that you will encounter during the game, such as the zombies, dogs and the horrible lickers to name a few. Rounding out the game are a bunch of tokens, a few stacks of cards, custom dice and a rules and scenario book. All in all it gets the job done, but they definitely could have made this look so much better.
Game overview
So is the gameplay itself as bad as the way the game looks? Hell ….to the no. Luckily the game is a blast to play, and once you get the hang of it, you don’t think twice about the way it looks anymore. Resident Evil 2 the boardgame, let’s you take on the role of one of the famous characters from the computergame, such as Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield. You can play the game solo (and have a true survival horror experience) or with up to four players. In each game you pick a scenario that you want to play, and set up the board accordingly. Set up time takes a while, as you have to construct the board with the different tiles each time you play (each scenario has a different board set up). Players take turns exploring the board, scrounging for items, fighting enemies and looking for a way to complete the scenario. The biggest challenge lies in deciding when to fight and when to run away. Ammo for your weapons, is just as scarce here as it is in it’s computerised counterpart. As such you can’t go into full rambo mode and try to kill every enemy you encounter.
Players are under constant pressure from the aptly named tension deck, a set number of cards that not only contain all kinds of nasty stuff that can happen, but also acts as a timer. When the deck runs out of cards, it’s game over. This being a cooperative game, the players have to work together to beat the game. The four different characters that are included in the game, all have their own unique abilities, that can effect the game in different ways. The players win the game when they all survive and complete the scenario. In one game they might have to reach a certain location, in another they have to escape an area before a self destruct sequence blows the place to kingdom come. Every scenario has it’s own set of challenges and difficulty. If you want you can even link all of them together in a campaign where players can keep the items they found in a previous level, and bring them to the next one. Whatever you prefer, there is an awesome amount of replayability and no two games are ever quite the same.
Difficulty
The rulebook of this game does it’s job by teaching you the game in different stages. It starts out with some basic gameplay, let’s you play a scenario, and then continues with some more advanced rules. I had no trouble learning the game, and rules questions that popped up during a session, I could find answers to rather quickly in the rules booklet. As such it’s not a difficult game to learn. Winning the game however is an entirely different matter. Just as the computergame this is based on, it’s quite a challenge to beat it. I have had games where I lost five minutes after I set up (due to some bad dicerolls, and unlucky cards), but overall it takes time to either win or lose the game. Winning takes careful planning though, with the most important thing being how you use your items and weapons. You usually have the urge to kill an enemy as soon as it emerges, but that isn’t always the best course of action. But it’s not impossible to win, and finding out just how to do that is part of the fun.
The Verdict
When I first opened the box and laid eyes on what was inside I could not help but feel disappointed at the quality of the components. I was shocked at how a game based on such a popular franchise, could look so ugly (again not counting the miniatures). The game certainly isn’t very cheap either, so I was beginning to wonder if this had been a waste of my money. However, luckily my shock turned to elation very soon when I started playing the game itself. It really is a fun and tough as nails survival horror game, that offers just as much challenge as if you were playing the game on a console. The fact that the game also has a lot of replayability is another bonus. Since it’s release a number of expansions have been brought out to add even more challenges to the game, including new monsters and scenarios. As I have just bought this game, and still have enough mission in it to complete, I have as yet no plans to buy any of these. I might definitely be tempted to buy them later though. All in all Resident Evil 2 The Board Game is a fun experience, especially if you are a fan of the original games.
I give Resident Evil 2: The Boardgame a 8 out of 10 score.
I didn’t even know they made such board games, Michel. That one looks very exotic, and puts my ‘Trivial Pursuit’ to shame! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Haha…well, there are even more exotic ones out there than this one Pete. I hope to have an even more out of this world game for next month! 😊
Ps…I love Trivial Pursuit! It’s awesome! 😊😊
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To be honest, I haven’t played it in years, and have no idea where it is, or even if I still have it!
