I generally struggle with the first paragraph of a review. In fact I have delayed writing many reviews as I write and re-write the opening salvo many times over in my head trying to find the right words. The opening paragraph of a review needs some obvious elements, but most importantly the writer needs to give the reader a very small glimpse of what they think of the game, without letting the cat out of the bag entirely. Too much information and the reader may just read the first paragraph and move to the bottom, check out the score and move on. Too little information and the reader may not read the review at all. I have played this first paragraph over and over in my head for almost 2 weeks. Since I have almost reached the level cap in Rift (currently 42) and my guild has already downed a number of the bosses in the game’s first raid instance I, by proxy in some cases, have experienced quite a bit of what Trion Worlds is dishing out in this title. I have also obtained quite a good idea of what we can expect from Trion going forward, since of course we all know that simply launching a game is never enough for a AAA MMORPG Game to be successful in this market. At the time of this writing, Trion has already released a 1.1 content update and the patch notes for its 1.2 update. Because of this experience I feel very strongly that Rift: Planes of Telara has catapulted itself very decisively into the top 3 MMO’s in the marketright from day one, and is poised to be a market share behemoth going forward. I think I failed at that “too much information in the first paragraph” thing. But please read on and I will give you three reasons why Rift is my Online MMORPG Game of choice and why you should play this game.
You are an “Ascended”, one of the fallen warriors of the Shade War who has been resurrected to combat the forces of Regulos. As an Ascended you have remarkable skills, not the least of which is to harness the powers of other fallen and learn their abilities. This is the basis of one of the finest features of Riftand the first of three reasons you should play this game: the Ascended Class System. The Ascended Class System comprises of four base archetypes or“callings”: Warrior, Cleric, Mage and Rogue. Both factions in Rift: The Guardians and Defiant have the ability to play all the callings. Within each calling are eight “souls” – the abilities of the fallen we spoke of earlier. Yes, you did that math right, there are thirty-two classes in Rift at launch. If that alone doesn’t make your head spin, I’m not finished. As an Ascended you have the ability to combine three of the souls from within your chosen calling to form your spec. While your first three soul choices are granted periodically throughout the initial five levels in the game, each player has the opportunity to perform a series of simple quests to obtain the other souls. It is entirely plausible to obtain all eight souls available within your calling before you are level ten. Not only can you combine any three of your available souls and spec them as you wish, but you can also save a specific soul combination in what is calleda “role.” Roles allow a player to switch between specs within the calling depending on the situation. If you are raiding you would have a raiding role with three souls spec’d to give you maximum raid performance. If you are in the mood to PvP, you switch to your PvP role, with potentially three entirely different souls within the calling – specifically tailored to your PvP style. You are limited to only the eight souls within your calling, if you are a Mage you can play any of the Mage souls, but you cannot play a Rogue soul. I found myself simply making four characters, one for each calling. As a player levels, they obtain abilities on a generally standard Online MMORPG Game style ability tree save for the fact that as you spend points in a soul you also automatically unlock other abilities. The Ascended Class System is a theory-crafter’s wet dream. This system is oddly simple to understand for the player who doesn’t want to think too much about their game playing, yet ridiculously complex for those who want to get the absolute most out of their experience in Rift. Each calling is extremely compelling and with a huge amount of combinations available, there is something for everyone in each calling. The system came out extremely well balanced at launch and fine tweaks have been made and, as usual, will continue to be made going forward. This system is a gigantic win for Trion – they have taken what is typically regarded as a mail-in feature and made it deep and interesting.
