Sunday, March 27, 2011

Rift: Worth the Hype?

MMOS HAVE BEEN AN EXPANDING GENRE SINCE THE DAWN OF THE COMPUTER AGE. EACH GENERATION AND GAME RELEASED AS AN M-M-O HAS AFFECTED THE GENRE SOMEHOW. THE LATEST ENTRY INTO THE GENRE IS A LITTLE GAME ENTITLED RIFT.

SO, HOW DOES THIS GAME STACK UP AGAINST THE VETERANS IN THE FIELD? WELL, LET’S FIND OUT. I’M NELIGAHN, THE BULLHEADED GAMER AND TODAY WE’LL REVIEW RIFT.


I’M GOING TO GET SOMETHING OUT OF THE WAY FIRST. YES, I’M A WORLD OF WARCRAFT VETERAN. I’VE PLAYED IT FOR YEARS AND EVEN STILL RUN WITH AN AWESOME RAID TEAM. HOWEVER, I’VE ALSO INDULGED IN OTHER MMOS AND HAVE A GOOD AMOUNT OF GAMING EXPERIENCE TO DRAW BACK ON.

NEVERTHELESS, I’LL ASSURE YOU THAT I WON’T MAKE THIS A WOW VS RIFT REVIEW. I WILL ENDEAVOR TO JUDGE THE GAME BASED UPON ITS OWN MERITS.

FIRST OFF, YOU’LL NOTICE THE GAME HAS A VERY REALISTIC AND DISTINCTIVE STYLE.THIS DOES INDEED SET IT APART FROM A LOT OF THE OTHER GAMES ON THE MARKET WHO USUALLY TEND TO SACRIFICE GRAPHICAL QUALITY FOR MORE PC ACCESS. LET’S FACE IT, NOT EVERYONE CAN AFFORD A TOP OF THE LINE SYSTEM TO PLAY THE ABSOLUTELY NEWEST GAMES.

THE GAME ITSELF IS SET IN A BRAND NEW LAND COMPLETE WITH ITS OWN LORE AND SETTING, WHICH IS GOOD…

EXCEPT THE GAME SEEMS TO SHOVE BOOKS WORTH OF LORE AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION INTO YOUR FACE AT THE OUTSET.

THE TUTORIAL SECTION, WHILE EFFECTIVE AT TEACHING YOU THE BASICS, ESSENTIALLY JUST SAYS, “SHIT’S GOING CRAZY! REGULOS IS INVADING AND IT’S BAD!” SPEAKING OF THE GAME’S “BIG BAD”, IS ANYONE ELSE COMPLETELY UNDERWHELMED BY HIM?


THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH MOST M-M-O “VILLAINS”, AND A LOT OF R-P-GS IN GENERAL, IS THAT YOU REALLY HAVE NO FORCE OF DRIVE TO DEFEAT THEM. THEY’RE JUST A BOSS TO KILL AND RIFT REALLY DOESN’T DIFFER FROM THAT.

BUT ANYWAY, THE STORIES IN M-M-OS HAVE NEVER SERVED FOR MORE OF A PURPOSE THAN AN EXCUSE FOR WHY YOUR CHARACTER HAS TO GO FROM NOBODY TO SOMEBODY BY KILLING BOARS.

LET’S GET TO THE REAL MEAT OF THE GAME, THE GAMEPLAY.


ALLOW ME TO CLEAR THE AIR FIRST, THERE WAS A LOT OF HYPE AROUND THIS GAME BEFORE LAUNCH. IT MADE THE DANGEROUS MOVE TO DIRECTLY COMPARE ITSELF WITH WORLD OF WARCRAFT WHICH IS A DOUBLE EDGED SWORD. WHILE IT INVITES COMPARISONS WITH WHAT IS CURRENTLY THE LARGEST M-M-O IN THE INDUSTRY…IT ALSO INVITES COMPARISONS WITH WHAT IS THE LARGEST M-M-O IN THE INDUSTRY.