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Haha, well I haven’t played it myself in ages either, but I really did enjoy it always quite a bit😊😊 And there are now so many versions of the game too!
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This looks really good, but I see what you mean about the tiles — they’re WAY too dark. I haven’t played the recent remake of Resident Evil 2, but the original PlayStation version was actually surprisingly vibrant and colourful throughout, so it’s a shame they went for the grimdark browns seen here.
Game sounds neat though, and survival horror as a concept is well-suited to the board game format.
If you have people you can get together to play with, a horror game I can *highly* recommend (assuming you haven’t tried it already!) is Betrayal at House on the Hill; that begins as a co-op game, but partway through play something terrible happens and one player becomes a traitor with their own unique objectives to complete while stopping the remaining players achieving their goal. They’ve done a “Legacy” version of this recently, where the game changes a little (and permanently) after each session, too.
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Yeah, it’s a real shame that the components aren’t of a better quality. A popular franchise such as this definitely deserved that. That said, luckily enough it more than makes up for that in the gameplay department, so that’s good. It really is a fun and quit tense game, that really captures the spirit of the original videogame very well.
I loved the original resident evil games. Part 2 was awesome, but 3 for me was the favorite, and that was simply because of that awesome foe in the form of Nemesis 😊
As for Betrayal at House on the Hill, I have seen numerous playthroughs of that one and it looks really cool. But the problem is finding players for it, and that’s the main reason I haven’t bought it.
That said: Eldritch Horror is a pretty good substitute for that: and it can be played solo! Definitely a game that I highly recommend! 😊
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I saw this game in the Subcultures store in Utrecht the other day, I considered buying it for a bit but it was quite expensive. One of my favorite games ever is Dead of Winter and I figured that it might not be as awesome as DoW so I ended up passing on it for now.
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Seriously…sometimes I really wonder if we AREN’T distant relatives in some way, because the amount of things we seem to have in common is getting scary lol😂
Subcultures is pretty much my favorite game store in Holland, and a place I visit pretty much every six weeks or so😊 (and is very bad for my wallet😅)
Dead of Winter really looks (saw a playthrough of it on Will Wheaton’s channel), but I always have trouble finding players so I always try to buy games that have at least a solo play option. Don’t know if you ever played Zombicide, but as far as zombiegames go, I think that is one of the most fun games out there😊
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I think Subcutlures would be just about everyone’s favorite game store in the Netherlands, everyone I know at least.
Living a bit far away from it and not that mobile I visiit it like twice a year.
Dead of winter is amazing, bought all the expansions, though the warring colony expansion (4 player HARD minium with prefarably 6) is a bit steep.
Love the game though and being the traitor in the group is totally my thing xD .
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Haha, I guess, that’s true! It’s just such a cool store. I always compare it to kind of a treasure box that keep on giving. Whenever I visit there I never leave empty handed lol 😂
Ah okay! Well, if you ever need something from there, and you are not able to go, sent me a message. Would be glad to get it for you and sent it to your place. Live about half an hour from Utrecht myself, which is why I go there somewhat frequently (that and my subscription of Star Wars comics is also a good motivation😂😂)
Lol…being a traitor is always fun…erm…did I just say that out loud? Ooooppps….🙈😂
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When you showed the cards and the chits, I thought it looked decent but those tiles are really dark. Glad the game is fun still though! 🙂
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Yeah the cards and chits are one of the few components that look pretty cool. But the tiles are really too dark. That said: it’s the gameplay that counts, and on that front it doesn’t disappoint. Definitely a really fun game to play! 😊
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Another interesting game in your vast collection 🙂 Agree, that it doesn’t look as good as some of the others, but luckily, it’s a lot of fun to play for you which is probably what matters most 🙂
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Yeah, the components were a real let down…but you are so right, the gameplay is definitely what matters most to me, and luckily on that front it did not disappoint! 😊
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I didn’t much like board games even back when it was a thing you did when going on camping holidays with your folks. Many miserable hours spent playing monopoly, scrabble, bloody cluedo and the like. I did quite enjoy Mousetrap though. 😊
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Well..the fun of it all is, is that boardgames are definitely making a come back. More and more games are being released each year, and most can be played on your own as well. That might sound boring, but it’s actually a lot of fun! And the games are becoming way better than the old games so to speak 😊 Mousetrap is a classic…and so much fun! 😊
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They’re coming back? Shoot me now 🤣
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Good to know you are obsessed with games as well as movies and anime 😀 That box looks creepy for sure.
