Risk 2 Review

Risk 2 Review

Review by Alex

Risk II brings the classic board game of world domination to your PC in a way that stays true to the original gameplay, while adding in plenty of interesting new twists that in many ways improves upon it.

Classic Game Plus Some Cool New Game Modes

There is still the Classic game mode where players each take turns reinforcing, attacking, and consolidating as well as a new Same-Time mode where all non-combat phases of the game are handled for all players simultaneously. There are several new rules in this game mode as well such as different die based on the size of your army, mass invasions when several players are attacking the same country, and other changes which drastically change player strategies. While Same-Time mode can be a much more tense and cut-throat experience, it does a very good job of keeping things balanced and is great for those players looking for a new challenge.

Plenty of Options Like New Countries and Mission Risk

There are also tons of game options at your fingertips such as choosing to add six new countries which open up many of the continents, selecting how many reinforcements each continent supplies, three methods to select starting positions, and different winning conditions, such as World Domination (or at least a percentage of the world to shorten game time), Missions where you have to meet an objective like “conquer that country” or “kill that player”, and Capitals where you denote one of your territories as your capital and you have to gain control of a certain number of capitals to win the game. All of these add together to provide a new depth to the gameplay and new, interesting ways to experience this classic game.

A Few Drawbacks

While playing through there were some slight issues. For instance, while the LAN and hot seat multiplayer worked great, the internet support through MSN Zone was a bit difficult to use and had some connectivity issues. Also, the diplomacy system was a bit narrow with only a few options, you had to renew any alliances every round, and the computer very rarely agreed to any player proposed alliances. Finally, in Tournament mode there were no saves and if you lose one battle you are knocked out. While this did increase the tension and made each battle more interesting, it could get a bit frustrating if you get stuck and can't get past a certain round.

Conclusion - An Excellent Version of Risk

Yet, these minor issues pale in comparison to the addicting and enjoyable gameplay found in Risk II. The Classic mode is a great representation of the original board game and you don't have to deal with the hassle of game setup or keeping track of all the pieces and cards.

The new game modes and options let you experience refreshingly new twists to the gameplay and still retain the perfect balance of the original. Just give the demo a try and see how hard it is to put Risk II down once you're into the action.