This is an example of a truly great gaming concept that is very poorly executed, oftentimes leaving your very angry
I was expecting much more from this game. The concept of world domination is perfection in the world of stategy gaming but the way in which this game was constructed left far too much to be desired.
Classic mode: Same as the board game with some customisable sections, such as there being a link between new zealand and south america, or the inclusion of certain territories. But thats it really, and after a while you can really feel the lack of diversity. It also doesnt help the situation when there are only a handful of strategies that can be used when playing the game, and after a few games or so, you also feel the lack of diversity in tactical approaches.
Another very very bad feature is that armies of 1, 2 or 3 soldiers can defeat armies much larger. many times have i attacked a territory with 8-10 soldiers only to lose to a string of lucky dice rolls by the AI, that is to say, the AI rolling the dice 5 times, and getting a six on all the rolls, is not as unlikely as it sounds. This for me was the biggest flaw as in reality these kinds of events would never occur, and if they did occur, they would not occur again so but a few turns later.
CPU alliances are also quite weak. you can form the strongest type of alliance between an AI opponent only for them to attack you a few seconds later, which leads one to believe that the alliances are merely there for the players benefit, while not affecting AI actions at all.
There is an alternative to classic, that is same time mode. This is an improvement as it allows for you to invade with more than 1 army at a time, very realistic. futhermore armies that are larger and stronger get advantages in the form of dice. D&D type dice are introduced with weak armies using a white coloured die that has many "1" and "2" sides with few "5" and "6" sides while the strongest armies have a black die that is the exact opposite, with many high roles and few low roles. this very much reflects reality in war and an significant improvement on classic risk. There are also boarder clashes and the whole concept of each player moving at the same time, and not knowing what the other is doing until they have done it, is also a large and very good improvement on classic risk.
overall the game is not overly great, not bad if you can get it for a bargain, but i wouldnt go out and and buy this game and expect to be playing it a week later. its ok at first but after a few sittings the flaws overwhelm the good aspects of the game and you come to see it is really more of a game to be played with friends