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Haha…my biggest problem I think is that I have way too many hobbies lol! Way too many things I’m obsessed with! 😂😂😂
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And how do you find the time to fulfill it all? 😂
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Lol…honestly? I don’t haha😂😂
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You are right that it doesn’t look great but it does sound like it would be fun to play. Thanks for sharing your experience with it.
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Well, it’s a bit like videogames to be honest. In my gaming days, I always found graphics to be the least bit important, as long as the game was fun to play, you won’t hear me complain😊 And it’s pretty much the same with this boardgame. It really is very cool, and even cooler when you love the videogames! 😊 And of course you are welcome! 😊
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I had no idea this existed! So cool that we’re seeing more video games made into board games. I know I just saw Pac-Man recently, and I’m curious as to how that plays.
But I’m glad this one is for 1-4 players. Nice to have an option for a small group or by yourself.
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There are a lot of video games that have been made into boardgames: I have Gears of War,Doom and Dark Souls. There is also a boardgame of This War of Mine, and probably many more that I don’t know of. Didn’t know about Pac-Man. Cool! Going to see if I can track that one down 😊😊
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OMG THERE’S AN RE2 BOARD GAME WHAT?!?!?! I’M SO OBSESSED WITH THIS FRANCHISE. Sorry about all the caps, I got very excited there for a second haha. I’m going to have to find this one somehow. WOW!
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Haha lol! 😂😂😂😂Well, that pretty much mirrored my reaction when I found out that there was a board game for Resident Evil! 😂😂 Love your enthusiasm! And it’s really a fun game to play I have to be honest! 😊
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This board game looks SO fun and the idea of a horror-themed one is kind of hilarious. Now that I think of it, a lot of videogame series would make awesome board game ideas.
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It really is an awful lot of fun. What it lacks in the way of good looking components, it more than makes up for in the gameplay department. Oh yes…there are a lot of videogames that have already been made into boardgames: such as Doom, Gears of War and Dark Souls. All of them are pretty awesome! 😊😊
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OMG a Dark Souls boardgame!!! Thanks for mentioning that, off to Google now! 😀
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Haha…actually, there is both a board and cardgame for Dark Souls 😊 And of course, you are welcome! 😃
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Wow! I thought my Twin Peaks board game was off-beat! Resident Evil takes the biscuit?
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Haha😂😂 Yeah I guess it does. Didn’t know there was a Twin Peaks boardgame by the way…have to look into that! 😊
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I’ve never been a big board game person behind the usual: Life, Monopoly, Candyland, Chutes & Ladders, Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, etc. I love these posts of yours Michel because you introduce us to some interesting new ones.
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Aww thanks Kim! That’s very nice of you to say😊 I have quite a lot of the more unusual boardgames, and I definitely like writing abou them! Plenty more to come in the upcominng months! 😊😊
And the usual boardgames like the one you mentioned, will always be fun to play in my opinion! 😊😊
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I like the idea of horror themed board games.
