Wooden Boards are a new addition coming with Resident Evil 2 remake. You can find them scattered throughout the RPD, and they can be used to board up windows and hold back some of the threat from outside the police department. The Wooden Boards are an optional item, you don’t have to use them to progress through the game, but they can be a big help, especially on higher difficulties.
Below we’ll explain how to use Wooden Boards in Resident Evil 2. We’ll also show where you can find the boards, and which windows should be boarded up.
How do I use Wooden Boards in Resident Evil 2?
If you’ve played the original Resident Evil 2, then you likely remember the shutters located in the west wing corridor and the hallway leading to the basement. You could use a cord with one of their control boxes and close the shutters, making one of the two locations safe for the rest of the game.
The Wooden Boards work kind of like the shutters did in the original game. Specific windows, sometimes with zombies pounding on them, can be boarded up in the RPD. If you board them up, it will prevent zombies from breaking through and entering the station.
While boarding up windows isn’t a requirement to complete the game you’ll likely want to at least board up the most convenient ones. The one by the Dark Room in the first floor west wing of the RPD, for example, has some Wooden Boards nearby, so it’s basically a free and easy way to save some handgun bullets.
Boarding up windows isn’t too big of a deal on normal difficulty, but on harder difficulties where ammo and health are more scarce, and enemies do and take more damage, you should be avoiding any fight you can. Also, take note that just because a zombie isn’t currently pounding on a window, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t board it up. At certain points in the game, even if you’re not in the area, zombies will break into insecure windows, and they’ll be waiting for you if you ever pass by again.
What windows should I board up in Resident Evil 2?
There’s a limited amount of wooden boards you can collect in Resident Evil 2, but plenty of windows you can board up. Pretty much every row of windows on the first floor of the RPD has at least one that can be reinforced with boards.
The best way to choose which windows to board up is to think about your situation logically. There are areas on the first floor you only really have to visit once, and others that you can bypass by using shortcuts that open throughout the game.
I recommend boarding up the following areas of the RPD:
- The window near the Dark Room where you find the first set of wooden boards.
- The window(s) in the hall that leads to the Break Room and stairs to the basement.
- The window(s) in the first floor east wing hallway near the Watchman’s Room.
You’ll revisit these three areas several times during the game, and they’re along routes that allow you to travel to other floors. It can be tempting to board up a window whenever you see a zombie banging on it, but that’s not always the best place to barricade.
In the hallway attached to the Interrogation Room and Observation Room, for example, you’ll see a zombie trying to break through a window. However, you never have to return to this hallway after the first time you visit it, so you’re better off just letting the zombie break through and then juking past it when you’re ready to leave.
Even an area like the east wing first floor south hallway, which could potentially be used to access the entirety of the wing, is best left to the zombies. This passage has too many windows and can be avoided by using the West Office shortcut once you get the Spade Key.
Whatever you do, though, you shouldn’t ignore the utility of wooden boards. Barricading the right windows can save you ammo and health, and makes the difference between a safe area and one riddled with zombies.
