Rift Reviews

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Written by Brother None on March 26th, 2011

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RIFT does try to one-up World of Warcraft in ways that can seem similar to the way Schick and Gillette keep slapping more and more blades on their razors, but it does make a nice difference. For example, you can dual-spec in WoW and some players have already asked for triple specs, so in RIFT, you just get four "roles". Of course, it makes a difference here because any given role isn't likely to even have the same talent trees as another. Tradeskills are affected by this too. What? You can only take two tradeskills in your game? Why would you ever play that when RIFT gives you three? OK, admittedly there are a few other innovative features, like the Coin Lock system which is a nice extra account-security feature for those who don't want to have to deal with authenticator devices or smartphone apps, and Trion has added some of the better functionality of more advanced WoW mods, like a map that can be smoothly scrolled and zoomed like you would Google Maps - or the power to hover over an action bar slot and directly press a key to bind that key to whatever ability's in the slot.

I want to stop here and point out that RIFT's presentation is decidedly less silly and more serious than Warcraft fans may be used to, but its visuals are really quite impressive overall and can push even the fastest computers to their limits if you go past Ultra settings with antialiasing and high resolutions. The sights and sounds while you're in rifts are pretty amazing, where the usually picturesque scenery is overgrown with different types of sinister motifs (death, water, fire, and the like), and then the growths slowly fade away when the rift is closed - a nice effect considering you're out in the populated game world while doing this. The sound design is fantastic, too, with a good chunk of voice acting going into the major story-based fights. Sure, it's all overly melodramatic and any attention-deficit MMO player is ignoring the story anyway, but for those who want it, it's there.

In execution, the soul selection process does expand your options, and as you level up and spend points to earn passive and active abilities among the three soul trees your character develops new or augments existing abilities. There many of combinations that favor player experimentation. There are many combinations that favor player experimentation. The diverse options mean that alt characters are easily configured and deliver completely different experiences within the same class group.

Where the class system falls a little short is in limiting your soul choices to one general area imagine a game that let you mix and match classes and abilities. This is the promise that Rift sets up but doesn't quite deliver. You can't add a Warrior soul to a mage soul with a dash of rogue thrown in, and it's too bad because that would make an already impressive class implementation even more mind boggling with choice. Thankfully this is mitigated once you exit the starting areas since the game allows players to (save) different soul builds and swap between them when not in combat.

Regions aren't limited to a single rift; often, many rifts will be open at a given time. They frequently give rise to invasions--roving groups of creatures that descend upon local villages and need to be defeated. You might be questing peacefully on your own or with friends, only to have a marauding band of demons trudge by you. Depending on your current focus, you might welcome the opportunity to bond with local players and pelt these invaders with spells and arrows, or you might resent the fact that your goals were interrupted by powerful monsters capable of destroying your lonesome self in a few short seconds. Nevertheless, you'll probably be inclined to stick with your compatriots and roam from one hot spot to the next, temporarily ridding the region of invaders and closing rifts. Nothing beats galloping on your fantastical gazelle or oversized tortoise toward the dreadful portal clouding the horizon.

Rifts and invasions are the best part of the game and a natural evolution of the public quests that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning delivered. The key difference is that you don't go to the quest--the quest descends upon the land, bringing local players together long enough to foster a sense of community that even most solitary questers can appreciate. When you come near players and groups in battle, you are automatically prompted to join them. When the job is complete, you can go your separate ways or stick together to take on quests meant for small parties, such as taking down the lumbering giants that meander about the local mountain ridges. In any case, the large-scale skirmishes against the most colossal bosses are dazzling to watch and fun to participate in, even when the game's normally solid frame rate drops as a result of all this spellcasting and swordfighting.

Like all MMOs WoW, Everquest, DAoC included Rift is a game that for the most part what you put into it, you'll get out of it. Some people burn through MMOs very quickly: if all you care about is getting one character to the max level, Rift will keep you busy for about 50 hours. If you like to stop and smell the flowers on the way, but will still stop when you hit max level, you'll get 50-100 hours out of it. But if you want to enjoy all its aspects, from its dungeons, raids, landscapes, quests and PvP warfronts, the game will keep you busy for hundreds and hundreds of hours. And if you like stuff like endgame content, socializing, leaning professions, helping out guildmates, scoring achievements, and leveling up alts, Rift will keep you busy for months and months which, if new content is added as Trion are promising might turn into a lot longer than that!

