Rift (2011)

 PC
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 587 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 344 out of 587
  2. Mixed: 150 out of 587
  3. Negative: 93 out of 587
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  1. Nerresand
    Mar 14, 2011
    8
    I am (like, I suspect, many other Rift players) a long-time World of Warcraft player who saw Rift as a promising alternative. WoW kept my attention for over five years, but it has become rather stale, and it hasn't done much to address its core deficiencies over the years. Rift made the wise decision to not diverge radically from the familiar MMO format, but rather offer new twists andI am (like, I suspect, many other Rift players) a long-time World of Warcraft player who saw Rift as a promising alternative. WoW kept my attention for over five years, but it has become rather stale, and it hasn't done much to address its core deficiencies over the years. Rift made the wise decision to not diverge radically from the familiar MMO format, but rather offer new twists and variations that really enhance the experience. This very well executed balance makes Rift a familiar but refreshing experience. Environments are pretty decent and atmospheric, the audio and visual quality is good, and the class variation and customization is the most welcome aspect of this game. Just about the only thing that annoys me about this game is how much it penalizes you for trying to avoid fights - if you get hit from behind while running, a harsh debuff stacks up increasing the damage you take. Combine that with the fact that you get knocked off your mount pretty easily, and the fact that level gaps make no difference to an enemy's aggro radius, and you have an environment in which simply getting around can be somewhat tiresome. It's an annoyance, but the game overall is a nice, refreshing newcomer to an MMO world that is abundant in quantity but lacking in quality.… Expand
  2. scotius
    Mar 19, 2011
    8
    This is a very good game. Its not quite as polished as Warcraft but, considering this has just released, that is to be expected. The level of polish it does have, however, is amazing. The visuals in this game are absolutely astounding outside of the opening areas and I really did believe that I was fighting in a Great War in a fantasy world - very well done to the developers for achievingThis is a very good game. Its not quite as polished as Warcraft but, considering this has just released, that is to be expected. The level of polish it does have, however, is amazing. The visuals in this game are absolutely astounding outside of the opening areas and I really did believe that I was fighting in a Great War in a fantasy world - very well done to the developers for achieving this level of immersion. As I just mentioned, however, the opening areas where you will begin your journey are a bit cliched and not as good looking as the other areas in the game so I am going to substract a couple of points for that. The character creation and progression systems are also very well realised. At a time when World of Warcraft is cutting choice when it comes to our characters in half (all talent trees chopped to pieces, less spells, less customization), Rift has given the (obvious?) option of having 3 talent trees. The result of this is a set of skills, powers, spells and abilities that could be utterly unique if you wish it to be or the fad of the month if you play that way. When it comes to pvp Rift has some battlegrounds that are very innovative compared to the tired, boring, 6 year old "capture the flag" and "resource battles" that WoW keeps on pumping out, having taken ideas from console pvp games such as HALO and Gears of War. Lastly, World of Warcrafts graphical engine, having been developed in 1999 is starting to show its age. I will always be the first to say that gameplay is more important than graphics but what if you could have a game that has WoWs gameplay with mind blowing, next-gen, immersive graphics? That game is Rift. Because of the poor starting areas that nearly made me quit, the stupid story and the fact that it is not quite as polished as World of Warcraft, I am going to subtract 1.5 points from ten (0.5 minus for each bad point) and give this game a very well deserved 8.5. If you are bored of World of Warcraft I urge you to give this cheeky little game a shot. I hope you enjoy Rift as much as I have and let me just finally add that the PVE RP server EU has a very good community.… Expand
  3. TheGrubb
    Mar 21, 2011
    8
    This game doesn't reinvent the wheel. But it is an awfully nice wheel.

    Playing this game felt like I was playing old school "Vanilla Warcraft" before Blizzard they decided to try and level past the old content as fast as possible. Also, the graphics are pretty good and often remind me of a high-fantasy novel, instead of a cartoon-anime-fantasy setting like Warcraft has become.
  4. ibedave777
    Mar 29, 2011
    8
    I purchased this game the day after release and have been very impressed. Visually it's beautiful. I purchased a new Alienware M15X laptop just so I can play it on ultra settings. The questing is fun especially if you take the time to read the story quests so you understand the bigger picture. The rift system is fun but I can see where it could get old. Also, while I like the ability toI purchased this game the day after release and have been very impressed. Visually it's beautiful. I purchased a new Alienware M15X laptop just so I can play it on ultra settings. The questing is fun especially if you take the time to read the story quests so you understand the bigger picture. The rift system is fun but I can see where it could get old. Also, while I like the ability to have so many options for the characters themselves, the soul system gives too many options. It would take hours to explore all of the options if you want to explore all different souls. This is a very solid game and I'm sure I'll enjoying playing it for a very long time.… Expand
  5. chiroben
    Apr 10, 2011
    8
    Anyone giving this game a zero is just wasting everybody's time. Is it the best game ever? No. Is it completely awful? No. It's a very decent WoW clone and isn't pretending to be anything else. Poor game balance and other teething problems don't deserve a 0. If you're looking for a replacement for WoW this is probably your game.
  6. hurrderrderp
    Apr 11, 2011
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Rift, in simplest terms, is a revamped version of most MMOs on the market. It's very hit or miss, depending on how you enjoy playing MMOs. Rift is an entertaining new game with fresh new ideas. However, as far as the execution of the game goes, there are a few parts I think could be improved.

    GRAPHICS:
    This game has decent graphics and some impressive particles in my opinion. Many people that compare this game to WoW will see that on the lower end settings, WoW and Rift look similar. However, when I turned on the highest settings possible, I thought it looked very nice and quite stunning, to be honest. Not much else to say here.

    GAMEPLAY: Gameplay is similar to WoW as much of the game is either questing or raiding against the in-game zone-wide Rifts. These are basically little tears in the sky where the entire zone can come together and defeat a horde of mobs for treasures and loots. Your performance and participation determines the loots you receive. Questing in the game can be very difficult, and even frustrating, at early levels. If more than one mob jumps on you at early levels, surviving can be a challenge. Also, escaping can be difficult if you have no escape moves, as enemies travel at the same speed as actual players. However, questing runs smoothly in spite of these minor inconveniences. There are also instances like in WoW where a small team can enter their own private dungeon and defeat mobs and bosses for loot. PvP is also available in rift, but I haven't tried yet so I have no basis for comparison.

