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Platform
PC
Genre
MMO
Publisher
Trion Worlds
Developer
Trion Worlds
ESRB
T (Teen)
Released
March 1, 2011
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- Lush and engaging visuals
- Musical score is well played and excellently employed
- Incredibly flexible character development options
- Highly detailed and engrossing world
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- Gear switching not nearly as easy
as build switching
- First world event finale less than optimally concluded
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Review: EVE Online: Commissioned Officer Edition (PC)
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Rift
Score: 9.0 / 10
The great white whale of the MMO space over
the last few years has been the fabled “WoW-killer.” Many have come
right out of the gate claiming to be the mythic beast, yet failed to
deliver and have since passed into obscurity. Others have coyly danced
around it, never openly proclaiming themselves the long anticipated
slayer of the Blizzard juggernaut, but often insinuating as much, and
their efforts usually come to naught. Several MMOs have wisely said
they’re not out to kill WoW and just focus on delivering a high quality
MMO experience. Rift: Planes of Telara falls squarely into this third
category. What’s more, they deliver such a high quality
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scattered about here and there. Desert
canyons feel arid and wind scoured. Even in dungeon design, one feels
the difference between a tomb and a mine, however little some players
might believe the difference to be. Even the rift events that occur in
each zone don’t just hold an elemental theme but give the impression of
an alien reality trying to superimpose itself, however briefly, onto the
rest of the world.
The game’s visual effects have, for lack of better description, a sense
of proportion and scale to them. The rifts that form can be seen across
a long distance given the right vantage point, indicating their
comparatively small size geographically yet also indicating how even a
pinprick hole in reality can dwarf the inhabitants of that reality.
Mages hurling fire and lightning certainly give off a visual “tell”
about the nature of their magic, but wildly over-the-top special effects
are not what Rift employs. It’s not a restraint in the effects
department so much as the power of suggestion, the idea that mages are
brushing only the barest surface of the awesome forces that fuel their
spells, conveyed by less obvious eye catching but still highly detailed
effects. The end result seems to help with the immersion in the game
world. Rather than showing you a bunch of eye candy, the effects help
give a sense of authenticity and realism to the characters. There is
virtually nothing for me to find fault with on the visual elements of
this game.
The attention to detail is carried over in
the character design and factional art elements. Trion’s artists
deliberately chose to have the two character factions embody light and
dark, a red team/blue team aesthetic that goes down even to the PvP
quest icon indicators. Guardian characters have a clean cut, almost
holy, look to them. Meanwhile, Defiant characters are darker, rougher,
almost grim in their general feel. Even among notionally similar beings
like humans and elves, the factional differences are striking.
I really wish I had a physical copy of the soundtrack to Rift. The
musical score is one that follows that same sort of ethos as the
visuals. The score doesn’t overwhelm us with great orchestral
arrangements, using spare refrains and subtle melodies for the most part
to draw the player deeper into the setting and the world with more
urgent percussive tunes used for the rift events and for general combat.
Sound effects are a treat for the ears. Again, they’re not out to blast
your eardrums into oblivion. They’re played completely in service to the
game world, accentuating, not trying to steal the spotlight. The voice
acting done throughout the game is quite good, and the cast should be
commended for bring the heroes and villains of Telara to life. When you
want to personally fire off a withering quip in response to the maniacal
villain’s latest exhortations, you know that the voice actor has done a
great job.
How well does Rift distinguish itself from the rest of the MMO crowd in
terms of gameplay? It certainly has a lot of the tropes found in most
MMOs, for good or ill. FedEx quests, escort quests, body count quests,
assassination quests, in terms of quest design there’s not a whole lot
of new ground being broken. Questing is still important, however, as the
story elements which Trion has clearly invested a great deal of time and
effort into are brought forth. I particularly enjoy the decision to make
a distinction between the smaller story arcs found in each region and
the “epic” quest line for each faction that runs from the starting areas
all the way to the endgame content. It gives almost a literary feel to
what would be otherwise dull errands in each zone.
Probably the greatest strength and the
neatest innovations within Rift are found in the character progressions.
Both factions have the same four general paths of Warrior, Cleric,
Rogue, and Mage. Each path has the same eight specializations regardless
of faction, with a ninth one exclusively for PvP play. Yet the strength
of the system comes from the diversity of character builds available.
Play styles now actually matter. Hard choices now have to be made. Do
you spread your points over three souls, creating a sort of Swiss Army
knife of a character who can handle most general questing duties pretty
well? Or do you create a single soul build, filling up every possible
power and ability, the ultimate specialist? Luckily for players, Trion
clearly realizes that people are not only going to want to experiment
but have various builds handy so they can shift from a general PvE build
to a specialized PvP build or dungeon/raid build. Players will have the
opportunity for four different “role” builds on each character, so the
theorycrafters will have plenty of room to play around. The one hitch
that I’ve been able to detect with the system as it exists now is that
while the skills and power sets are easily changed, players will need to
carry their alternative build gear with them rather than being able to
switch out gear sets with the same ease found in WoW.
Trion doesn’t seem to have skimped on trying to tell a sweeping epic of
a story. Rather than the somewhat disjointed and stumbling storylines
found in WoW, players make their way through a world that is balanced
upon the knife’s edge. The tutorial areas get the story started nicely
and also neatly describe the mutual antipathy between the two factions
even as a much larger threat looms over them. Neither side is inherently
good or evil, though each is quick to claim the former for themselves
and ascribe the latter to their opponent. The Guardian faction claims
divine blessings for their powers and their mission, which definitely
gives a sense of holy zeal to their NPCs and their quests. Their
tutorial zone puts players at “the beginning of the end,” the first
emergence of the overarching threat of planar invasion by Regulos that
will doom the world of Telara, ultimately sending players forward in
time to re-engage the threat. Meanwhile, the Defiant faction has their
tutorial during the last dying moments of Telara’s existence, their
fusion of magic and technology fighting a losing battle against the
endless hordes of Regulos and his minions, eventually sending players
back in time at the end to change the past and prevent the end of the
world. The two perspectives are definitely worth rolling up toons on
both factions just to watch how their storylines unfold. Trion recently
finished their first “world event” and while it was enjoyable at the
start, it was the finish that irritated a lot of players, particularly
with long login queues and only a very short window of time to try and
experience the final stages of the event. It was a rookie mistake, but
Trion seems to be listening to their player base and have made at least
some amends. I’m certainly looking forward to the next event they put
out.
For anybody who has thoroughly burned themselves out on WoW or the MMO
of their choice, Rift offers a new opportunity to explore a fantasy
world that has a far different feel than Azeroth. There is a greater
feeling of choice in character progression, a more intricate and
detailed background, and a deeper sense of immersion in the world. It
may not be a WoW-killer, but it certainly gives the Blizzard juggernaut
serious competition.
- Axel Cushing
(May, 4, 2011)
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