DOING THAT MAKES IT EXTREMELY HARD TO KEEP THE TWO SEPARATE, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE DEVELOPERS HAVE SO BLATANTLY STATED THAT THEIR INTENDED GOAL IS TO CONVERT PEOPLE FROM WORLD OF WARCRAFT. THAT BEING SAID, THE GAMEPLAY FOR RIFT IS ABOUT WHAT I’D EXPECT IN A GAME OUT TO COMPETE WITH WOW, NO MORE, NO LESS.

LIKE MOST OF THE M-M-OS COMING OUT NOW, IT ALL REVOLVES AROUND HOTKEYS AND ACTION BARS. PRESS THE BUTTON, YOUR CHARACTER STANDS THERE AND EXECUTES THE MOVE, YOU WAIT FOR THE GLOBAL COOLDOWN AND THEN PRESS THE BUTTON AGAIN.


THERE’S NOTHING INTUITIVE OR REALLY ACTION ORIENTED ABOUT THAT. AND THAT SEEMS TO BE A PROBLEM WITH MOST M-M-OS THAT ARE COMING OUT FOR A PIECE OF BLIZZARD’S MARKETING SHARE. WHILE I SAID I WOULDN’T DIRECTLY COMPARE THE GAME WITH WOW, I DIDN’T SAY I WOULDN’T COMPARE IT TO OTHER GAMES.

YEAH, I’M A CHEATING BASTARD THAT WAY.

ANOTHER RECENT M-M-O TO COME OUT WAS D-C UNIVERSE ONLINE. I ACTUALLY FOUND THIS GAME TO BE MORE OF A STEP FORWARD FOR MMOS THAN RIFT OR EVEN WOW’S LATEST EXPANSIONS.

THE COMBAT IS ALL BASED AROUND REAL TIME AND HALF OF YOUR ATTACKS ARE MOUSE CLICKS AND COMBINATION. YOU HAVE TO WATCH YOUR CHARACTER AND BE AWARE OF OTHER CHARACTERS AROUND YOU, ESPECIALLY IN PLAYER VS PLAYER.

WHY AM I DIGRESSING LIKE THIS?

BECAUSE RIFT’S COMBAT SYSTEM IS THE SAME AS THE OTHERS OF THE GENRE. YOU SPEND MOST OF THE TIME WATCHING EITHER YOUR HEALTH BAR, YOUR ENEMY’S HEALTH BAR OR YOUR ACTION BAR THAN ACTUALLY WATCHING YOUR CHARACTER FIGHT.

WHAT’S THE USE OF HAVING ALL THESE NIFTY MOVES IF YOU CAN’T WATCH THEM? THAT BEING SAID, I’M NOT SAYING THE COMBAT IN RIFT IS BAD.

IT’S NOT.

IT’S FLUID, SMOOTH AND LOOKS VERY GOOD.

BUT IT’S NOT ENGAGING.

MORE OFTEN THAN NOT I FOUND MYSELF JUST STANDING STILL WATCHING THE GLOBAL COOLDOWN DISAPPEAR SO I COULD HIT THE ATTACK BUTTON AGAIN.

NOT REALLY FUN.

THE MUCH TOUTED “SOUL SYSTEM” IS ALSO NOT EXACTLY NEW.


WHEN CRYPTIC STUDIOS LAUNCHED CHAMPIONS ONLINE, IT HAD PRETTY MUCH THE SAME SYSTEM. YOU CHOOSE YOUR INITIAL POWERSET AND THEN AS YOU LEVEL, GAIN NEW ONES TO “CUSTOMIZE” YOUR CHARACTER.

HOWEVER, I CAN SEE THE SAME ISSUES OCCURRING IN RIFT THAT THEY DID IN CO.

WHILE YES, YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE YOUR CLASS, THERE ARE ONLY A FEW COMBINATIONS I CAN SEE ACTUALLY BEING VIABLE LATER ON DOWN THE ROAD.

THE GOOD NEWS, THOUGH, IS THAT IT IS VERY EASY TO ADJUST YOUR CLASSES AND SOULS LATER ON DOWN THE LINE IN RIFT. AND THE VARIETY OF DIFFERENT CLASSES WILL KEEP ALT-O-HOLICS PRETTY HAPPY FOR AWHILE.