    SOUND: I wasn't impressed with the sounds of Rift. I'm not going to say that they are bad in any way, because they're not. However, they are definitely nothing new. I don't play games for sound, but it's always nice to have a good soundtrack in any game. Rift, unfortunately, does not please me in this category. REPLAY VALUE: As with most MMOs, you can have a large amount of alternative characters (henceforth referred to as "alts", as many of you know is a common description of these characters) across different servers, so replay value really is determined on how much you enjoyed playing on your main and whether or not you wish to make more characters. Personally, I do not roll many alts, as I just enjoy playing on my Mage and going around doing Rifts. I do have a small collection of alts though, and do play them frequently. I find this game similar to WoW in this respect.

    Overall, Rift is a good game with a lot of new experiences. Even though it's a clone of other MMOs, it doesn't subtract from the entertainment value of the game. Sometimes, a new lore and new environment is all we need to realize that we enjoy these games a lot, so playing more than one is fine. I enjoy Rift very much and hope that all others who try it do too.    … Expand
  7. joen00b
    Apr 15, 2011
    8
    Rift doesn't do much to separate itself from other Fantasy MMO's established on the market. Most complaints about the game compare it to WoW, which is unfair. It has gone to great lengths to make itself NOT WoW. It's difficult to write a review without comparing it to other games, as, everything in the game has been done before in other games. Rifts and invasions are nothing more thanRift doesn't do much to separate itself from other Fantasy MMO's established on the market. Most complaints about the game compare it to WoW, which is unfair. It has gone to great lengths to make itself NOT WoW. It's difficult to write a review without comparing it to other games, as, everything in the game has been done before in other games. Rifts and invasions are nothing more than Public Quests from Warhammer, all dungeons are instanced, like all MMO's since 2004, and the base classes fall under the Rogue, Mage, Cleric, Warrior template.

    But, this is where Rift differentiates itself from the pack. With the base classes, there are 8 sub-classes to mix and match to each particular players playstyle. And, by switching roles, you can play different 'soul' combinations, completely changing the make up of the character. Each role can be up to 3 souls (4 souls with End game loots) of the 8, and you can have up to 4 different roles with these souls. Each soul has 2 trees within the 3 souls, where points are spent going 'up' the tree, and the more points put into a soul unlocks traits going 'down' the tree. The combinations are endless! Rogues, having a bard soul, can be back up healers. Mages, with a Chloromancer soul, can be healers, Clerics and Rogues can be tanks... the combos add for a lot of fun. And, that is also a bit of it's downfall. Having so many choices can really overwhelm some players, and thankfully there is no 'magic combination' to having the perfect class. Players are encouraged to play and build the character they want, not follow some formula for face melting.

    The game was inundated with naysayers throughout the first month, but, now that the free month is over, it's settled down into a quality game that delivers what it promises. PVP is still being 'balanced' and that is the biggest complaint of the game at this point. For PVE, the game is quite good, aside from the copious amounts of creatures that will plague the players every step, quite literally. Movement in the game can be frustrating fighting through waves of mobs, especially when following roads, through areas beyond the lowbie zone of Freemarch.

    I enjoy what Trion has offered in terms of MMO's, but, it's a difficult market to break into with so many choices. There are some things WoW won't be able to steal from Rift, but is it enough to warrant the monthly charge over other more established games? The truth is in the tagline for the game: "We're not in Azeroth anymore." Their marketing strategy is to offer a game that isn't WoW. Those sick of WoW will find a fun, well put together game, but not quite as expansive or all encompassing behemoth that WoW has become. Those expecting the game to be WoW will be surprised at the differences. It is a different game, but, in the end, it is an MMO.    … Expand
  8. RecoveryRx
    Jan 1, 2012
    8
    I'll tell you what, after playing SWTOR this game feels like the most innovative game in the universe. Seriously, good lord. So anyway, this game is basically a cookie cutter theme park mmo, but it's probably the most stream lined and polished one I've played. The rifts are the gimmick of this game and they are pretty fun, but can get a little annoying at times. Still, it's a niceI'll tell you what, after playing SWTOR this game feels like the most innovative game in the universe. Seriously, good lord. So anyway, this game is basically a cookie cutter theme park mmo, but it's probably the most stream lined and polished one I've played. The rifts are the gimmick of this game and they are pretty fun, but can get a little annoying at times. Still, it's a nice addition. The best thing about this game - the developers. Crazy thing I know, but it's true. They pump out INSANE amounts of content, easily more than double or triple most other mmo companies, and it's not just crap content. I have a lot of respect for a company like this, and they address what players ask for.

