Marvel Zombies: Heroes' Resistance review - "A good mix of simplicity and low-stakes edge"

If you have your eyes on Marvel Zombies: Heroes' Resistance, you’re most likely part of one of two camps: a) you’re a fan of Zombicide (and/or its various sci-fi, Western, and fantasy spin-offs) or b) you’re a Marvel buff drawn in by the IP tie-in. While there is plenty here to keep both flavors of player happy, I’d argue that the former are getting a little bit of a raw deal. However, I also reckon that this is by design, and to understand why, it helps to reflect on how Heroes' Resistance even came to be.

Marvel Zombies (notice the lack of subtitle) first hit Kickstarter at the start of 2022 and was a big ol’ $130-value board game beast that had players take up the role of zombified heroes munching their way through the poor unassuming public. However, “Hero Mode” (an expandalone offered as part of one of the project’s $240 pledge bonuses) flipped that script. Marvel Zombies: X-Men Resistance — despite being the big brother of Heroes’ Resistance — had higher component quality, allowed for more players, and had more content overall. But Marvel Zombies: Heroes’ Resistance isn’t made for those who haunt their local hobby store or pledge hundreds of dollars on their favorite tabletop Kickstarter projects, it’s made for those who are ready to drop $35 at Amazon or Target.

This isn’t a bad thing of course; some of the best board games achieve their greatness by mixing complexity and accessibility. It is a delicate balance though. In this case, the spirit of Zombicide is still there but I’d say that, unlike its predecessors, this title isn’t meant for big board game nerds so much as it’s meant to convert people into *becoming* big board game nerds. Once you know for sure that’s what you’re looking for, Marvel Zombies: Heroes' Resistance is a pretty great pick, especially at its price point. Is it one of the best cooperative games? Not necessarily, but it's a fantastic entry-point.

Marvel Zombies: Heroes' Resistance features & design

• A Marvel version of Zombicide
• Fewer characters make it more accessible
• A lot cheaper than core Marvel Zombies game

When you pop the top on your fresh new copy of Marvel Zombies: Heroes’ Resistance, your eyes will probably be immediately drawn to the two rows of miniatures. These are your six playable heroes and the big bad zombie heroes that you’ll find yourself up against. From Spider-Man to zombified Scarlet Witch, each of these minis are impressively detailed and have a great sense of movement to their poses.

When it comes to bystanders and standard horde zombies though, the game swaps out its usual miniatures for cardboard standees. Thankfully, this isn’t a downgrade that majorly impacts your experience, as the cardboard is good and sturdy and the art is well-executed.

However, this form factor does slightly up the challenge of keeping them organized in the box and being able to have a specific standee quickly to hand. Until you get around to buying your own baggies (or 3D-printing some custom inserts) to sort them, all 56 of your little guys will just be a mixed-up little pile you’ll have to rifle through every time it comes to spawning. The same could be said of the various tokens included with the game: they’re practical and well-made but are a bit of a jumble in the box, adding unnecessary padding to set-up time.

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Instead of marking character stats with little cubes on a plastic dashboard like in Marvel Zombies or its full-price expansions, you note key information with plastic clips on your player cards. If you’re like me, your instinct might be to worry about pinching or tearing the player card – that’s a misplaced concern. Let’s just say that despite the game shipping with 6 clips, by the end of my first play session, I was down to 4 and ½ clips. As far as I know, my fellow players and I don’t have Hulk-like strength, they’re just really not too hard to snap, unfortunately.

Chaotic cardboard and cruddy clips aside, there’s little to complain about when it comes to the contents of Marvel Zombies: Heroes’ Resistance. Its double-sided modular map tiles are easy to use and have plenty of little Easter Eggs as points of visual interest. Similarly, its rulebook is a treat to navigate thanks to all its illustrations and simple tables. The highly visual presentation of the rulebook is especially helpful for new players, as the vast majority of the questions you’ll have can be answered on one super condensed summary page. Though, once you get into the flow of play, you likely won’t need to reference this too often.

Gameplay

• The same excellent Zombicide fun
• Engaging co-op action
• No good solution for fewer than 4 players

Each of the eight missions included with Heroes’ Resistance tasks players with achieving goals like saving bystanders and capturing objectives, all while surviving waves of zombies.

The missions in the game offer decent variety, each of them with their own unique set of challenges and a (admittedly quite light) narrative hook. There’s a very light degree of randomization to each map too, as the kinds of hordes that spawn in each area are dictated by drawing from a deck of zombie types.

To combat this undead army, each hero is equipped with their own unique basic attack as well as a repertoire of Power-activated abilities that they gradually expand as they level up. There are also Heroic Trait cards, though the fact that it requires you spend one of your three actions per turn to draw one made this a gameplay that continuously fell by the wayside for me and my fellow players. We already felt more than equipped to wipe out the zombie threat, so we were focused on bringing the pain rather than trying to draw into new abilities.

Movement and Power management are the two main factors players take into account while planning their moves (friendly fire isn’t a consideration, don’t worry). However, the Target Priority rule makes a return, dictating you take on zombies in a very particular order instead of lining up your own bespoke strategy. That said, the game’s mechanics, while simple, at times can reach a frantic fever pitch as more zombies spawn in. When it all hits the fan, you’ll be glad to have your fellow heroes by your side to help.

As mentioned before, Heroes’ Resistance pares back the player count from Marvel Zombies’ original number of six, down to four. Oddly enough, there’s no way to scale combat back for less than four heroes, even when you’re playing with fewer players. Going solo? Get ready to keep track of all four heroes. Playing with two players? Double up and control two characters each. Have three players? Uhhh… I’m not too sure about that one, to be honest. Either way, the game never functions quite as well with less than a full house.

You do already have to alter the volume of zombie hordes on the map depending on your XP, so there’s definitely a practical argument to be made for eliminating the added variable of player count. Is managing multiple player characters a worthwhile trade for not having to do a little extra zombie math? I’m not entirely convinced.

Should you buy Marvel Zombies: Heroes' Resistance?

While the age rating on the box suggests players be 14 and up, in my view, this is a tad conservative. As a matter of fact, the game’s relative simplicity combined with its low-stakes edge makes it perfectly primed for the 10-16-year-olds. So, if you’re the parent of a pre-teen with a slightly above-average attention span who isn’t especially squicky about passing mentions of eating brains, this could be a killer (ha) addition to their growing board game collection.

Alternatively, Marvel Zombies: Heroes’ Resistance could be a lot of fun for a more casual board game night or for those who don’t like to feel bogged down by big-box legacy board game monsters that take 10+ hours to get through.

Ratings

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How we tested Marvel Zombies: Heroes’ Resistance

This review was put together after hours of play across multiple sessions. In order to get a composite picture of all playstyles, I tested both multiplayer and solo versions of Marvel Zombies: Heroes’ Resistance. The game’s components, content, and experience were also considered both in terms of design and practical use.

You can find out more in our guide to how we test board games, or the general GamesRadar+ reviews policy page.

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