[Board/Tactical Game]: Formula D, reviewed by ShannonA (5/5)

RPGnet Reviews · #1 12-24-2008, 01:00 AM

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14102.phtml

Shannon Appelcline's Summary:

The newest edition of this classic car racing game only improves on an already great game.

Go to the full review for more information.

Nihtgenga · #2 12-25-2008, 02:48 PM

So this game uses a d30?

You mention a d10 earlier on in the piece as one of the gears, with d20 being the highest, then spend the rest of the review talking about rolling 30's on d30.

How big is the board? It sounds like it must be huge to have regular moves of 20 or 30 spaces at a time.

Great review, I think I'll have to keep an eye out for this one.

Thanks.

ShannonA · #3 12-25-2008, 06:28 PM

There's a d30, numbered 21-30. If I mentioned a d10, that just snuck in. It's: d4, d6, d8, d12, d20, d30, all numbered weird.

The board comes in two parts, each of which has six panels. It's fairly large (though not the largest board I own). On the other hand, the cars are pretty small too, as I note.

Ante · #4 12-26-2008, 06:45 PM

So what are the differences from the old game? I did read the review just by skimming, but I found very little about it. Why would I want this game and not the old one?

SommerMatt · #5 12-27-2008, 12:47 AM

The differences in the main F1-style game are minimal. You basically have updated components-- the dashboards instead of the scratchpad, painted vehicles, etc. Of course, since the original game is long OOP, this is the only chance you have to buy the game NEW and get new tracks (or reprinted tracks, hopefully).

As for what's totally new, you have the road race style of gameplay. It uses special maps, special cars, and special rules... it's basically a bit sillier and gives each player a "character" with special abilities or powers (one character is a girl that is so cute she causes everyone she passes to roll to see if they lose track of what they're doing, for example). There are also "slum zones" on the map where you have to actually roll to see if your car takes damage from random gunfire.

I haven't actually played my new version yet, although I am a veteran of the original Formula De (played in a 16 + week league with 9 other people). I have to agree that the game is full-on awesome, and while it DOES consist of rolling dice, strategy definitely plays a major factor. It helps a LOT to have a larger group of players, though-- 2-3 player races are pretty boring affairs.