    In general the game has a lot of nice features: great UI, rifts and zone events are awesome, constant world events, collection system, nice exploration carrots like puzzles and so forth, robust achievement system with rewards, alternate advancement system, nice realistic graphics, world full of immersion with npc chatter and scripted activities, swimming, day / night, weather, creatures, etc (if you've played SWTOR you've seen the exact opposite of world immersion). The game does have negatives though like only 1 starter zone each, minimal races to choose from and they are all humanoid, lacking pvp, generic quest types, typical end game mechanics of raid or pvp, generic questing, smallish community, etc.    … Expand
  9. Darken
    May 21, 2011
    8
    I have actually started to play Rift beyond low levels and while I miss the stamina/sprint system of AoC, and especially the directionall combos and realistic movement. I have to admit being blown away be the graphic in Rift. The scenery is stunning and while the characters have pets and there are trolls etc. the actual look of the characters themselves is realistic in my view. I get aI have actually started to play Rift beyond low levels and while I miss the stamina/sprint system of AoC, and especially the directionall combos and realistic movement. I have to admit being blown away be the graphic in Rift. The scenery is stunning and while the characters have pets and there are trolls etc. the actual look of the characters themselves is realistic in my view. I get a good frame rate to with loads of players around, the coding is very good. I started playing on EU but switched to US servers because there are a tonne more players there until servers merge. Expected more players then they got however there are a few points about the game that I do not like. It favours range classes. I hate that in games, that some coward can be a mile away and kill me while I am engaging someone in melee and do "more" dps than me. I hate it but I have tried it and it is fun and easy do I see why the majority do go that way. Its the same in all MMO's. You always have tonnes of Rangers, Mages etc. The melee rogue I am playing is fun though and I do manage to get kills in mini games so far at low levels but I can see problems with having tonnes of people playing mage and marksman classes because its easy and OP ... Rifts can be small OR totally take out a complete zone. I have covered most things. I am rewriting this review and this is my new opinion of RIFT after playing longer.… Expand
  10. Vlorious
    Jul 5, 2011
    8
    I enjoy playing RIFT but...
    First, the good: I love the classes. The skill trees are extremely cool and varied. I'm sure the powergamers can tell you what's better then what, but the fun factor for me is great. I felt interested every time I leveled. The game also plays extremely smooth, graphics are good, rifts are, imo interesting and varied. Community is mostly friendly, outside    I enjoy playing RIFT but...
    First, the good: I love the classes. The skill trees are extremely cool and varied. I'm sure the powergamers can tell you what's better then what, but the fun factor for me is great. I felt interested every time I leveled. The game also plays extremely smooth, graphics are good, rifts are, imo interesting and varied. Community is mostly friendly, outside of your normal problems
    The bad: Leveling is extremely fast, it's so easy to solo that I seldom bothered to group - I'm paying for an MMO, I think group content should be featured more then solo content (but I'm an old EQ player where you couldn't have solo'd beyond the entry levels). So many possible actions that there is some button overload. Uncertain: I'm not into PVP, so I have no way to judge that - it looked well set up, but I have no idea. I dislike the 'can't group with them' thing that's started filling MMO's -- why cut your player base in half and have half of them lose out on half of your content? I'lll never understand that.    … Expand
  11. Zibarath
    Jul 9, 2011
    8
    Rift has a great first impression, deeper character customization than most MMO's except for Aion. Logging into the game you are immediately caught in the middle of either an apocalyptic future for the Defiant or a very bloody past for the Guardians. The class system is very intuitive, from the four beginning archetypes you get, you get 8 different "soul" trees plus a PvP tree. You canRift has a great first impression, deeper character customization than most MMO's except for Aion. Logging into the game you are immediately caught in the middle of either an apocalyptic future for the Defiant or a very bloody past for the Guardians. The class system is very intuitive, from the four beginning archetypes you get, you get 8 different "soul" trees plus a PvP tree. You can have 3 different souls on your current talent tree combination, and 5 different "dual-specs" you can buy from your trainer. Classes are pretty much balanced, with a few minor exceptions (mostly in PvP). Being a Cataclysm veteran, I have to say the questing is not as great, but, every zone builds up to where it culminates at some conclusion, and the game has quite a bit of lore with a much darker story line. One of the major parts of the game, the rift system, introduces a very dynamic world. Every zone has 3 rift elements, and there can be around 20 types of each rift per zone, plus the zone-wide invasions where the planar forces lay siege on the entire zone. For end game the dungeon system allows for randoms on normal, tier 1 and 2 expert dungeons, which are the "heroic mode" for dungeons. The dungeons, even are normal, are a bit hard, but expert brings that to the next level, each tier being harder. There are also raids and raid/expert rifts you can do for higher rewards. The learning curve is a bit steep but prepares you enough for the end-game. In PvP there are 4 battle grounds or war fronts. There's one where you need to hold a fang longer than the other team, one where you have to dominate the map, a capture the flag, and a flow blown battle to kill the commanding officer of the other team. This game is breath of fresh air from WoW. There are easy in-game character transfer methods, tutorials, and the game pretty much prepares you for end game content ahead of time with rifts and normal dungeons. The graphics in this game are far superior to most (if not all) good MMOs out there, if your card can handle it. There is an easy Looking for Dungeon (LFD) tool and instant queues for all battlegrounds. Rift encourages being social, guilds have weekly quests for great rewards, you get amazing guild perks, and there is no experience penalty for being in a group (like in WoW). The crafting system in the game is very easy. There are many gathering and crafting abilities, there is an easy crafting menu to manage your skills, and best of all the items you get while crafting are very useful and, if you keep your level on par with your crafting skill (which isn't too hard) you should be able to even use the armor, spells, potions, etc. that you craft. If you are one of those people who just go for those crazy achievements and to collect everything, you're in luck. In Rift you find artifacts which can be added to a special artifact collection tab. Artifacts can tell stories and clear up some lore for you, and you can trade them in for fun items. If you find a book, you can also pick it up and put it in another bar specifically for books. In some cases, quests may be mundane or repetitive, but there is so much to do while you're leveling that if you don't like this quest, go do something else or just go into a new zone. Rift does have some down points, queues can be very long, the lore may not be up to snuff with what you're used to, but most of these can be easily overlooked and do not prevent you from having a great time. Rift is, as I've said, a real breath of fresh air in the MMO community. It certainly isn't a WoW killer, but if you were looking for a new MMO to play, this is for you. Also, if you don't want to pay the hefty fee that WoW costs to buy WoW, BC, Wotlk, and Cataclysm, this game is certainly worth the money, even if it isn't very old or popular. Rift has been out for 6 months and already 3 major patches with raids, so expect the amount of end game content in the future to be astounding. This is a chance for someone to start at the very beginning of an MMO, a whole new world to explore, there are puzzles, artifacts, and amazing quests. This game will feel very familiar, especially the UI (plus you can customize the UI), but it does give a very great feel to the game. I would very much recommend this to a friend (in fact, I already have friends that I got hooked onto it). Despite it's minor downfalls, Trion has created an amazing new title, and I hope new MMOs take a bit out of Rift in the future.… Expand
  12. mashina
    Aug 27, 2011
    8
    RIGHTS : In these hard times with a lot of whiners on forums and "WOW KILLER QUOTES" its really hard to prove your rights. RIFT took old principles from games like World of Warcraft, Aion and others .. and put them into great looking next-gen MMO shell. I can say honestly the RIFT is actually the one and the right choice for people who want to start with MMORPG. I can say this game have aRIGHTS : In these hard times with a lot of whiners on forums and "WOW KILLER QUOTES" its really hard to prove your rights. RIFT took old principles from games like World of Warcraft, Aion and others .. and put them into great looking next-gen MMO shell. I can say honestly the RIFT is actually the one and the right choice for people who want to start with MMORPG. I can say this game have a perfect nvidia surround and Eyefinity support which is not a rule in 8 games out of 10. MINUS : RIFT still need its time to grow up .. content is still little low, few dungeons, few locations making harder and harder your leveling with every new character and if you want really enjoy the game you bet have a good computer because low-details graphics looks worst than WoW.… Expand
  13. Sygon
    Dec 22, 2011
    8
    Rift is an excellent game for those who arent into a kid game like WoW. Where WoW dumbs down class systems Rift went the opposite way of creating a very innovative way of allowing you to do what you want. In terms of PVE and PVP content you will find it is very generic but it does it well. The game is truley beautiful in terms of graphics but I believe this Realism graphics does not ageRift is an excellent game for those who arent into a kid game like WoW. Where WoW dumbs down class systems Rift went the opposite way of creating a very innovative way of allowing you to do what you want. In terms of PVE and PVP content you will find it is very generic but it does it well. The game is truley beautiful in terms of graphics but I believe this Realism graphics does not age well (oblivion, everquest 2) The most excellent MMO dev team in the world have developed this game, with massive content (PVE content only though) in every patch makes this game a PVE'ers heaven.

