Zombicide S2

Zombicide...Season 2...

Right, so I was a huge fan of Zombicide s1; because killing zombies, what's not to like? The mechanics were clean, easy to understand and it was fairly easy to set up. What about season 2 then?
Expansions are a lot like sequels to movies. On the one hand, you want them because you always want more of something you like. Otoh, you dread them because most sequels/expansions are never as good as the original. 

So how does ZS2 fare? Well, pretty good actually. It doesn't overly complicate the mechanics too much; although now I have MORE tokens to keep track of thanks to the fact that some of the new scenarios involve new tokens to represent new things. 

But other than that, the mechanics really haven't changed at all. You look at a weapon and see if what you need to roll on a d6 to hit and then roll that many d6s. Still simplicity at its best. 

Another thing that was added are the toxic and berserker zombies. One is immune to ranged weapons entirely, while the other sprays a toxic cloud at you if you kill it while it's in the same square as you. Basically it makes the game slightly more complex in the sense that now you actually can't just run through the game dual wielding chainsaws/uzis etc.

I also managed to get the dogs expansion packs but overall, I'm not too fond of them as I feel they don't make too much sense currently in the context of the game. I'm just not convinced they should be adding +1 die to melee attacks or so on.

I'm not too elated about the zombivore versions of Survivors though, since I feel it makes them somewhat hard to kill. Part of the thrill was always trying to survive to the end which was pretty damn hard on 2 health. Now you have a total of 7. And there are other zombivores that can even regenerate their health to max anyway. It just takes part of the thrill away. Although granted, it becomes pretty damn hard to survive all the way through a campaign on a 2hp survivor. 

Overall, pretty worthwhile backing this even though, at this stage, it's really more of a pre-order than anything else. Still, it was a fun ride. Zombicide S2 proves to be more of the same old formula that made Zombicide 1 fun, while also introducing several new factors that help keep it fresh without making it seem like a total rehash.