7.4 /10 1 Votes
77% Metacritic Developer Stainless Games Publisher Electronic Arts | 7/10 Steam Initial release date 23 June 2010 Genre Strategy video game | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Platforms Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows Modes Single-player video game, Multiplayer video game Similar Stainless games, Strategy video games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Risk: Factions is a downloadable video game for Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service (discontinued as of 2014), PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network, and Windows computers through Steam. The game was announced on January 12, 2010 for Xbox 360, December 21, 2010 for PlayStation 3, and March 8, 2011 for Windows. It is based on Hasbro's popular board game, Risk. The game has both single player and online modes of play. The single player campaign is divided into 5 chapters. Each chapter unlocks one of the game's five factions. The gameplay in the single player campaign is similar to that of the 2008 Risk rule set. Players must complete three objectives and have control of their capital to win the game. Alternatively, a player may defeat all the opponents to win the game as well.
Contents
The features added to RISK: Factions that do not appear in the 2008 rule set are overkills and terrain features. Overkills are awarded when players roll either two or three sixes. If a player rolls two sixes, he destroys twice as many units as he would normally. If a player rolls three sixes, he destroys all the opponent's units in the current battle.
Some maps also have special terrain features like the volcano, which can erupt and kill most surrounding soldiers, or the temple, which allows a player who has captured it to convert another country of his choice and all units within it to his color.
Factions
Dice probabilities
In the factions game type, it is possible for a player to gain the ability to use up to a fourth die when attacking and/or a third die when defending. This, along with the overkill and super-overkill features, makes the probabilities of winning battles different from the original Risk board game rules. Below is a table summarizing the dice probabilities for the factions game type:
Reception
Risk: Factions received generally favourable reviews upon release, with a Metacritic average of 77%.
Destructoid praised the developer for not just making a copy of the traditional board game with the console version. The reviewer said: "Clearly a lot of time was put into making sure Factions not only overflowed with personality, but was also able to capture the interest of new players. I can't recommend this game enough, especially at such an affordable price."
1UP.com said that "while the factions aspect could have been fleshed out a bit more, the title still stands as a solid update to the game and a worthwhile purchase for strategy fans."
Xbox Live Arcade Marketplace discontinuation
As of 2014, RISK: Factions is no longer available for purchase on Xbox Live's Arcade Marketplace. Users, even if they already owned the game, it was remotely removed from hard drives, and you can no longer own it on on Xbox or Playstation.