RIFT

RIFT is an MMORPG from Trion Worlds. It is set in a unique fantasy world, called Telara, that is being torn apart by mysterious rifts that appear out of nowhere. These rifts act as doorways for monsters residing in other planar dimensions to invade Telara.

Protecting Telara from these rifts are two factions, the Guardians and the Defiants.
However, due to their opposing views, they are enemies with each other and seek to undermine the other.

Players start in one of these two factions as an Ascended (a Telaran slain during the great Shade War) that is resurrected to combat the invading monsters. Each of the faction offers three playable races for players to choose.

Each race has its own characteristic look, unique racial ability, advantages and disadvantages.

In RIFT, the player's access to skills and powers comes in the form of the Soul Attunement System. Soul Attunement is the player’s ability to commune with the souls of Telara’s honored dead and gain their powers and abilities. During character creation, players get to choose an Ascended Soul from one of the four callings, Warrior, Cleric, Mage and Rogue. Each Calling has a unique selection of Ascended Souls that can be embraced by the player, thereby providing a nearly endless amount of combinations.

Each of these souls are flexible and have unique, well-rounded abilities that make them great for both soloing and partying. As the player reaches higher levels, more souls may be embraced (up to a maximum of three), however they must all be in the same calling.

Each attuned soul grants players access to a unique "Soul Tree", which contains all of the traits and abilities that the soul had mastered during its life. The "Soul Tree" is made up of two parts, the branches and the roots. As your character levels up, you earn soul points. These soul points are invested into the branches of the Soul Tree to improve the tree's soul level and unlock the more powerful traits and abilities higher up the tree.

As the tree's soul level increases, new abilities will automatically be unlocked down at the roots. These "root" abilities represents the core power of the soul that the player have embraced. They unlock quickly at first, but slows down as the tree’s soul level increases.

Part of the challenge in playing the game is to try and figure out which souls combine well together and find out what traits in each soul to put your points in. Depending on how you build your character, it may come out almighty or it may be a wimp.

The PVP aspect of the game comes in the form of the Guardians and the Defiants fighting for control over Telara and its resources. The fighting is done in instanced battlefields called "Warfronts". There are currently four warfronts available in RIFT, "Black Garden", "The Codex", "Whitefall Steppes" and "Port Scion". Each of these warfronts have their own requirements and victory conditions.

Black Garden
Maximum team size: 10
Minimum player level: 10
Victory condition: Collect 500 points (by holding the Fang of Regulos or killing players) within 20 minutes.

The Codex
Maximum team size: 15
Minimum player level: 20
Victory condition: Collect 1,000 points by holding vital positions, OR the most points in 20 minutes.

Whitefall Steppes
Maximum team size: 15
Minimum player level: 30
Victory condition: Capture 3 sourcestone, OR the most enemy sourcestone within 20 minutes.

Port Scion
Maximum team size: 20
Minimum player level: 50
Victory condition: Accrue 1,000 points, OR the most points in 45 minutes, OR slay the enemy commander.

The maps are well-designed and provide places for players to attack, defend and even ambush the enemies. Participating in these PVP instances rewards the player with money, loot and upgrades.

Questing and exploring dungeons in RIFT are more or less the same as other MMORPGs available out in the market, though the number of kills and items to collect are less punishing. However, unique to RIFT is the chance that players can stumble upon rifts opening while questing around Telara. This adds a whole new dimension to danger while playing in RIFT as you don't know where and when you will be invaded.

There are six planes of existence which interact with Telara via the rifts, the Plane of Life, Death, Fire, Water, Air and Earth. These rifts vary in level from 8 to 50 and in difficulties from minor rifts, major rifts, expert rifts to raid rifts.

When left alone, rifts can spawn Invaders, a marauding group of monsters that will roam through the zones and head towards wardstones. If they take over a wardstone, they will congregate there and spawn even more invaders.

Occasionally, there are zone-wide events that occur in RIFT. These events usually spawn an amazing amount of rifts and invaders. And if the wardstones are defended long enough, epic bosses will spawn out. These bosses require a very large group and a long time to take down.



Comments from Professional Reviewers:

Class flexibility, a solid infrastructure, and an element of unpredictability keep Rift from feeling like just another online fantasy game. -Kevin VanOrd, GameSpot

Absolutely colossal, Rift aims high and hits its mark, proving that there’s room to grow within the traditional MMO format. -Jonathan H. Cooper, PC Gamer

Quality compensates for a lack of originality. -Nick Kolan, IGN PC

Comments from the Gamers:

So basically I can recommend the game if you care more about PvE and want something fresh, different, aka more exciting than the boring grind/yawn WoW has become in the lvling department. But I can't recommend it at all if you care more about the PvP part of a game like I do and want to focus on... -DrainBlut

I played WoW for 5 years, and got burnt out, Rift has a great feel to it, the rifts are a great touch as well. Try it for yourself. -C0LT4d5

RIFT has open world events, something we haven't seen since Anarchy Online, neutral monsters can take over cities, thing that can change the whole world, because people can't go in that town to lvl or quest, it has endless combinations of classes, and its NOT a sandbox game where everything is controlled. Rifts make players get more involved with the world, feeling like they are a part of something. -Rhecon

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