Rift

[BobTD]

So, I have been exploring this MMO recently. While I cant do a full review (seeing as I have not reached the max level yet or explored the end game content) I can give some first impressions and talk a little about what makes it different from other MMORPGs. So far, this is in my opinion 100% WOWs biggest contender.

But the first thing is first: This is by no means breaking away from the MMO genre. If you hated wow and cant stand questing and raiding for gear then I would not expect this to interest you very much to begin with.

However, if you do enjoy an MMO from time to time this is a game that might be something to get excited about.

Lets look at the way the game is presented:

Rift is in a very colorful style, yet not borderline cartoon such as WOW. Notice the shadows cast off the building and the way the leaves become more translucent in direct sunlight. The anatomically correct skeletal minion. The intricate carving on the wood railing and overall texture detail.

If it is nothing else,this game is beautiful, and uses vibrant color while still remaining visually realistic. I personally much prefer this sort of artistic quality to what I experienced with wow. As far as MMO games I have played, this is certainly the most impressive and richly detailed so far.



While still very traditionally your true MMO the game is called rift for a reason. without getting into the vast lore what you do need to know is that there are several planes of reality contesting to dominate Telara. When these portals in the sky open up they can spawn groups of monsters (mobs) that can then move through your world and setup footholds. Areas near footholds open more rifts.

While closing rifts with a group of players grants you rewards of various types, these can also have a negative effect if ignored. For example rifts and footholds will sometimes be in areas where quest giving NPCs are located and until they are sealed those NPCs will not return. And even if you manage to close all the rifts of a type in an area there is always a percent chance of more opening. Sometimes massive invasions are heralded by the sky going black and the soulstream coming into view:


(this thing moves across the sky and its actually quite impressive to see)

Theere are of course a variety of Rift types and they wont all stay the same. One of the most interesting aspects of the game is that it was developed with the ability to alter the game on a software level, in a way that allows constant new content and triggered events that would require other games to release expansions to include. For Example if a beginning zone has death and Water Rifts, next month it might have Stone and Fire.



Of course, I expect them to eventually raise the level cap from 50 with an expansion of some sort just like WOW. Keeping a massive game world like this alive is a considerable investment for both the developers and the player community.

What they have done with the class system is very interesting as well. While there are many classes to choose from, you can essentially split them into four main groups, and you character can obtain the ability to switch between a combination of three classes at any one time. So, essentially if I get bored of my piro centered mage I can go full necro. Or say screw it and turn into a healer the next day. Its a new spin on the class systems and really rewards experimentation. As you might have already guessed you can reskill your talent tree at any time in a town for a small fee.


(rangers played right can easily solo most areas)

Quests take center stage for early characters as there are plenty of story driven quests as well as side quests. This game essentially has no need for grinding and the vast majority of player XP will be gained from following quest chains. It is much of the same you can expect from other games, but also includes some of the best quests I have completed in an MMO including:

- Netting flaming squirrels
- a cheese eating contest
- guild quests that you can involve your friends in

The no grind assumption is of course assuming I dont hit some grind spots at higher levels. Regardless, I feel WOW set itself apart by providing alternatives to grinding and Rift follows suite with even less need for mob camping.

One of the nice things is that Rift didnt shy away from taking things that worked from other online games and trying to improve on them. I often hear the sentiment that Rift steals ideas but dont really consider it a negative stigma. It does recognize things that works in other games but also has improved on them. Rift has worked out its own identity with its self titled Rift system and dynamic content. I feel it has addressed its main points fully and simply wanted to flesh itself out with only the best components from traditional MMORPGs and is the better for it.


(life gate opens in a forest)

Both factions have great zones and quests for slowly introducing you to the lore and game elements. The Guardians and Defiant are not essentially good or evil. Each has their own perspective of what happened and view themselves as the heroes. The Guardians are religion oriented while the Defiant shun religion and choose to solve problems with technology. And, after you play a character on both sides you can start to piece the puzzle together and look at some interesting ways they overlap.

By popular demand here is a breakdown of the class system:



These are essentially the four classes of the game. What class you choose is important because you cant switch between these.



Then there are the souls. Essentially the difference between all of these is the talent tree associated with them. But choosing one soul type or another does greatly affect your play style. For instance as a ranger I can go stealthy, ranged or even tank (Still risky with a rouge).



Notice you have three souls at a time here. This is the talent tree, essentially you can re spec this any time you are in a town and swap out the souls. If I didnt want pyromancer I could just change that to necromancer. Its fun to mix and match these soul combinations.

There is one other thing I should cover. Roles are options you can unlock in the game that are essentially preset builds. You can swap between roles for free so that you dont have to reskill but things like mounts dont seem to carry over. Meaning you might have to invest heavily and buy several mounts per character if you really hate walking.

While its honestly to early to predict any major downfalls, the fact that the game its this strong out the gate gives me high hopes that by listening to the player community and providing constant new content that the game will continue to stand out of the crowd.

