The last time I played Risk was New Year’s Eve, 1999, which I spent with some folks from the local Renaissance Faire, figuring if the world were catapulted back into the Dark Ages, they would be the people to hang with. It went like many Risk games do…two hours of engrossing play followed by people wandering away from the table for various reasons, eventually forgetting we were playing. The game is just too damn long, and manufacturer Hasbro knows this. Their answer to the problem? Risk: Black Ops. It’s the Risk you’ve come to know and love in short bursts, redesigned with a sleek and sexy new look, a new resource system that rewards possession of territorial capitols, and the big change – an objective system. Objectives are tasks such as “Control Europe” that reward a player for completing them. The game starts with four major and four minor objectives from a pool of twelve, and completing any three is considered a win. This changes the face of the game completely!