    The only downside to Rift is the PVP, they do not cater to their PVP community by adding real open world PVP, PVP rifts do not count as they are in no terms a good way to supplement Warfronts in terms of pvp progression. They need a PVP world Zone with excellent rewards to pull in players. Great game overall, maxed out 3 characters and enjoyed every minute.    … Expand
  14. Ostaf
    Oct 22, 2011
    8
    Rift is a great MMORPG that follows the template of WoW but allowing you to completely customize the HUD.

    It is a lot prettier then any MMO out there and is great for PvE with open parties (you can make them private) so questing is easy. Sadly PvP is lacking, it is all just ganking and separated by the factions (Guardian and Defiant...no PKing that tool stilling all your quest mobs...but    Rift is a great MMORPG that follows the template of WoW but allowing you to completely customize the HUD.

    It is a lot prettier then any MMO out there and is great for PvE with open parties (you can make them private) so questing is easy. Sadly PvP is lacking, it is all just ganking and separated by the factions (Guardian and Defiant...no PKing that tool stilling all your quest mobs...but you can just party with him and do it together Yay!)

    It is enjoyable and worth the monthly fees. If want a refreshing change from WoW this would be a great game for you.    … Expand
  15. Mogul
    Apr 21, 2012
    8
    This game is basically a WoW clone, but a very good one. It's fun progressing through the game, and I enjoyed the dynamics that the rifts brought to the table. I have played each class extensively, and they all work well, although PVP tends to be unbalanced (with different classes taking turns being way OP). I especially enjoyed playing as a Chloromancer, as it allowed me to play a typeThis game is basically a WoW clone, but a very good one. It's fun progressing through the game, and I enjoyed the dynamics that the rifts brought to the table. I have played each class extensively, and they all work well, although PVP tends to be unbalanced (with different classes taking turns being way OP). I especially enjoyed playing as a Chloromancer, as it allowed me to play a type of role that felt fresh and a little bit innovative. The problem with Rift, unfortunately, is the end game. It quickly becomes a boring grind, where you end up doing fairly tedious things over and over again. PVP in the same battlegrounds. Do the same daily quests. Run the same instances. You know the drill, and in Rift, the drill doesn't have the staying power that I was hoping for.… Expand
  16. TheVindelator
    Dec 15, 2013
    8
    Rift's class system is amazing. The interface, the graphics, everything technical in this game is smooth and well designed. The only thing that's not so is the writing and quests. They handle f2p really well in this game too. It's well worth playing.
  17. Sugewise
    May 17, 2012
    8
    Rift is a fantastic MMO. Great graphics, beautiful and detailed landscapes. Trion is an amazing development company that truly gives players there sub's worth. However I felt there were some downs to the game(your opinion may vary). Personally I felt the story was bland and boring, and didn't do a good job of pulling me into the story. Another dislike was how the classes lacked anyRift is a fantastic MMO. Great graphics, beautiful and detailed landscapes. Trion is an amazing development company that truly gives players there sub's worth. However I felt there were some downs to the game(your opinion may vary). Personally I felt the story was bland and boring, and didn't do a good job of pulling me into the story. Another dislike was how the classes lacked any unique mechanics, and many skill trees seemed to be very close to wow skill trees. Also no real open pvp(rvr style) was a downer. That being said, the game play and rifts were fun.… Expand
  18. ollof
    Mar 28, 2014
    8
    Average MMO, yet highly likable and polished.

    I first played RIFT at beta and early release before going back to my regular MMO of the time. I've been without a regular MMO and despite waiting for elder scrolls, most of my friends are on RIFT. In short, RIFT was 'something to do'. However. RIFT has the unique advantage of having an entirely original world, base, and story. At first    Average MMO, yet highly likable and polished.

    I first played RIFT at beta and early release before going back to my regular MMO of the time. I've been without a regular MMO and despite waiting for elder scrolls, most of my friends are on RIFT. In short, RIFT was 'something to do'. However.

    RIFT has the unique advantage of having an entirely original world, base, and story. At first glance the game world doesn't have the glamour and lore of a game such as LOTRO or SWTOR, but RIFT doesn't lack in quality.

    The content is very versatile and available from level 1 to cap. Low level instances are fun, higher level players can scale down to do content. The main concept of the game, the rifts, are random and open. As hordes of monsters enter the landscape, a global quest, shared by all appears for that area. Players have to defeat invaders and aid each other to close the rifts and defeat the bosses. Not only is this fun, it has the ingenious advantage of encouraging group play without being forced or non existent.

    The thing that impressed me the most this second time round of trying RIFT was the number of players in the starting and low level areas, in short, they are packed. Other games are devoid of players upto cap level areas, RIFT is populated throughout and the level scaling plays a great part in this.

    The character skill trees are extensive and work well, there is plenty of choice for building the role you want.

    The RIFT store is accessible by a small icon among the usual cluster of buttons for various menus you expect to see on the UI, it is not forced in anyway and functional. The reason I mention the store is for the way it entirely prevents gold selling. Players can buy a barter item for points which typically sells for a large amount of in game currency, not exactly my cup of tea however no gold sellers is a plus for an MMO.