 

Minimum System Specification
Operating system: Windows XP, Vista or 7
Processor: Dual Core 2.0 GHz or better
Memory: 2 GB
Hard disk space: 8.0 GB available
Video: Nvidia GeForce FX 5900, ATI/AMD Radeon X300, Intel GMA X4500 or better.
Sound: DirectX 8.1 compliant card
DirectX®: 9.0c, June 2010 update
Broadband internet connection (DSL, cable modem or other high speed connection)

System requirements:
[edit]Recommended System Specification
Operating system: Windows XP, Vista or 7
Processor: Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or better
Memory: 4 GB
Hard disk space: 8.0 GB available
Desktop Video: Nvidia GTS 250 or better
Notebook Video: Nvidia GTX 200M series or better
Sound: DirectX 8.1 compliant card
DirectX®: 9.0c, June 2010 update
Broadband internet connection (DSL, cable modem or other high speed connection)
Note: on recommended settings The Recommended System Specification will probably allow you to use video settings of "medium" quality on 1650x1080 resolution with an average of 40-50 fps.
For higher resolution you will need a stronger video card
It is recommended not to get below 40 fps. In mass encounters - frame rate can drop to half.
System Requirements - Rift Wiki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA0re6l0Etk


Rating 8.9 out of 10

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I have been playing this game on max settings. For the full rez screenshots and more from rift just look in my steam profile, also BobTD.

Steam Community :: ID :: BobTD

Thanks for reading! =D

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[Saph]

Very nice review, man! Though I must say alittle brief! Some more about what classes there are for example would've been awesome! Atleast to me

Overall though, I really liked the review!

But I still don't think I'm giving RIFT a shot, it just sounds like another MMORPG that'll eventually drop the ball and fall into the failed MMORPG category.

For example, Lord of the Rings Online, Aion Online, Warhammer Online, Lineage 2, Age of Conan(I think?), and many more that I cant remember the name of, were all SUPER hyped on their release and got REALLY high ratings and everyone were just WTFOMGYAAAY! About them coming out, and calling them "The WoW smasher", and as soon as the game released, the player base skyrocketed and hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of players would play it for a while.

But there's always wrong with something that JUST came out. WoW has been around for years, and had time to fix its little problems. And it was out early on in the MMORPG age, so it had the perfect time to start, and now it has had so much time to fix its problems that other, newer MMORPGs dont stand a chance.

New RPGs are flooded with up to MILLIONS! of very excited, and demanding players, who most likely have been spoiled by WoW for its tweakiness and lack of bugs, so they might play the new one for a month or two, realize its **** cause there're so many bugs, and goes back to WoW.

It happened with all of the games I listed! They all had a HUUUUGE player base for a few months, and then it steadily decline to now where they're not even on the radar anymore, eventhough the gaming community acted like a meteor of awesomeness was hurling towards the earth, they always get upset when its honestly, just another rock.

[Muffincat]

Well, not really, Saph. This game is actually pretty bug-free and that would definitely not be the issue for people leaving it, imo. When they do find bugs, they patch the game really quickly and without irritating downtime (as far as I have experienced) and what you're talking about is definitely NOT one of the issues I had with the game.

Anyway, yes, the game is beautiful, but the gameplay was just another MMORPG, and that's not really what I'm looking for in a game. Been there a thousand times It's very nice for what it is, though. *holds out for GW2*

[Saph]

Aion has very few bugs as well, yet it lasted a few months and went from millions of active users to a few thousand within a week.

And I only reffered to the biggest problem, trust me, people will find a reason to leave in favor of WoW. They always do, sad as it is.

[BobTD]

Ok, I updated this with a breakdown of the class system. There is no doubt a huge wall of text I could have written about this game but i wanted it to remain short and interesting. If there is anything else that members want to learn about I have no trouble adding to this review to cover questions that come up.

As for weather this game will weather the test of time, I think its safe to say I have seen it convert a good number of my WOW friends already. I know this is not true for everyone, but I think there are enough hardcore players tired of sitting on top level characters on WOW to give this a shot.

Also, just going to throw this out there but Lineage2 came out about a year before WOW. =P

[Saph]

I like the review much better now I had no idea there were that many options!!!

Reading about the classes I might have to give this a shot at some point in the future! Necromancer sounds awesome!!!

Wonderful review, bro! <3

[paecmaker]

Good review mate. Im not so fond to mmo,s so I dont tink I will get this.

One friend plays it though.

[LiNuX]

Great review, glad to see your reviewing again.

And I see so many people on my steam list play rift, even had a few people ask me to get the game to play with them. Makes me want to get it but I haven't been into MMO's in ages (and LoL doesn't really count like I initially thought before playing it).

[BobTD]

I like the review much better now I had no idea there were that many options!!!

Reading about the classes I might have to give this a shot at some point in the future! Necromancer sounds awesome!!!

Wonderful review, bro! <3

Thank you for the encouragement and suggested improvements.

Also thanks for everyone else's comments. Its encuraging to make a more complete and thorough review when you know people read them. I am working on a few more I hope to throw up tuesday and wensday.