Board games are making a big push into the digital and mobile world. There are digital versions of popular games such as Monopoly and Ticket to Ride that attract thousands of players daily . One of my favorite games as a child was the board game Risk, where you tried to take over the world using plastic troops and decide battles by rolling dice. WoW Classic Gold (PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One) developed by Zoe Mode improves on this concept and adds additional elements to provide you multiple ways to win.
The final phase is Fortify. Here you move troops to your districts to help you defend an oncoming attack or to prepare for your next assault. At the beginning of the game, you configure what type of fortification is allowed. Are you able to fortify any district you own or can you only fortify districts adjacent to the district containing the supporting troops? This is another area where you need to plan your strategy. When readying to attack a nearby district, you need to make sure you are not spread to thin and can be easily overtaken by your opponent on the next turn.
Risk Urban Assault includes a single user campaign, custom game and online multiplayer modes. The single user campaign starts you in London and provides multiple objectives such as Build or Capture 3 Town Halls to complete during the game. As each objective is met, you receive a medal. These medals are required to unlock subsequent maps such as Hamburg and Shanghai. The custom game selection provides the opportunity to select the number of players, map used, and fortify rules. One thing to note is that some games can be time intensive. My first campaign game lasted about 20 minutes, but the first multiplayer game I played took almost 2 hours to complete. Be prepared to have your controller fully charged before starting your game!
The online component of Risk Urban Assault consists of two options: Play Online Game or League. The Play Online Game option lets you search for a game or create your own customized game for up to an additional four players to join. You can search for games with certain criteria such as the number of Town Halls needed to win and the map used for the game. However, I did notice the number of players online appears to be low. There have been a few times when I attempted to play an online game with the default settings and no online games were found. Hopefully this is an anomaly and due only to the game’s recent release. Online League play invites you to play in 6 online games and receive points based on the results of each game. Receiving 60+ points at the end of 6 online games promotes you up to the next of 4 leagues in the game. However, should you receive less than 60 points, you stay in the same division.
Risk Urban Assault retails for $14.99 on all platforms (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4) and it a good addition for any fan of board games and especially for avid Risk players. If you are on the fence, I suggest taking the leap and purchasing the game, it’s worth the $15!