    RIFT is well worth playing, and free to play.    … Expand
  19. whaleer
    Jan 22, 2014
    8
    Great game! It's hard to find a game that has many interesting features such as RIFT. RIFT isn't just a game that relies awesome graphics, but also provide a new MMO gaming experience. Unfortunately, the use of 'play & quest' system sometimes makes the player feel bored.
  20. Zahrada
    Feb 24, 2014
    8
    I have spent countless hours playing this game, mostly levelling, I did some dungeons and PvP too. Despite being accused of copying WoW I found many things in this game very refreshing. It has a unique atmosphere, which is one of the most important factors for me. Despite being an MMO it is quite immersive too. I also like character creation and some of the questlines aren't that bad. OneI have spent countless hours playing this game, mostly levelling, I did some dungeons and PvP too. Despite being accused of copying WoW I found many things in this game very refreshing. It has a unique atmosphere, which is one of the most important factors for me. Despite being an MMO it is quite immersive too. I also like character creation and some of the questlines aren't that bad. One of the flwas is however repetitive quest design. There is too much of the same quests. Even though the good potential is there, the later questing experience feels very generic at time. But, overall, the game is pretty solid and Trion knows well what it is doing. First few weeks after launch I was completely addicted to this game and the experience was blast! The game is still very good, I spent few weeks in it a year ago. Good stuff.… Expand
  21. Flyro
    Aug 15, 2014
    8
    Rift is a very good MMORPG, one of my favorites alongside Star Wars: The Old Republic, everything looks nice, it's optimised pretty well and the class balancing is OK, like SWTOR, but some classes are a mile ahead at PVP compared to others, just like that flipping Jedi Shadow in SWTOR, always annoying my gunslinger... Anyway, Another thing about the game is that it's very enjoyable toRift is a very good MMORPG, one of my favorites alongside Star Wars: The Old Republic, everything looks nice, it's optimised pretty well and the class balancing is OK, like SWTOR, but some classes are a mile ahead at PVP compared to others, just like that flipping Jedi Shadow in SWTOR, always annoying my gunslinger... Anyway, Another thing about the game is that it's very enjoyable to play, the only problem is the difficulty of the game, sometimes it seems like I can just spam my main attack and get through the rift unscathed, as there's normally about 500 other players by the rifts, all spamming their main attacks. It would be a lot better if there was an advanced difficulty, where you gain XP faster but have less health and attack power.… Expand
  22. TropicalCoconut
    Dec 31, 2014
    8
    Rift. Just... Wow. Exactly! "W.O.W" much like the game "World of war craft" (WOW) they have been able to produce an amazing mmo rpg, only rift didn't ruin it with childish games. Although it's free to play, don't let this from stopping you from trying this classic game out. In this mmo rpg there are 2 teams: the guardians and the deviants. Each with their special abilities and forgivableRift. Just... Wow. Exactly! "W.O.W" much like the game "World of war craft" (WOW) they have been able to produce an amazing mmo rpg, only rift didn't ruin it with childish games. Although it's free to play, don't let this from stopping you from trying this classic game out. In this mmo rpg there are 2 teams: the guardians and the deviants. Each with their special abilities and forgivable graphics for races. With outstanding class choices, it's virtually impossible to copy another class build! Often miss placed with wow rip offs, it's still has the special rift features that not another game has yet to provide. Although this game is in my top 10, it still hasn't met my credentials for 10 stars. Thus i gave it 8.… Expand
  23. JohnKal
    Mar 18, 2015
    8
    I believe Rift is the game for users who are looking for playing freely mmorpg games. Rift is one of the kind free to play games that it is no need to pay to play as good as a premium player! Exept from the cool graphics and gameplay that its has. Rift should make its pvp system more attractive.
  24. Fireside
    Mar 18, 2011
    7
    Got a rogue to level 30, then quit playing. 0 interest in ever playing this game again. It was fun till level 25, then it just got boring. Maybe i'm not in the right mindset for mmo's at the moment.
  25. makdrumz
    Mar 18, 2011
    7
    Right now the user positive reviews are 108 where the negative ones are 14 which says something on its own. I won't say anything more than that Rift is similar, if not better, in content and gameplay to WoW and it barely just launched. The present and future for this game looks bright. On the other hand WoW had no future since its first expansion. Congrats to Trion.
  26. Arshan
    May 17, 2011
    7
    Tried rift's free trial, because of all the fuss that's being made about it i decided to review it and since it aims to compete with World of Warcraft specifically i'll spend most of the time comparing Rift and WoW (world of warcraft):

    Simply put: It is World of Warcraft, but with better graphics (still not really good though), unimaginative enemies, crappy animations, a more fun talent    Tried rift's free trial, because of all the fuss that's being made about it i decided to review it and since it aims to compete with World of Warcraft specifically i'll spend most of the time comparing Rift and WoW (world of warcraft):

    Simply put: It is World of Warcraft, but with better graphics (still not really good though), unimaginative enemies, crappy animations, a more fun talent tree specialisation (with the drawback that it becomes boring after a certain time and doesn't work well for the balance in player versus player combat) and ofcourse it has Rifts.
    The music is slightly worse then that of WoW, but that matters little because in practice very few people play mmo's with the original music on.

    The story behind rift isn't exactly remarkable but that's no surprise when it has to compare to games which are based on already existing expansive storylines. (World of Warcraft, DC Universe Online, Lord of the Rings online, Star wars: knights of the old republic etc.)

    In the end it's a decent but unremarkable mmo with some decent new additions that get old really fast: - Rifts are fun but after a while they're not more remarkable then any other random event in any given mmo.

    - Rift's main competitor (World of Warcraft) has worse graphics, but better music and more interesting enemies, of course this only matters if you care about such things.

    - The talent (or soul system as they call it) is far more customisable then that of any other, however in practice only a few combinations "work" and it gives problems for player versus player based combat as some soul combinations are a lot stronger then others.
    In the end this means that while you do have more choice you will always go for a certain choice if you want to compete with others, since some combinations simply stand out too much.

