97 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
97 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
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RISK
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RISK, for those unfamiliar with Parker Brother's popular boardgame, is a game
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of world conquest for two to six players. RISK is played on a map of the world
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divided into six continents (Europe and Asia are considered separate
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continents), and 42 territories. Each player starts with an equal number of
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territories and generic "armies" with which to conquer other players.
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The computer edition of RISK is an excellent simulation of the boardgame. The
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map is beautifully done in EGA graphics, complete with the sailing ship, whale,
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and dolphins that decorate the original board. The delay in die rolling captures
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the feel of a conventional game quite well, and can be toggled off to speed
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play. The RISK cards are very nice too, showing the territory and the figure
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(artillery, infantry, or cavalry) clearly. (This review is based on the IBM-PC
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version; Atari ST version notes follow.)
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Every rule and variation mentioned in either the US or UK editions is
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represented, with the exception of team games. Games can be long, ending with
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complete conquest of the world, or short, ending with either the elimination of
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enemy headquarters (US short game) or fulfillment of secret missions (UK short
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game). Initial territory selection can be random or manual. RISK card values can
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be fixed, may increase slowly in value, or may increase quickly in value. The
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Supply Line, Attack Advantage, Commander Advantage, and Army Limit optional
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rules are all available.
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Any number of computer players can participate, each at one of three different
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skill levels. Predictably, even the best computer opponent -- although competent
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in the basic mechanics -- has blind spots. In particular, it tends to evaluate
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only those territories adjacent to its armies.
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This has several side effects. Most obvious is that continents are easier to
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defend against computer adversaries than against humans, since the former often
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ignore a weak defense unless they happen to own the adjacent territory. Neither
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do computer players team up to attack strong opponents.
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In games with RISK cards that rapidly increase in value, the computer players
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are very weak. As soon as the sets are each worth 20 armies or more, captured
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RISK cards become very important. The computer players won't (and can't) make
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that all-out push to eliminate another player for his RISK cards.
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Despite these problems, the computer plays a decent game of RISK. A six-player
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game against five of the high-level computer opponents will give even an expert
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RISK player a run for his money, provided he or she plays with the UK rules
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(with its fixed values for RISK card sets and random setup).
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The computer edition of RISK does have some failings, though. You don't get to
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see the RISK card you draw until after you finish placing armies during your
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next turn unless, of course, you happen to have a set yourself. Since possession
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of the territory on the card is worth extra armies, this is occasionally
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frustrating.
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More seriously, the Army Limit rule doesn't work properly at the start of a new
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game. Computer RISK ignores this option until it's explicitly re-selected during
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a player's turn. In games without computer players, this is not a problem, since
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all players can simply agree to abide by the limit until it can be enabled.
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The other shortfalls are few. The Quit command reboots the computer instead of
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returning to DOS. The manual includes only a partial explanation of the Attack
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and Commander Advantages, assuming instead that the reader is familiar with the
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boardgame rules. When either option is enabled, the program often asks if the
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player wishes to use the rule, even in when it would bring no benefit. The
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Supply Line rule could be better implemented. As it stands now, the game forces
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the player to move armies territory by territory, instead of simply picking
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source and destination territories.
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The IBM-PC version of RISK requires 512K of RAM and supports CGA, EGA, and
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Tandy 1000 graphics. It is not copy-protected.
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All in all, the computer edition of RISK is a good game. The box blurb claims
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it's "a must for libraries of war strategists and gamers alike," and after
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careful consideration, I have to agree. Although relatively simple in mechanics
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when compared to other wargames, RISK is fun and thought-provoking. Further,
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RISK has a broad family appeal, as the history of the boardgame has proven.
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ATARI ST VERSION NOTES
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The Atari ST version of RISK is, for all practical purposes, identical to the
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IBM-PC package described above.
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On the IBM, RISK supports both mouse and keyboard; on the ST, RISK uses the
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usual GEM interface conventions, thus making everything mouse-controlled. The
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only glitch that surfaced involved the save-game option: Instead of saving a
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game in progress, this function created three bombs and a system crash. Since I
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don't often come across a bum save feature, I'm inclined to think the cause was
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a mildly scrambled program disk, rather than a bad routine.
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Notwithstanding the save screwup, RISK on the ST looks and plays just fine.
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While SCRABBLE is still the best boardgame translation Leisure Genius has
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released so far, this computer version of RISK comes close enough to be as good.
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I'm not sure, though, if it will appeal to many gamers who aren't familiar with
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the original.
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RISK is published by Leisure Genius and distributed by Virgin Mastertronic.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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