1
Game Publisher: Trion Worlds
Game Developer: Trion Worlds
Genre: Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG)
Fee: Monthly Subscription ($14.99/US)
7 Day Free Trial Avaiable.
Official Website
Adventure in the world of Telara as either a noble Guardian or technomagical Defiant and enter a dynamic fantasy where 8 primal forces battle for control in an ever-changing landscape. Build your own class using the Ascended Soul system and embark on epic conflicts that bring you into the story, taking your RPG experience to new heights of achievement and excitement!
- Massive Dynamic Battles: Invasions unfold zone-wide, creating epic conflicts that bring you into the story! Save the world now alongside hundreds of other players or fight to reclaim lands from invading hordes.
- 8 Primal Forces: Creatures from the Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Life, and Death planes battle for control of the world of Telara! Two warring factions—the Guardians and the Defiant—face off against each other and fight extra-planar creatures as they seek to save the world.
- Build Your Class: No other game lets you build your class the way RIFT does. Specialize in a single class or pick and choose abilities from many to create a character uniquely suited to your play style—and have fun while you experiment!
- Choose Your Role: Each character can have up to four different roles, so you can choose different classes for every situation! You might have one for PvP and another for raids; or perhaps you want a high-damage or high-defense build. The choice is yours to mix and match as you see fit!
- PvP Combat: Battle others in exhilarating Player vs. Player combat! Earn PvP ranks, titles, loot, and unique Souls to further enhance your character. Head to cross-server Warfronts and fight others in world PvP.
- Full-Featured: Guilds, dungeons, raids, auctions, crafting, a vibrant economy, Player vs. Player combat, and more!
- Deeper Gameplay: New features like Guild Quests and Artifact Collections enhance your gaming experience by giving you earned achievements that matter.
- Highly Accessible HD Graphics: Play a game that has stunning visuals on virtually any computer, even if your PC isn’t state-of-the-art.
I remember playing the game Rift when it first arrived in the US market a while ago, I believe back then it was in a closed beta (allowing all users to connect, before their subscription mode was switched on). Recently I got restless, so I decided to re-download the game client to Rift. The file size for these sorts of games always shocks me, it was around 10 GB. Having said that, the download rate was extremely fast and I had it completed in about 2 hours.
Before Rift I played AION for almost a year, and I enjoyed every aspect of the game, except for the fact that the Oceanic community was disappearing fast, especially when they merged the servers together. I tend to get impressed by visuals both passive and active (i.e. skills and combat). I found Aion quite unique and it did raise the standard in online role playing. So back to Rift! The game consists of two races the Guardians and Defiants. Each race has a selection of four (4) classes: Warrior, Cleric, Rogue and Mage. The great thing about this game is that each class has eight (8) sub-classes that can be mixed and matched however you like.
For instance I just created a mage on the defiant side and decided to be a Pyromancer as my primary. My secondary was becoming an Elementalist, and lastly my final tree was Stormcaller. All of these selections are made before you reach level 10 in the game (the newbie starting zone, before you are released into the real world!). The fact they have an Oceanic server, was definitely a plus for me - as I hated purchasing access to a proxy server to reduce my latency (like I did when I played Aion!). So if you are from Australia or New Zealand, then it is definitely a must pick game. The skills and combat is also quite good, not my style of fast paced combat with moves from Tekken or Devil May Cry, but it is satisfactory for my standards. Personally, I enjoy the fast paced spamming action like you see in Dragon Nest.
The levelling or grind in game is O.K. It took me two days (around 4-6 hours on each day) to finally reach level 20. When you enter the real zones after level 10, you will notice on the map that rifts literally open in front of you and spawn different types of monsters (i.e. nature, death, water, etc.). These rifts are fantastic to gain lots of experience points from, but also drops and gold (in-game currency). The game has several forms of currency, ones related to purchasing your standard items like potions and weapons, and then other forms of currency obtained through PvP used to purchase elite gear.
The great thing is when global events take part, for instance last night when I was playing the entire world turned black and death rifts were spawning all over the map. It was literally an invasion by the NPC forces to take over our towns. As I tried to run to satiety (being only level 17 at the time), I found myself in a small party which soon turned into a massive raid or alliance. As we roamed around we began destroying rifts and incoming forces. Among the forces contained elite monsters and other humungous bosses that enveloped my 24" LCD screen. The event lasted for about an hour, until we destroyed most of the invading forces and took down the elite generals that had spawned. I think during this hour I increased my characters level from 17 to 19. I also obtained some nice drops and lots of gold!
The economy in the game is O.K. I suppose it is too early to judge, but having an auction house makes things very easy to sell and buy. The drop rate in game is also good, with constant items and material dropping from monsters. Most of the drops I just sell to an NPC, however weapons I tend to place on the auction house. Items in the game also come in various grades, like common, rare, very rare, etc. I found a couple of blue drops from a rift last night, which is awesome!
I also tried out one of their dungeons last night. I think it was a level 20'ish dungeon. The mini bosses pretty much drop blue drops without any problems. The rolling system is also quite fair, with need and greed options available. The great thing is that when you complete the dungeon you obtain a rare box that you can open, which contains blue items that you can equip or sell. In addition, you obtain experience and gold for completing the dungeon.
Lastly, I tried the PvP content with my awesome mage. The first PvP arena is called "The Black Gardens" which you can access quite early on. I think this arena is 8 vs. 8. The PvP is based on competing with the two races, to see which side can obtain 500 points to win. In the middle of the map is a fang, which is like capture the flag. Holding this fang increases your points per second. The next PvP arena I discovered at level 20 is called the Codex, it feels like a mini-fortress war - based on how many flags you can claim and hold. Overall, the PvP is quite addicting and the rewards obtained allow you to purchase elite gear from level 35 onwards.
In general, the game is definitely a must try title. If I was to award a rating or score out of 10 I would have to give it an 8.5/10. Well done, Trion Worlds. If you want to check out more please visit their official website here.