    In the end all the difference between Rift and World of Warcraft is a matter of taste, however World of Warcraft has a lot more content for the moment due to its age.    … Expand
  27. Adler1945
    May 6, 2011
    7
    Well, now that the game is a couple of months into being online, and the whole euphoria of "NEW TOY SYNDROME" has worn off for me, I think it's a good time to sit down and write a review. This review will be organized based off of multiple sections and each will be given their own score, with an average score being the final.
    Graphics- 8: Many people immediate jump in and give this game a    Well, now that the game is a couple of months into being online, and the whole euphoria of "NEW TOY SYNDROME" has worn off for me, I think it's a good time to sit down and write a review. This review will be organized based off of multiple sections and each will be given their own score, with an average score being the final.
    Graphics- 8: Many people immediate jump in and give this game a 10 for one reason...you need a top end graphics card or SLI rig to be able to run it at maximum all. While this does lead to a very VERY pretty game, it still is not nearly as beautiful as some in the genre, most notably Final Fantasy 14.There is no real Anti-Aliasing option between "Edge Smoothing" and "Supersampling" (which can lead to a really big difference in visual quality...at the expense of 2/3 of your FPS) and the graphics don't rate max level in my book. The surrounding areas, while MUCH more pretty and realistic than WoW, still have some flaws that are glaringly obvious, especially in viewing objects at distance, some of the animal animations, and the like. I think the biggest glaring graphic issue for me is a graphics snafu on the wall of the tunnel leading to the CC instance where the lack of coordination in graphics for the wall shows a completely visible LINE in the graphics halfway up the wall.-Tacky...
    Gameplay/UI -6: The gameplay and UI for this game is pretty much your cut and dry MMORPG circa...well pretty much anything nowadays. Simple AWSD with numbered boxes, cooldowns, and the like. The gameplay itself can be kinda wonky with areas STILL not loading correctly and random disconnects still plaguing a majority of the population.
    Customization of Character/Class-10: The amount of customization of your character on the creation screen is on par with games like AoC and well beyond WoW and some of the other, older MMOs. The customization of your class is where this game is AWESOME in that you have, not only 2 but FOUR different spec sets you can keep at once and interchange as you need to. These specs are chosen among the 8 different souls your class can use, leading to just about any number of possible specs to fit just about any play desires...Sadly there is very limited healing among warriors, which makes soloing a bit of a chore, but otherwise it is worlds apart from pretty much every other MMO as far as customization of your class is concerned.
    Immersion-6: Back at launch of the game I would have given this a 10, but that was before I made it through to the end-zones and saw how LIMITED the world is in Rift. Firstly there are only 2 capitol cities. Each of which is about half the size of a Capitol City in WoW. TWO. That's it. Aside from that you have a few mid-range size towns (think slightly smaller Southshore or Tarren Mill) scattered about, lots of little outposts with 4-6 quest NPCs, and LOTS of mobs that want to kill you. You can't take two steps in this game without getting agro from SOMETHING. The Rifts add a sense of urgency and need to the zone, but if you fail Rift invasions there really isn't a huge downside aside from having to kill invasion points and such to get quest givers back. A super boss that will 1-shot anyone would be a good consequence in my book. Sadly, the game lacks in pretty much anything that makes you want to care about your faction or the people of Telara. Once outside of the starter zones you find that all of the citizens of Telara are either giving you quests, are guards, or one of maybe 50 npcs that are meant to add "feel" to the game. Sadly this does NOT provide any immersion value at all unless you find constantly fighting for your life to be an immersive experience.
    RP-Friendly- 3: This is where the game really suffers. The lack of areas for players to congregate for RP purposes (There are only 3-4 inn type places for tavern RP), the lack of comprehensive lore (they're still making it up as they go), and the complete lack of immersive areas where people can actually try to base a RP event around leads the RP to mainly be Tavern-based or PvP based. At least on my server. Developers- 6: I give the devs a 6 primarily due to their obvious willingness to be open and willing to admit mistakes. (Check the RoS apology) However, they are also very absorbed in trying to make everyone happy, and thus have made some MASSIVE (no exaggeration) changes to classes/souls all in the name of "Balance" that have effectively either ruined the soul for their role (Riftblade) or made it damn near unkillable (Pyro). This leads me to some sad conclusions for the future.
    Sadly, the direction of the game has taken even more of a turn toward being a WoW copy. The implementation of a LFD system, the blatant favoritism of certain souls, and the lack of direction of the game other than creating events based off of the Rifts (More combat, less immersion) has the game leaning away from the slogan "We're not in Azeroth anymore" and more toward "A prettier, smaller Azeroth".    … Expand
  28. kozmonster
    Mar 3, 2011
    7
    Firstly, I should say that I think that Rift is in no way a bad game. For a game that has just came out it runs fairly well, has quests placed in a well thought out order, and has an interesting way of doing character progression. The rift concept works well to break up the leveling grind and from what I've seen it doesn't look like there will be racial imbalances for apposing factions.Firstly, I should say that I think that Rift is in no way a bad game. For a game that has just came out it runs fairly well, has quests placed in a well thought out order, and has an interesting way of doing character progression. The rift concept works well to break up the leveling grind and from what I've seen it doesn't look like there will be racial imbalances for apposing factions. For a game that just came out it has very few bugs and graphics are nice. The reason I cant give this game a positive score aside from the minor bugs that should be fixed with a patch is because of the lack of innovation. It isn't a terrible thing to take the better aspects from other games and use them, but after this many years of mmo's, one might expect something more than the standard quest grind to end game then raiding with PvP mixed in there every now and then. If you like WoW chances are you'll like Rift because in the end its almost the same game. Not that its a bad thing, but I'm just tired of playing the same game with different names.… Expand
  29. tunaphish6
    Mar 13, 2011
    7
    It's always difficult to review an MMo. While just about any and every MMo will have problems and glitches upon launch, usually they can be ironed and the game improved upon over time. However, there are many things that are simply too ingrained into the game, its gameplay, mechanics or engine to readily be changed.
    Half the reason any other MMo's have been successful is the general    It's always difficult to review an MMo. While just about any and every MMo will have problems and glitches upon launch, usually they can be ironed and the game improved upon over time. However, there are many things that are simply too ingrained into the game, its gameplay, mechanics or engine to readily be changed.
    Half the reason any other MMo's have been successful is the general fluid-ness of gameplay, its (default) interface, graphics and animations. While the graphics might seem 'modernized' compare to more dated MMo's, no screenshot can do justice to how jarring the animation can be. Personally, I'm    … Expand
  30. akelz7
    May 7, 2011
    7
    It's a WoW clone. Plain and simple, it's WoW but with a few name changes and pretty graphics. That's a good thing, because WoW is a good MMO, but in the end it's all personal preference that would make you play rift. If you like WC lore like I do, play WoW, if you want pretty graphics, play Rift.
  31. cassus
    Mar 19, 2011
    7
    There's really nothing bad about this game, on the flip-side, there's not a lot of great stuff either. After about 100 hours of playing I lost all interest in continuing. I had quite a lot of fun doing rift events. PvP was okay-ish, and the questing was.. well.. Questing will always be dull in mmorpg's it would seem. The game has a nice interface, quest log and map markers and stuff, allThere's really nothing bad about this game, on the flip-side, there's not a lot of great stuff either. After about 100 hours of playing I lost all interest in continuing. I had quite a lot of fun doing rift events. PvP was okay-ish, and the questing was.. well.. Questing will always be dull in mmorpg's it would seem. The game has a nice interface, quest log and map markers and stuff, all very nice. It shows that the developers have been playing WoW for a while and stole many of the addon designs for that game. The real problem is that the gameplay is just a ton of stuff you've already played a million times. And the casting/combat in the game has a sluggish feel to it that's just uncalled for in this day and age. It's slower and more janky than WoW, and 5 years past the release of WoW, there's just no excuse. Combat doesn't feel immediate at all, it feels like you're just queuing up stuff for your character to do at its leisure. Suggesting spellcasts and attacks, much like the olden days of mmo's. With games like Tera and Guild Wars 2 on the horizon, going for that old tick based sluggish combat system seems like an odd choice. I assume the reason they went for such a system over a more direct control instant cast type system is that the netcode of the game feels somewhat unrefined. All in all, though, it's probably the best mmo so far in 2011, and if you were let down by the crappiness of Cataclysm, it's well worth a try. If for nothing else than the Rift events, which are pretty sweet, and shows just how awesome Guild Wars 2 is going to be with its way more complex public quest type gameplay.… Expand
  32. TerKaDer
    Mar 26, 2011
    7
    I bought Rift with a couple of guild mates from Wow. We needed a break and that is definitely what we found in rift. The first thing I noticed when I stepped into the beginners zone was how beautiful the game looked and sounded. I don't have the best computer but even at medium settings it looks great. The class system is a nice fresh way to get different specs as well, when you canI bought Rift with a couple of guild mates from Wow. We needed a break and that is definitely what we found in rift. The first thing I noticed when I stepped into the beginners zone was how beautiful the game looked and sounded. I don't have the best computer but even at medium settings it looks great. The class system is a nice fresh way to get different specs as well, when you can mix and match what ever you would like to make a tank, dps or healer on nearly every class. The random rift openings and invasions help to keep things fresh for a bit, and the fact that you can jump into a public group and take care of these events or even jump into a group to finish a quest is great. But in the end Rift is still a MMO and you will still get a multitude of quests of go here and kill this many enemies and then take this letter to that guy three feet from me because I'm too lazy. Rift is a great game and if you enjoy MMO's or are curious to play one this is a good game for you.… Expand
  33. Lanhavoc
    Mar 27, 2011
    7
    Takes all the aspects we love from MMOs such as WoW and WAR, removes all the garbage and fat, and leaves us with an interesting blend that is familiar but well crafted. Add to this better graphics and pvp than it's predecessors and Rift is an all around excellent MMO experience.
  34. Amilmadien
    May 5, 2011
    7
    I'll be honest here - I was hoping for something a little more unique. Instead I just got World of WarhammerQuest. I can't complain about the game's stability and beauty, nor Trion's dedication to quality and customer service. However, you can count me out of this loop. I've run my last quest and /ignored my last griefer, because playing WoW again was not what I wanted.
  35. Cell1e
    May 8, 2011
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I enjoyed this game, this crafting is fun and useful and collecting the artifacts is really nice too. Im not one for online games as I lose interest in them after a while (as a solo player) but this one kept my interest for longer than most. The rifts are a nice one of letting people who like to solo beenfit from nice rewards and drops. Good job to the developers there.… Expand
  36. Jokr
    May 10, 2011
    7
    A new mmorpg wanting to compete with the heavy weight that World of Warcraft is (literally as seen in the advertisement campaigns) that does a lot of things right, but nothing really new. Trion worlds gathered most of the solid and safe mechanics other mmorpgs and of course WoW has to offer, added a new and quite interesting lore to it, let it bake for about the right amount of time andA new mmorpg wanting to compete with the heavy weight that World of Warcraft is (literally as seen in the advertisement campaigns) that does a lot of things right, but nothing really new. Trion worlds gathered most of the solid and safe mechanics other mmorpgs and of course WoW has to offer, added a new and quite interesting lore to it, let it bake for about the right amount of time and voilà there is Rift.

    The game is polished, borrows traditional and established mechanics from the genre and does it quite well. It looks shiny too and offers a unique and at first sight very deep soul system with a lot of variation. This variation starts to vanish in the endgame content when you are easily outperformed by players of the same skill but simply different soul and talent combinations which become sort of mandatory to compete giving all those players who thought they can use their unique combinations at any point of the game a straight middle finger.

    The leveling content is really fun, the rifts offer short periods of fun and action and give you an overall fun experience until the level cap of 50. From this point the game changes to the grind dungeons grind raids end game content that so many other mmorpgs have as well. For my taste this is a quite cheap approach and while I see that many players like it and that it can give you hours of content if you wish to do it, the presentation and motivation in Rift to grind that content is beneath average.

    I simply did not feel motivated to grind my plaques and gear and even though I had an active guild and really decent gear, for the early state of the game, I did not find it fun anymore. The PvP is, just like WoW, mostly playing Warfronts and getting your Favour (Honor) to buy more items. There is a deeper specialisation for your spec if you want to focus more on PvP, but there again some specs just overtrump most others which takes away a lot of the variation.

    Overall I give this game 8/10 for the leveling content which you should be able to finish within the first "free" month. 5/10 for the content past level 50 for which you have to pay a subscription ( you sure can start raiding within the first month but there is really no point if you don't want to play this game for a longer time and want to subscribe) what results in a 6.5 /10. Having some faith in Trion worlds to make the end game more fun I give Rift 7/10.    … Expand
  37. Thane
    May 22, 2011
    7
    Polished and with a broken public quest features inspired from WAR, Rift doesn't bring enough worth playing for veterans, but for new people in the mmorpg genre, can be a fun experience.
  38. disorient
    May 29, 2011
    7
    Rift decided WoW is a genre and added to it this game has been methodically conceived and implemented. The development must have been tightly perfected because it preforms really, really well and with no compromise. Few places are completely safe for a character so the entire experience is much more lively. World combat features that were limited to special events (eg, zombie invasion) orRift decided WoW is a genre and added to it this game has been methodically conceived and implemented. The development must have been tightly perfected because it preforms really, really well and with no compromise. Few places are completely safe for a character so the entire experience is much more lively. World combat features that were limited to special events (eg, zombie invasion) or zones (eg, halaa) in WoW are accessible in different modes of play all over the map. The originality of this game is in the technology instead of the immersion, and on the latter Trion is making no pretense.
    This is the best example of a mainstream MMO right now and would deserve a 10, but I can't give it a higher rating because may God help you if your account is plundered.    … Expand
  39. Fredelas
    Jul 18, 2011
    7
    Lacking in end-game at launch, but frequent live events are entertaining. Not a lot of new concepts, but the game play is still fun and above average.
  40. Silas32
    Apr 16, 2012
    7
    similar to wow, but still original... The way you can customize your character is far better than wow... Its random events like rift invasions do the game more exciting.
  41. goliva
    Aug 28, 2012
    7
    This game is a WoW clone, a good one but the graphs are more serious-realistic look like. At first sight it looks kinda bad, but if you give it a chance and explore and level your character further on, you will find it pretty entertaining.
  42. hakblood
    Oct 11, 2012
    7
    This review is just Rift and the 1st 6 months from release. It was a fun and polished entry to the MMO market. It is a WoW-clone, no bones about it, but it was entertaining and better then the later xpacs of WoW. The class system was nice for the players, like myself, whom like versatility. I let my sub lapse after 6 months and moved on, however i enjoyed it enough, that with an upcomingThis review is just Rift and the 1st 6 months from release. It was a fun and polished entry to the MMO market. It is a WoW-clone, no bones about it, but it was entertaining and better then the later xpacs of WoW. The class system was nice for the players, like myself, whom like versatility. I let my sub lapse after 6 months and moved on, however i enjoyed it enough, that with an upcoming Xpac on the horizon, I am considering re-subbing.… Expand
  43. AtlasOrion
    Dec 4, 2012
    7
    Rift has a lot of great things going for it, but needs a lot too. The fights are confusing as heck, especially coming from WoW, and end game is very disappointing. The world looks AMAZING and the mounts and mobs are awesome, but the weapon and armor are completely "meh", could use a Korean touch. The rifts are super fun and always give you something to do, the quests are decent andRift has a lot of great things going for it, but needs a lot too. The fights are confusing as heck, especially coming from WoW, and end game is very disappointing. The world looks AMAZING and the mounts and mobs are awesome, but the weapon and armor are completely "meh", could use a Korean touch. The rifts are super fun and always give you something to do, the quests are decent and engaging and world events are sufficiently fun - but the instanced encounters are a mess.

