Risk FACTIONS review
Remember that boardgame of world domination where you have to amass units and try to take out your opponents with strategic planning and a slow but steady pace plan of attack? Well there's a new twist on the XBOX Live Arcade. In the game Risk: Factions you'll be given the chance to play a mode that takes slightly less time, well a good chunk less. You'll be able to choose one of five "races" the cats, humans, yetis, zombies, and robots. I would love to say that each has its advantages and disadvantages, but that's left up solely to the map that you choose (if you plan on laying the FACTION way, and not play Classic).
Graphically this game has a very smooth web-comic look to it. I would say if you like the art of a site like Penny Arcade, you're probably going to like the art style found in this game. There's a couple of cut scenes that reveal each of the "races" to you in campaign mode that will give you a little bit of a small on your face. There are also special buildings that can be found in areas and thankfully zoomed in or zoomed out you're not going to have problems figuring out what they are.
The sounds coming from this game can grate on some nerves as you'll be hearing a couple sound clips for battle over and over again. Thankfully there are different sounds for different "races", and I have to say that the zombies are by far the "juicies" sounding ones of the bunch.
The controls are really easy to follow. You're going to have controls to help you move from territory to territory, a button to decrease the amount of troops you're going to send into a conquered territory, one to increase, and a confirmation button. One bit of caution, keep your finger as far away from the right shoulder button as possible, you don't want to run into the issue I had with accidentally advancing the stage of your turn after carefully setting up for mass destruction.
If you play through the campaign mode you'll unlock custom maps and be introduced to the several different structures that you can utilize to your advantage to complete world domination, or achieve objectives for the map. That is one thing that definitely differs from the classic Risk. If you complete three of the objectives you will obtain victory. I can't tell you how many times I let my computer powered opponent get the best of me and get those three objectives while I'm focused on taking over the whole map. My favorite building by far is the Temple, though hard to capture and keep, you're going to need to control all the territories that it touches, and then keep it until the beginning of your next turn, but if you can keep it you can convert ANY enemy controlled territory to your side. I have to say that playing the FACTION way makes this game so much fun. I'm not saying that the classic mode is to be forgotten, but if you have a very limited amount of time it's great to attempt to do a quick run through a map. Sure there are times where victory will be taken right from you, but man is it fun living out on that edge sometimes.
If you haven't already downloaded this game for the XBOX Live Arcade, you need to, especially if you enjoy new twists on that classic boardgame. So what are waiting for, queue that baby up and perhaps you can catch me online and we can battle it out (though I have a funny feeling that if one were to challenge me I'll probably be out-matched, but that's alright its still one hell of a fun game). This game gets a 9.1 out of 10.
