Was it Professor Plum with the Knife in the Kitchen? Or maybe Mrs. White in the Billiard Room with the Candlestick? Well, unless you try out Clue 2, you will just have to ponder that question for all eternity. We seem to have had quite a slew of Hasbro games in the last few weeks, and thankfully, they seem to be pretty solid PC game conversions of popular board games. Clue 2 - Murder at Boddy Mansion is no exception to this rule; in fact, it stands out as one of the best board game conversions I have tried. They spiced it up with some nice graphics and some great speech to make it a great alternative to actual human interaction via a board game. For those of you not all that familiar with the board game Clue, let me give you a quick rundown. Basically, you try to figure out who committed the murder, with what weapon, and in what room. This is done by moving through the various rooms and guessing. You are given some cards, as are all the other players, that let you know who, what, and where was not involved in the crime. When you make a guess, any other player holding a card that has the person, place or thing that you guessed has to reveal it to you. So, through the process of deduction, you can figure it all out. Well, enough said, on to the review.

Graphics - 17/25

Let's start out with this, because everybody seems to love the eye-candy these days. All in all, the graphics are great for a board game. You can choose from two views, an overhead board game type view, or the isometric type 3rd person view. The isometric view is very well done here (remember, this is a board game). As your character walks from place to place, walls become transparent so you can keep a clear view of him (or her). The layout of the board is very detailed, right down to the Ming vase in the dining room. You also have a few options as far as turning off the walls and lighting effects to make moving a little easier. This was the one great flaw with the graphics, they got in the way of the gameplay. You don't get to really see enough of the board to make movement easily. When taking turns, I found myself switching to the standard top-down board game view to select my spaces to move. But I still would switch back to watch the players walk about the mansion. Also well done are the various menu screens, they also have that right 'feel' to them.

Sound - 14/20

As far as board gaming goes, the sound here was also quite good. Gloomy-sounding speech accompanies you throughout most of the game, along with sounds to match all of your characters' movements. Some creepy music serenades you at other points during the game. The speech really sets you in the proper mood for the game. It just gives it the right 'feel', like you really are in some creepy mansion and you got some weird old butler talking to you. Although it will never match up to the 3d positional sound of today's gaming scene, remember, this is the board game scene here. Compared to others in this same genre, this one stands out.

Gameplay - 21/25

What can I really say here, the game is faithful to the original. If you ever played the actual board game, you will have no problem here, in fact, it will be easier, as the game will keep notes for you if you select that option. You can also select a game where you don't have to roll the die, you can just move up to nine spaces every turn. The only real drawback as far as the gameplay goes, is that it is sometimes hard to move in the isometric view, as I stated above. Kind of a pain sometimes. But everything else works fine. And here is a tip, in the options, turn on auto-notes, saves you a lot of time to have the computer keep your notes for you.

Fun Factor - 12/15

Well, it's pretty obvious I think this is a good game, so you can also assume that I had fun playing it. Yeah, this game is a good time. While the 3d-shooter crowd will probably hate it with a passion, the kids and family types will be into it. But, board games can be hard to recommend to people. It's better if you have actually played the original, and liked it.

Multiplayer - 5/5

Clue 2 supports MSN Game Zone, TCP/IP, and LAN connections as well as multi via actual live people sitting around your computer, so basically, they got it covered. Nice thing about board games over the net, you don't have to worry much about lag probs.

Overall Impression - 8/10

As far as the board game genre goes, this one stands out above the rest with its graphics. Hasbro is really starting to put out some top-notch conversions these days (check out Game of Life). I know board games are a tough sell to most of the hardcore gaming crowd, but you should maybe get one for your little brother or sister for Christmas, and check it out, they are actually kind of fun. I realize they will never match up to the likes of Half-Life or Unreal for action gaming, but for an uncoordinated lazy person, board games are fun, and your folks will play them too (that could be bad or good).