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Risk Gold

Score: 85%
ESRB: Everyone
Publisher: Infogrames
Developer: Infogrames
Media: CD/3
Players: 1 - 8
Genre: Strategy

Graphics & Sound:

All three games in Risk Gold are at least over two years old at the time of this writing. Yet the need for stunning graphics in these games is miniscule. Indeed, the visuals are far from stunning, but they do hit the mark on being interactive. Based on the popular Risk board game, Risk II's graphics help overcome that loss of interaction with the actual game board by displaying battles in 3D, complete with explosions and dying soldiers.

Civ II gives you a three-quarters view of the world, a view that shows all of the action. The sprite based units and virtually flat landscape are all that is needed to draw you into this game. Little attention will be paid to the colors, as you'll be busy pulling your hair out after the computer has its way with your armies.

Though music isn't too prominent in these games, the little that you hear goes a long way in setting the right attitudes. Sound effects are also none too common, though they do appear when needed. Overall, the games stay mainly quiet at key moments of deep thought, letting you brood to your hearts content with minimal distraction.


Gameplay:

Risk Gold is a combination of three classic strategy games: Risk I, Risk II, and Civ II. Both Risk games include and build upon the classic board game of Risk. For the non-board gamers out there, Risk is a game of world domination, where you strategically place and maneuver your armies in a turn based fashion.

Risk Goldlets you either play the old board game in all its glory, or try out new renditions of it. Risk I offers 4 individual regions of the world to play on, while Risk II has the option of playing with a completely different set of rules. These new rules have players placing and attacking armies at the same time, which leads to some very interesting (not to mention fun) situations in the gameplay.

Civ II, also a game of world domination, is a bit more in depth when it comes to army and empire management. The people must be fed, the armies must be paid, and you have a very diverse group of units that will range from Musketeers to Marines.


Difficulty:

Figuring out the directions for the Risk games shouldn't take but more than an hour, yet mastering the game can take a lifetime. The game itself isn't inherently hard, but devising strategies and tactics that actually work is some serious backbreaking labor. The same goes for Civ II. Getting the hang of it will take a few hours, but mastering it will take a few years. Don't fret, though, as there are enough options to mess around with to make the games playable for anybody.

Game Mechanics:

Because of the board game - like the nature of all the games in Risk Gold, you'll be doing a lot of pointing and clicking. Move this army here, spend this amount of money there, click this button to roll these dice, etc. The main thing you'll be responsible for is moving armies from point A to point B. In the case of these games, though, simpler is usually better.

Apart from the dated graphics, the only other thing wrong with Risk Gold is that it will consume most of your free time. Civ II will keep you playing long into the night, not to mention the great renditions of everyone's favorite board game, Risk. Risk Gold doesn't bring quick, cheap thrills to the table, but it does offer some of the finest strategy games out there. A must buy for the armchair generals.


-Snow Chainz, GameVortex Communications
AKA Andrew Horwitz

Minimum System Requirements:



166 MHz Processor, Windows 95/98, 32 MB RAM, 4X CD - ROM, 60 MB Hard Disk Space, 2 MB Video Card
 

Test System:



Windows 98, 1.4GHz AMD Athlon, GeForce 2 mx 32MB video card, 40 gig hard drive, 56x CD-ROM, 256MB DDR Ram, Sound Blaster Live! sound card, T1 Internet connection

Windows Pursuit of Justice Windows Secret Weapons Over Normandy

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated