Gee, Brain, what are we going to do tonight? The same thing we do every night Pinky. Try to take over the world! Sorry, I just had to use that quote, because when else am I going to be able to quote Pinky and the Brain, but inside the review of a game about world domination.

If you are anything like me then board games are nothing more than boxes collecting dust in some closet or attic right about now. Oh sure, when I was younger I loved games such as Shoots and Ladders, Trouble, and the occasional game of Monopoly (though perhaps too advanced for younger players since we had no clue about buying property and the such…we usually only cared about who got to be the car). One board game that I never played, perhaps because of the Napoleon looking fellow and all those spaces on the board and pieces looked too confounding, was Risk. I've heard from others about great games they had while playing Risk and all the strategy that goes into a successful game and how fun they can be, but with all the new fangled gaming options available who cares about the Risk board game anymore?

Sillysoft apparently, and you know what, it isn't half that bad.

Lux is for all intensive purposes the original game of Risk, available for you to play on your computer, with options to play against either the computer controlled AI or against other players you connect with online. As soon as you fire up the game, you have several options available to you. If you choose to play against the AI, you'll start by picking what map you want to play. The maps range from the standard Risk map (the entire world with you vying for various countries) to Castle Lux-Merchants (a medieval setting) to Space Stations and the Vietnam War. After you pick what map you want to play on, you'll then fix yourself up with your competition. With up to five other colors/players to go up against, you'll then choose their AI to give you the most competition based on your level of play. Some of the various AI are listed as Communist, Stinky, Pixie, Evil, Medium, Hard, and Killbot -- these are just a few of the options.

Lux starts by placing you and your opponents on the board of your choosing and then the round commences. At the beginning of each round you'll start off with three additional soldiers, which you can then use to either add to existing troop totals you already have or either start a new troop on a piece of occupied land you already have. Since the game is all about completely dominating the boards, you'll want to amass great squadrons and begin moving your pieces around the board and doing battle with other enemy troops vying for the same land you are.

Obviously, the game is one about numbers, as the more land you control and the more soldiers you own the better chance you'll have of winning the game. A good way to start off is by trying to branch out and seize control of an entire region like all of North America, Africa, and so on. As you take control of these regions you'll gain bonuses, which mean more additional troops at the beginning of every turn, and this number gradually goes up as the number of rounds increases. Besides amounting a solid force, it is vitally important to seal off borders so enemies don't invade your country. For example, lines connect certain areas like Asian and North America, and depending on which part you are on, it would be wise to position a squad on the country the enemy would have to attack to dissuade them to make a move against you and invade.

Combat in Lux is strictly by the numbers, though it does seem random. For example, you'd think a seven squad would beat a five squad every time, but that simply isn't the case. To do combat you first must position your soldiers in a piece of land that touches the land of another area occupied by enemy troops. Then, after your troops are in position, you simply left click to do battle, and if you manage to destroy all the soldiers you'll takeover their land and occupy it yourself with whatever amount of forces you have left.

You'll also be awarded bonus cards every so often, which translate into even more troops to position at your disposal, and then finally you get to start making some headway into conquering the world (or whatever map you choose). Depending on what map you choose to use, a typical game of Lux can range anywhere to a couple of minutes to possibly a half an hour or more (time really depends on skill of the player and the amount of board space that is required to dominate).

The thing that really makes Lux a winner is the mod community and all the different maps and computer AIs you can download and install into your game. If you can't find a map out of these then you just aren't looking hard enough. You can choose to download war specific maps, state specific maps (rage war in…Pennsylvania?), and even maps for sci-fi fare such as Babylon 5. There are also a handful of enemy AI programs you can download, but be warned as most of these are butt kicking hard and only for those players who really know what they're doing and have manhandled the current ones left and right.

If none of those works for you, you can always go to the map editor or go and edit your own enemy AI. Both take a bit of skill to use, but the map editor is the easiest one of the two to use. I can't comment on the enemy AI creation, because, well, I don't know anything about using Java as a programming language. If you do know Java though then get ready to code the wickedest enemy AI you could ever dare to imagine.

The graphics are pretty simple and are certainly nothing that should put some real wear and tear on your graphics card. The quality of the maps range from the simple shapes and colors of the typical Risk board (not much flash at all) to the more visually pleasing maps such as the Vietnam War and 3D objects on the Castle Lux-Merchants map). The only real graphics besides the board themselves are the explosions that occur when battling an enemy troop or trying to takeover a piece of land; the explosions aren't much, but at least they represent battle well instead of numbers just dwindling down to show fighting is going on.

Lux is almost lacking any sound at all, as the only noises you'll hear is the explosions going off and the death cry of an enemy after you've vanquished them from the board.

Lux is an odd beast to review. If you love Risk then Lux is probably a no-brainer, but for everyone else out there the decision on Lux gets a bit tricky. I really had no opinion of the game when going into it, but after spending some time with the game I could see how it could fill a niche nicely to some gamers out there. If you have even a passing interest in Lux then be sure to at least give the demo a run through its paces, but if your idea of fun isn't playing an electronic version of a board game on your computer, then nothing about Lux will probably change your disposition.

RATING: 3 out of 5
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