Of course, your mileage might vary, but for me, a hardcore 20+ hours a week MMO player, I'm 100 hours into Rift, and I still feel like I'm only just getting into the game. That's because I'm the kind of MMO player who likes to see everything the game has to offer. For some people, it's all about getting there. But for me, MMOs are all about the journey, and as journeys go, Rift offers a fantastic-looking, adventure-packed one that is incredibly solid and well put together particularly for a brand new MMO.

It's really the Rifts themselves that does this game justice however. We touched on these in the preview, but it's not until you get into the world of Telara and experience them for yourselves to realise how well they complement the core MMO gameplay. You could be plodding along on your way to your next quest location, when suddenly the sky rips open and zombies are trying to eat your face. You band together with whoever's about and you defeat this incursion, getting ample rewards for your effort. But these are more than just a casual thing - with potential Rifts opening up anywhere within a given zone, you could literally just spend a session '˜Rift-hunting'. Sure, the reward in terms of XP is little better than grinding, but since there's a purpose, it's not really noticeable.

Things can escalate as well, from Rift's, there are mob invasions which can set up footholds - even by taking over a quest hub which you'll need to take back. Full scale invasions, with multiple rifts and dozens of mob groups happen several times a day, which take REAL coordination in order to hold back. Trion's casual approach to grouping as well comes in to play quite nicely here. Whilst there's the standard guild mechanic, and of course you can just party up with friends - if you're billy no-mates like me, but need help sealing a rift, the '˜public grouping' system allows you to causal band together, share the rewards, and then simply drop out again and be on your way. Think of it like a one-night stand, just with even less talking.

Crafts or jobs in Rift have a unique tiered system. The player is limited to three trades at any given time, and two basic tiered crafts are needed to perform professions. The beginning tier can be considered the gathering tier as it consists of the three starting crafts Mining, Foraging, and Butchering. Each one of these is important for the "Crafting" or professions tier, which are Apothecary, Armorsmith, Artificer, Weaponsmith, Outfitter, and Runecrafter. Each profession, typically, needs two gathering tiered crafts in order to be accomplished. Weaponsmithing for example, needs Foraging and Mining to collect the materials needed to create new weapons. You can constantly switch between crafts so you never have to be stuck doing the same things constantly.

I am not a huge PvP player (as you will know if you read any of my preview features this year) but I have messed about quite a bit in RIFT's Warfront PvP zones. Because the game has such variety in Soul choices, there are obviously going to be some balancing issues. Every time we have talked balancing with TRION they were not too concerned about it in the early stages of release, as players learn how to use their soul combinations, and they do have a point.

In each of the three currently available Warfronts I was constantly getting my ass handed to me on a plate. There are issues with Warfronts that need to be resolved such as the balance of player roles on each team which the community has been concerned about.

Even with the teething problems, the Warfronts themselves are extremely well designed. The Codex (a Defend and Hold Warfront) just looks fantastic and it's very well designed. Same goes for the CTF Whitefall Steppes which I have spent a lot of time in since the beta. No doubt we'll see more Warfronts added over time but there's enough here to keep players busy for a while yet and PvP will surely be an area TRION focus on in future updates.

These rifts aren't there to simply destroy however they change the face of the game. Peaceful towns that you once visited are constantly plagued by these rifts. Along with that, minions are sent from said rifts on destructive excursions, forming (Footholds). These Footholds will make the area they are in completely unusable. For example, if you have a finished a quest and need to go turn it in, the person of said interest won't be available until this Foothold is vanquished. Much like the Rifts, they are full of enemies that hunt in packs and can cause some serious damage. These Rifts and Footholds aren't just there for aesthetics and loot-dropping they destroy the world you live in.

They inevitably create a community and a sense of teamwork unlike any game I have ever played before. In most mmo's, you are able to run around by yourself if you choose. Sure there are certain quests and enemies that you won't be able to conquer solo, but there is enough around to avoid them for a long time. In Rift this isn't the case. Simple tasks such as turning in quests or mining for that next piece of Copper turn into massive battles where you simply won't survive without the help of your team. Party and Guild invites are not something you should be ignoring as you never know when the next evil scourge will manifest. Constant communication is the key to victory in Rift.

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