AS FOR THE ALSO TOUTED “RIFTS” FROM WHICH THE GAME GETS ITS TITLE, THEY CAN BE HIT OR MISS.

I TOOK PART IN A LARGER INVASION THAT RESULTED IN A COMPLETE DISRUPTION OF THE AREA, WHICH WAS GOOD. BUT WON'T BE GOOD FOR EVERYONE. IT HALTED MOST QUESTING AS IT DROPPED BADDIES 3-5 LEVELS ABOVE WHAT THE AVERAGE LEVEL OF THE AREA WAS.

FOR THE MINOR RIFTS, THOUGH, UNLESS SOMEONE USES AN ABILITY TO DROP A RIFT, WHICH IN ALL HONESTY I HAVEN'T SEEN YET, THEN THEY ALL SEEM TO OPEN UP IN THE SAME SPOT ALL THE TIME.

AS FOR THE OTHER ELEMENTS, AS I SAID, THE GRAPHICS LOOK REALLY GOOD IF YOU HAVE A NICE SYSTEM.

THE SETTING IS VERY UNIQUE AND A GOOD BLEND OF FANTASY AND STEAMPUNK WITH A LITTLE TECHNOMAGIC THROWN IN THERE.

CHARACTER CREATION IS VERY DIVERSE AND I WAS ACTUALLY SURPRISED BY THE LEVEL OF DIVERSITY YOU COULD HAVE.

ALTHOUGH THE DOWNSIDE TO THAT IS, THIS BEING JUST THAT TYPE OF MMO, YOU WON’T SPEND MUCH TIME LOOKING AT YOUR CHARACTER AND WHEN YOU DO THEY’LL BE COVERED IN ARMOR OR OTHER BAUBLES.

WITH ALL THAT OUT OF THE WAY, HOW DOES RIFT MEASURE UP?

I CAN SAY WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT IT’S CERTAINLY NOT A BAD GAME.

TRION CERTAINLY WENT ALL OUT IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND THE QUALITY AND RELEASE STATE CERTAINLY SHOWS IN THE FINAL PRODUCT.

THAT BEING SAID, I DIDN’T FIND IT A TERRIFIC STEP FORWARD BUT NEITHER A STEP BACKWARDS.

I CONSIDER IT A VERY SOLID STEP SIDEWAYS FOR THE MMO GENRE AND THAT’S NOT NECESSARILY A BAD THING.

RIFT KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT IT IS AND IT DOES IT TO THE BEST OF ITS ABILITY WHICH IS FAR MORE THAN I CAN SAY FOR THE MAJORITY OF MMOS THAT HAVE BEEN RELEASED SINCE WOW DOMINATED THE MARKET.

IT MIGHT BE A GOOD CHANGE OF PACE FOR THOSE WHO ARE GETTING TIRED OF WOW'S SETTING AND STYLE, BUT DON'T WANT TO LEAP INTO AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT STYLE OF GAMEPLAY.

NOT THAT THERE'S MUCH CHOICE OUT THERE NOW, ANYWAY.

HOWEVER, IF YOU DON’T LIKE THIS HOTKEY STYLE OF GAMEPLAY, RIFT CERTAINLY WON’T CHANGE YOUR MIND ABOUT THAT.

SO OVERALL, THE GAME RATES AN EIGHT POINT SEVEN ON THE RATING METER.



IT’S A GOOD GAME WHEN YOU TAKE IT FOR ITS MERITS AND DON’T WANT ANYTHING MORE THAN A GOOD MODERN FANTASY M-M-O.

FOR ME PERSONALLY, WHEN I'VE GOT ABOUT 5 YEARS INVESTED IN WOW, I JUST CAN'T DEDICATE TIME TO START OVER IN A GAME THAT'S NEARLY IDENTICAL IN STYLE AND GAMEPLAY WITH A FEW EXTRA BAUBLES ON TOP.

UNTIL NEXT TIME, FELLOW GAMERS, TAKE CARE AND GAME ON.

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