RISK

 RISK, for those unfamiliar with Parker Brother's popular boardgame, is a game
of world conquest for two to six players. RISK is played on a map of the world
divided into six continents (Europe and Asia are considered separate
continents), and 42 territories. Each player starts with an equal number of
territories and generic "armies" with which to conquer other players.

 The computer edition of RISK is an excellent simulation of the boardgame. The
map is beautifully done in EGA graphics, complete with the sailing ship, whale,
and dolphins that decorate the original board. The delay in die rolling captures
the feel of a conventional game quite well, and can be toggled off to speed
play. The RISK cards are very nice too, showing the territory and the figure
(artillery, infantry, or cavalry) clearly. (This review is based on the IBM-PC
version; Atari ST version notes follow.)

 Every rule and variation mentioned in either the US or UK editions is
represented, with the exception of team games. Games can be long, ending with
complete conquest of the world, or short, ending with either the elimination of
enemy headquarters (US short game) or fulfillment of secret missions (UK short
game). Initial territory selection can be random or manual. RISK card values can
be fixed, may increase slowly in value, or may increase quickly in value. The
Supply Line, Attack Advantage, Commander Advantage, and Army Limit optional
rules are all available.

 Any number of computer players can participate, each at one of three different
skill levels. Predictably, even the best computer opponent -- although competent
in the basic mechanics -- has blind spots. In particular, it tends to evaluate
only those territories adjacent to its armies.

 This has several side effects. Most obvious is that continents are easier to
defend against computer adversaries than against humans, since the former often
ignore a weak defense unless they happen to own the adjacent territory. Neither
do computer players team up to attack strong opponents.

 In games with RISK cards that rapidly increase in value, the computer players
are very weak. As soon as the sets are each worth 20 armies or more, captured
RISK cards become very important. The computer players won't (and can't) make
that all-out push to eliminate another player for his RISK cards.

 Despite these problems, the computer plays a decent game of RISK. A six-player
game against five of the high-level computer opponents will give even an expert
RISK player a run for his money, provided he or she plays with the UK rules
(with its fixed values for RISK card sets and random setup).

 The computer edition of RISK does have some failings, though. You don't get to
see the RISK card you draw until after you finish placing armies during your
next turn unless, of course, you happen to have a set yourself. Since possession
of the territory on the card is worth extra armies, this is occasionally
frustrating.

 More seriously, the Army Limit rule doesn't work properly at the start of a new
game. Computer RISK ignores this option until it's explicitly re-selected during
a player's turn. In games without computer players, this is not a problem, since
all players can simply agree to abide by the limit until it can be enabled.

 The other shortfalls are few. The Quit command reboots the computer instead of
returning to DOS. The manual includes only a partial explanation of the Attack
and Commander Advantages, assuming instead that the reader is familiar with the
boardgame rules. When either option is enabled, the program often asks if the
player wishes to use the rule, even in when it would bring no benefit. The
Supply Line rule could be better implemented. As it stands now, the game forces
the player to move armies territory by territory, instead of simply picking
source and destination territories.

 The IBM-PC version of RISK requires 512K of RAM and supports CGA, EGA, and
Tandy 1000 graphics. It is not copy-protected.

 All in all, the computer edition of RISK is a good game. The box blurb claims
it's "a must for libraries of war strategists and gamers alike," and after
careful consideration, I have to agree. Although relatively simple in mechanics
when compared to other wargames, RISK is fun and thought-provoking. Further,
RISK has a broad family appeal, as the history of the boardgame has proven.

 ATARI ST VERSION NOTES

 The Atari ST version of RISK is, for all practical purposes, identical to the
IBM-PC package described above.

 On the IBM, RISK supports both mouse and keyboard; on the ST, RISK uses the
usual GEM interface conventions, thus making everything mouse-controlled. The
only glitch that surfaced involved the save-game option: Instead of saving a
game in progress, this function created three bombs and a system crash. Since I
don't often come across a bum save feature, I'm inclined to think the cause was
a mildly scrambled program disk, rather than a bad routine.

 Notwithstanding the save screwup, RISK on the ST looks and plays just fine.
While SCRABBLE is still the best boardgame translation Leisure Genius has
released so far, this computer version of RISK comes close enough to be as good.
I'm not sure, though, if it will appeal to many gamers who aren't familiar with
the original.

 RISK is published by Leisure Genius and distributed by Virgin Mastertronic.

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