Balance of Power: The 1990 Edition

Balance of Power: The 1990 Edition is an extended version of the 1985 global strategy. They say that this version was made at the request of fans of the original, people liked it so much, and they (fans) wanted to play the same thing, but in a changed (alas) world.

Formally, this is the same game. The appearance is almost the same, there are not so many changes in the interface, the graphics have improved a bit (you can probably even say that the images of a number of things have improved a lot, moreover, for example, full-fledged portraits of politicians have appeared), but still we have before us - another game. And the other one is primarily in the atmosphere.

The game, as the name implies, begins in 1990. The communist bloc is crumbling. ATS at the time of the creation of the game is still operational, but the entire system of the world socialist economy is already bursting at the seams. If in the 1985 version we, choosing one of the parties, received about the same strength as the state as our opponent, now the game for the USSR has become much more difficult - we will not have to start with such great resources. However, even in this situation it will still be possible to fix it, believe me.

We touch briefly on other changes in the game. Firstly, the world from the bipolar has become multipolar. Although it is still possible to play only for one of the two superpowers, many states are now completely independent. Whoever you play, now some country can simply reject you if you try to subordinate it to your influence, but the same can happen to your opponent. Moreover - now countries can “independently” fight with each other. No, it’s clear that, as before, you can intrigue and even intervene in the internal affairs with your army, please, but it will not have the same effect as before, on the contrary, now any such “interventions” are fraught many problems ...

Secondly, the number of countries has been increased - they have become 80. It is clear that this is still very far from the realities of that time, and indeed it’s a trifle, but still nice. But the third innovation is much more interesting. The so-called “Crisis Advisory Board of Four” appeared in the game. This is such a mysterious organization of four wise people who, whoever you play for, can give you advice on how to get out of a difficult situation (especially economic) if you suddenly find yourself in it. People are very good, they help regardless of ideological convictions, moreover, they say things.

The rest is the good old Balance of Power. By the way, this publication is a rare example of how the continuation of the game can become both more difficult in terms of gameplay in the global sense, and more playable (“easier”) in terms of it, but in terms of visualization and interface. Fans of global strategies should never pass by, fans of the original Balance of Power will be delighted in general - because, believe me, the game has only become better. Yes, it has become more difficult, but still we CAN still win, so go ahead, to brainstorm the stronghold of imperialism!

P.S .: And the red button is still there ...