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Well…will probably do another horror themed board game nearing Halloween! 😊😊
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This sounds intriguing, Michel. It’s nice to know that it has a lot of replayability and that a solo experience gives you a full horror survival experience. How long is the game though? Does the completion time vary according to your skill level or will every game always be the same length of time? Can you also… “cheat” while playing alone? 😮 Awesome review of this boardgame though. The video games are indeed gorgeous nowadays. Can’t imagine what they can achieve with VR and RE in the near future! 😀
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Haha, had to laugh about the “cheat” remark 😂😂 I guess you can, but that would be a bit silly 😊
It really is a fun game though, no question about it. As for your question, it depends on the scenario. Some scenario’s you choose take longer to complete than others. And of course it also depends a bit on skill and the luck of the dice roll 😊 But on average a game can take 2-3 hours to complete 😊 Not a single second of that time it will get boring though! 😊
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I like that this can be played solo. Is it easy to get to grips with when played alone?
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Yeah, I always have trouble finding other players, so I’m always on the look out for games that have solo rules. But yes it’s definitely not a very hard game to learn. It’s not an easy game to win though, but that only adds to the challenge in my opinion😊😊
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I guess when you have Resident Evil on the box you know it’s going to sell, so you don’t have to put much effort with the components. Good to hear that it’s fun to play, even if it could look prettier. Losing in five minutes must suck though, especially after spending so much time setting up the board.
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Yeah, that is true. I’m thinking this would sell, even if the components looked more ugly. To be fair though, I have to say that I have always found gameplay to be the most important thing in games. Whether or not they are board games or computer games. And on that regard this game really doesn’t disappoint 😊 Lol, so true. Although the good thing about losing in five minutes is that there is plenty of time to start a new game again! 😂😂
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You know I’ve seen a lot of things being reviewed on, but board games were a first to me,and I saw them on your blog! I’m a total novice here, I know just ludo and snakes and ladder I guess but this sounds really good! You know maybe you should do an unboxing! Needn’t be a video either. I know you have lots of merch so I think that will be an interesting thing to read about on your blog!
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Haha, thank you! Yeah I try to cover things on my blog here, that aren’t well known, so yeah boardgames are fun to write posts for😊 This is really a fun game, no argument from me there, especially if you like horror 😊
As for unboxing posts…hm…well, who knows maybe somewhere in the future I will do a post for that 😊
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Well can’t wait for that then! I will look forward to that!
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Oh that zombie dog scared the life out of me too, when I played the video game 😂 Out of all the monsters in that game, I think those dogs jump scared me the most 😀
Glad you had fun with the board game, even though it didn’t give a very good first impression. The little red monster piece are very cool and I love their family picture 😂
Great post!
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Lol…yeah, the dogs were scary as hell (pun intended I guess😂) I have very fond memories of the entire Resident Evil series. It will always be one of my favorite game series.
The boardgame, despite appearances really is fun to play, and what the game lacks in appearance, it more than makes up for in gameplay, so that’s good😊 And thank you! 😃
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Hell yeah im a fan! How scary is the cost of this?
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Lol😂😂 Well…it’s definitely one heck of a fun game. Not going to lie though…it’s a pricy game: I bought it for just under 100 euros….🙈🙈🙈😅😅😅
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😱damn. Thats pretty steep
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Lol…yeah…it is 😅😅
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Ooooh I always wanted to play this game!!
Sounds neatly done huh, going to have to give this a try rai-san…
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I’ve never played the original, so I wouldn’t have anything to compare it to, but it’s great this ended up being such a fun experience! Brilliant review!
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I loved Resident Evil 2… Though the first one had a higher mystery factor, the technical improvements made the second at least just as good. The third one was good, too, but after that I kind of lost interest. Too much shooter, I guess.
The board game sounds really interesting, thanks for a good review. I figure it’s the same story as the console game, with the police station?
By the way, a while back I bumped over Alone in the Dark 3 at the Cassicreload.com online emulator. They usually give Resident Evil series credit for being the first survival horror game, but to me it seems like Alone in the Dark had already done it. Highly recommendable. Here it is, if you want to get hooked for a while… https://classicreload.com/dosx-alone-in-the-dark-3.html
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