During the Shade War there was a massive magical explosion. This explosion opened up magical portals between Telara and other planar dimensions. When these other planar dimensions intersect with Telara, they create Rifts and Planar Invasions. Rifts and Invasions are the second reason you should be playing this game. Rifts/Invasions are dynamic, randomly occurring events which operate very similar to WarhammerOnline’s group quest system. The big difference between the system Trion has put in place and that of Warhammer is that Rifts can spawn at anytime, anywhere; and while being generally the level of the zone they are located in, they can also be either extremely easy or very difficult. Rifts can also appear in the form of zone wide events, which end in dramatic encounters with an extremely difficult boss requiring in most cases upwards of 20-30 people and 5-10 minutes to defeat. Invasions also happen randomly. The great feature of invasions is they are meant to attack. NPC Planar Invasions have a target – usually a quest hub, and seek that target out, attacking players and other NPC mobs along the way. Rifts also spawn additional Invasion forces if not dealt with. This means that if the players in the zone do not band together to defeat Rifts as they spawn – and it is pretty safe to say there is always at least one Rift active in every zone at all times–entire zones can be easily overwhelmed, requiring a concerted effort on the part of players to defeat the attack and restore normality to the zone. Rifts and Invasions are a fantastically implemented PvE element, but it doesn’t end there. On more than one occasion I found myself not only attempting to defeat a Rift, but also being under attack by the opposing faction at the same time. On a PvP server it is entirely possible when in a contested zone to be under attack on multiple fronts by both NPC and PC combatants. While I am not a fan of Warhammer Online, I was always the first to acknowledge how great group quests were. Trion has taken that element and raised the bar considerably. Rifts and Invasions are co-operative events demanding zone wide participation when occurring while in a zone. Rifts break up the general monotony of questing and the added risk element on a PvP server makes the whole experience a lot of fun.
This is Trion’s first game, but you wouldn’t know it. While playing through the closed and open beta phases of Rift’s development it was clear that again, the bar was being raised. I couldn’t help but think of some of the recent releases from more established development studios and the release state of their games. When comparing Rift in the first closed beta test, to some games at launch I felt moderately embarrassed for Square Enix, Sony Online Entertainment and others who have launched titles that were clearly sub-par and not ready.While the team working at Trion is obviously not doing any of this for the first time, they are doing it for the first time together, and when a game comes out as ready for prime time as Rift did, you know they mean business. It truly felt as though Trion was saying “ok folks this is how you do it” and proceeded to release a game that was ready on every single level. Reading patch notes for Rift is like reading a novel. It took me 30 minutes to read the 1.1 notes and almost an hour to comb through the upcoming 1.2 notes. Patches and hotfixes excluding the major updates have notes that are sometimes equally as long. But it isn’t the length that makes you take notice – it is the frequency. Hotfixes for larger patches were done within hours if there was a noticeable issue and updates continue to go live almost weekly. Security was an early issue for Trion – within weeks they had a mobile authenticator application ready to roll and an in game system to check for IP addresses and locking out suspect accounts. Issues are addressed in days, not weeks. This is a team that is agile and obviously very capable of coming up with solutions to problems and implementing an action plan to solve them. Trion is in this racket to win – this is clear and this fact is my third reason why you should play Rift.
If you have read this far you must be thinking by now “god Mike there has got to be somethings you don’t like about Rift..” There is. I have found questing extremely monotonous. There is very little variety in the things you are tasked with and their progression through the zones story. The early quests in a hub have you killing large groups of mobs nearby or collecting something nearby. The follow-up quests task you with killing a smaller number of mobs a little further away – with the subsequent quests asking you to do away with whoever their boss is. This pattern generally seems to repeat at many of the main quest hubs. I’ve been in games long enough to know that this seems like a “tools” issue. Trion needs to, now that the game is out, work on their tool sets for quest development and push the envelope a little to add some variety to the tasking’s requested of players. World of Warcraft had the same issue, but as the developers learned new ways to use their tools they developed such great implementations as phasing which bring questing to an entirely new level. Trion needs to take that amazing team they have and push them for awesome quests that engage players. My only other major issue is that I find the story a little tired – almost to the point of being campy to be honest. A war forces two factions apart. There is a great evil in the world and YOU are the resurrected hero tasked with fighting the great peril of the land. I realize I am simplifying it, but it isonly to prove the story is a variation of a theme that has frankly become overused in – especially – the fantasy MMO realm. People are longing for a sci-fi/apocalypse/zombie/anything but Fantasy MMORPG in droves and it is clear to see why.
Rift is one of the best fantasy Online MMORPG Games I have ever played. Not as much because of its content – frankly there is no way for a 3 month old game to compete with a game that has been out for 7 years. Rift is the best because Trion released a game that on day one was already miles ahead of most of its competitors. Rift is the best because it forces other teams developing upcoming MMO’s (I am looking at YOU Funcom/ArenaNet/XL Games/EnMass) to really raise the bar and come out swinging. Finally, Rift is the best because they listen to their players – and respond. Trion Worlds provides and will continue to provide a fun gaming experience for anyone who plays this game for many, many years to come – you can bet on it.
Rating: 8.0
Mike Washburn
