Others say...

"Not bad...could have been better."
If you like the board game risk, but don't have anybody to play against, you'll be satisfied with this game. The best part is its' low price. The parts about it that irk me are that the artificial intelligence seems weak, in the classic game you can't form alliances like you would if you were playing with people, the games can become too long and there's no mechanism for saving them, the instructions especially for the ultimate game are almost completely lacking and sometimes with the ultimate dice rules completely illogical things take place like 400 attacking armies being destroyed by 60 defending armies. The artificial intelligence demands further explanation. I've had the computer attack me when I'm absolutley no threat to it and it's not trying to take me out for my cards, while it will leave another powerful neighbor with a complete country and a border of one army go. It defies logic. Also the computer doesn't guard borders of territories. Invariably it will have all of the borders with multiple armies except for one. Again it defies logic. If you get down to three players and one is too powerful while you and the other computer player are weak the weak computer player will attack you when he gets a risk instead of both of you ganging up on the powerful computer player until everything is more even. Once again, it defies logic. I still enjoy the game and find it challenging, I just spend way too much time playing it. They need to fix the save function.

"Good game"
Risk is a good game, and still has the basic rules and stargey as in the board game. It does take some time to get use to, but, overalll it is pretty good.

"THE GAME OF GLOBAL DOMINATION"
Hasbro's PC "Risk" is a good but not great game. The sheer scale of "Risk" is a big part of its charm, and who can resist a bid to take over the world? But the battles themselves are handled a bit too simply, so that what should be exciting becomes routine after a bit. Ultimate Risk departs from the classic game in several ways, adding forts, rebels, generals, and a much more detailed and exciting battle resolution system, and is actually much superior to the classic rules. Overall, "Risk" is certainly fun and a quality production, one well worth its relatively low price tag. On the other hand, some other Hasbro computer games, like "Battleship" and especially "Stratego," are far superior.

"Could Have Been Better"
Of all the war/strategy games in existence probably only a few are recognized by just about everybody: Chess, Battleship, and, of course, Risk. Hasbro Interactive's version is a mixed bag; while parts of it seem spot-on, others fall short. This newest computer incarnation is certainly the best looking version; with resolutions up to 1024x768, rich colors, and good artwork, there is little to complain about in the eye-candy department. Unfortunately, the user interface is a bit obtuse and the skimpy manual doesn't help much; it tells you something is possible, but doesn't explain how. Even so, a bit of persistence should let you get into the gameplay.

Game options are extensive, with both variations on classic Risk and a new, expanded set of options called Ultimate Risk. In the classic form you can play with the U.S. or European rules, choose from several different maps, or even turn on "fog of war" amongst other options. Ultimate Risk adds things like leaders, POWs, and a card-based combat system rather reminiscent of an advanced form of rock-paper-scissors. While some of these options seemed quite interesting at first, they are hampered by Risk's biggest flaw: poor pacing; things either seem to drag on or to go too quickly, with little user control. This is particularly a problem on some of the new maps, which have many more territories than the classic boardgame does.

Even with the negatives, though, the game can still be fun. There are enough options that even if you don't like all the game alternatives, any Risk fan should find something worthy of play. For me it was surprisingly the straight classic game; simple and fast and an opponent who always wants to play.

"If you like the classic board game, you'll love this"
All the strategic challenge of the classic board game, but at a much faster pace and with the convenience of artificial opponents. (If you want fast-paced shoot-em-up action, this is not for you). At the advanced level, the AI opponents provide a pretty good challenge. Each of them has different behavioral characteristics, so it took me many hours of playing to learn how to defeat them consitently (about 8 out of every 10 games). I never had any problems with setup or quality of the software, except that the save game feature doesn't work (no big deal since it doesn't take that long to play once you get the hang of it). I found that all the fancy graphics and modified playing rules are a waste of time (a lame attempt to make the game high tech and 3D when it is really just a classic strategy game -- sort of like making 3D animations of players on a chess board) so just leave those options off.