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The year is 1812. Napoleon's army is on the march, and it's
every empire for itself. As Supreme Commander, you'll seize
territories, crush your enemies, and betray your allies in a
fast-paced, ruthless quest for world domination. Play the Classic
Game under the familiar rules, trading cards for armies and
rolling the dice to outdo your nent. Play the
Simultaneous-Turn option for a whole new Risk experience that
includes I-COM communication and negotiation features,
territory-depth enhancements, and territory bidding. Risk 2 is
the ultimate form of this world-domination game that people of
all ages have enjoyed for 40 years.
Review
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When it comes to computer versions of board games, you'll almost
always get a compromise. Either the computerized version no
longer plays anything like the original board game, or there's
not enough difference to even warrant a computerized release.
Fortunately, the sequel to the strategist's strategy game is
something of an exception to the rule, as it not only stays
faithful to the original gameplay, but it also presents some
pleasant new spins on the classic Risk formula.
Risk II now comes in three different variations of Parker
Brother's classic board game. There's the classic mode, which you
play using the rulebook of the board game; the same-time mode,
which eliminates individual player turns and instead determines
the results of all players' attacks simultaneously; and a
tournament mode, which is a series of both classic and same-time
games that awards points for completing certain objectives.
The same-time mode is essentially a brand-new game. While the
mode uses only a slightly different and set of rules, its
differences and subtle nuances are enough to throw off even the
most brilliant of Risk strategists. Instead of having individual
player turns, same-time Risk is now split into phases. Each phase
lets you set up your armies and attacks, then the conflict begins
once everyone has submitted their battle orders. During this
period of time, armies on the offensive that have yet to attack
are considered en route to the country they will be invading and
cannot defend their home country. Thus, attacking armies have to
be considered carefully, as sending your whole army on an attack
leaves your country vulnerable to an attack from a neighbor. In
addition, multiple neighbors can now attack one country, giving
an advantage to the player who owns the most of any country.
Same-time Risk doesn't use the classic six-sided dice; instead,
it uses a completely new die rule - the attacker and defender
each gets one 12-sided die that has a certain a of number
values on it, depending on the size of the army. There are five
ranks of the 12-sided dice, called "battle dice", from white to
black. The white die rolls an average of 2.6, while the black die
rolls an average of 4.5, making it easier for larger armies to
destroy smaller ones. Not only does the color of the battle dice
determine how strong your roll will probably be, but it also
determines how many armies you'll lose upon the outcome of the
roll. While this new system is certainly interesting, it's
somewhat one-sided, and it completely eliminates the infamous
"Rambo" scenario in which your single defending army successfully
repels an attack, even though it's hopelessly outnumbered. The
advantage is now definitely with the attacker, as the defender no
longer wins a tie in same-time Risk. To make up for this,
same-time Risk sports a rule that limits exactly how many armies
you can use to fortify certain territories. Unfortunately, this
rule is frustrating, as you'll often find yourself with more
reinforcements than you can spend on your border territories,
making you waste those armies on a country that's not at
immediate risk. With all these variables, same-time Risk is a
quicker, more ruthless game than the classic version, and it
couldn't possibly exist without the assistance of a computer to
keep track of all the details.
--Ben Stahl
--Copyright ©2000 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
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