The future of the Risk world is here. All the continents of the original risk are present (with new names), as well as new continents. You can actually play normal risk with this new board!
Of course, the meat and potatoes is the new stuff, and there is plenty of it. For starters there are now underwater territories that can be conquered, such as New York. They come in sets, just like regular continents, and gives bonuses if you can conquer them. These underwater cities also means that there are more links to other territories, which means that Australia now has multiple entry points.
However, to enter and exit underwater territories, you need a WATER COMMANDER, which can be purchased. You see, you get energy points based on the number of territories that you own, and you spend these points on armies (ala original risk), commanders, bases, or cards that you can use with your commander. These "cards" allows for some interesting twists, such as the ability to do free moves from one territory to a non-adjacent territory. There are only 5 commanders that you can own in the game, and they roll on an 8-sided die rather than 6, making them useful when attacking or defending.
The purchasable Base is treated as a dozen or so non-moveable army units (for defense, but cannot attack). The base is also critical because it allows you to send troops to the Moon. The moon is a separate small circular board, with territories. There are "landing" points on the moon that troops land on for attacking and reinforcing. You get a bonus for capturing the moon, but it is a one-way trip for troops. You also need a Space Commander to send troops there. Otherwise, once you have troops there, it is treated as any other territory that you can reinforce during your purchase phase.
There are also 3 "Nuclear" pieces that are placed randomly each game on land territories. These terries are considered destroyed by previous wars, and cannot be crossed or conquered. This adds some interesting variety to the board and helps change strategy every game, and is easily my favorite feature.
Of course, all this means that you can have a very long game by normal rules. Officially, the game takes place for only 5 turns, and the player with the most points wins. However, it can easily be played in a conquer-all mode.
The pieces themselves are a bit hit and miss. The Commanders really stand out, but would have looked nicer if they were painted. I also question the durability of the Commander pieces, but overall they look nice enough. Gone are the Numeric pieces representing armies. Instead you have 3 types of Armored-MECHs, each representing 1, 5, or 10 armies. It is definitely a nice touch to keep the futuristic setting.
Overall this is a very good game that adds more complexity to the original Risk. It is very well designed and clearly has been balanced for fun and fairness. Original risk players will find this game easy to pick up and a lot of fun, while new players may be a little overwhelmed by all the rules.
Fortunately you can easily play with your own custom house rules. Don't like the moon concept? Then don't play it (it is a separate board anyway). Don't like Commanders? Then play without them. Or play without cards, or play without water territories. You can do what you want, and for all intents and purposes it will not effect the balance of the game. As I said, you can also play original risk on this board game, since the main territories have the exact layout of the original.
I definitely recommend this game for anyone with a sci-fi interest, and anyone familiar with Risk. It can be overwhelming for new players as I said, but I think the investment of time to learn this game will be worth it.