    And the community is both good and bad - they're friendly and helpful in general, it's not full of trolls like WoW, but in instances everyone treats it like a speed run and doesn't talk. So you don't get a chance to learn anything unless you're doing guild runs. I played for 6 months and gave up on end game, levelling the different classes is really fun but ends at level 60 =(.

    The game looks amazing and has excellent playability - from fully customizable UI to complex talent trees that can be swapped out and customized endlessly. The game feels polished and well thought out, but boss mechanics need to be more transparent.    … Expand
  44. Kalfear
    May 18, 2013
    7
    Great game in theory, quite enjoyed beta testing this game and early retail
    in the end though it was to small, to short, to confined for a MMORPG
    Voiced NPCs would have also helped greatly as most folks just ingored the typing and choose the one option that made most sense to them. Talking to players at end game I would say 7 in 10 honestly had no idea what the storyline while leveling    Great game in theory, quite enjoyed beta testing this game and early retail
    in the end though it was to small, to short, to confined for a MMORPG
    Voiced NPCs would have also helped greatly as most folks just ingored the typing and choose the one option that made most sense to them. Talking to players at end game I would say 7 in 10 honestly had no idea what the storyline while leveling up was because they didnt need to read it.

    Good game that could have been much much much better

    I have not tried the new expansion that brought forth many changes    … Expand
  45. Winterlight212
    Nov 13, 2014
    7
    SEEMS like it really could be fun, but there were certain things that annoyed me, can't put my finger on it exactly, but just didn't "FEEL" right and I think "FEEL" is a big part of any game. I may re-visit this game in the future, but for now I'm done. Don't take my word, haven't really given this game as much effort as other games I've played, but I really couldn't get into this game that much.
  46. Kaytyworg
    Oct 27, 2013
    7
    RIFT has a feel like WoW--I'm pretty sure it was designed that way. Starting areas for Guardians and Defiants are both interesting. Rifts were fun--at first After the starting areas, the game starts to bog down--leveling seems slow, and I for one got tired of fighting ghouls and ghosts and demons and zombies, or undead whatevers. Like some other games I've played, you have NO chanceRIFT has a feel like WoW--I'm pretty sure it was designed that way. Starting areas for Guardians and Defiants are both interesting. Rifts were fun--at first After the starting areas, the game starts to bog down--leveling seems slow, and I for one got tired of fighting ghouls and ghosts and demons and zombies, or undead whatevers. Like some other games I've played, you have NO chance fighting anything much above your own level. C'mon, guys, you should at least have SOME chance at this Other players were friendly and helpful at first, then things degenerated into kill-fests with not much interaction. End-game content was geared at the Uber-characters(Twinks)--My 50 got Nowhere repeatedly (I -think- that was the highest level!)
    Lack of interesting things to fight made me leave. Too bad--Game showed promise.    … Expand
  47. Hall7718
    Feb 21, 2014
    7
    Rift scores positive points for their unique talent system (souls). However, the system was also hard to balance. Loved the open world events (Rifts). High marks on innovation.
  48. isidore12
    Sep 3, 2021
    7
    Rift used to be great for PvE, passable for PvP up to 2.0.

    The 3rd expansion was a massacre of the game:
    * world map with no details)
    * boring boss fights
    * daily quest: "click 20 times" (no joke)

    Most of old good players lefts, guilds are scarce.
  49. dnfstorm
    Mar 21, 2011
    6
    Not a huge fan, it is a wow clone with some good ideas but not enough balance to last long, most users on it will go back to games like wow which is far superior or wait for the new mmo's incoming like gw2 or swtor
  50. luvhavingfun
    Mar 7, 2011
    6
    What sets this game apart is the zone wide events, customizable talent trees, and Raiding in the game world instead of an instance. I can't say that this is a superb game quite yet, because i am VERY picky about games. This game doesn't live up to my insane high quality standards, but it does do a decent job of being a typical MMORPG. There is definitely a grind in this game, but itWhat sets this game apart is the zone wide events, customizable talent trees, and Raiding in the game world instead of an instance. I can't say that this is a superb game quite yet, because i am VERY picky about games. This game doesn't live up to my insane high quality standards, but it does do a decent job of being a typical MMORPG. There is definitely a grind in this game, but it isn't terrible. I am giving this a low score because I am an explorer type player and an altoholic as well. I love choice and being encouraged to chose what I want to do and how I want to do it. It is the starting experience I am not liking at all and the linear leveling zones with little to no choice at the moment. Not that this will never change though. A year from now and this game could be really quite amazing. I have to say that this game in my opinion just won't compete against SWTOR and Guild Wars 2 at all. Once those two games come out, either at the same time or seperately, rift will not be able to compete at all. It just doesn't have the amazing Bioware team with loyal established fans nor the already established ArenaNet to help it out. I say this game will be $30 or less by the fall of 2011, and probably talking about buy to play or free to play by spring 2012.… Expand
  51. dondon
    Jun 9, 2011
    6
    Been there done that. Nothing new to make the game call itself it's own. Something new to look at and better graphics. If this was my first paying MMO ever I would keep going with it but it's not. If your looking for ranked PVP you won't find it here. Devs themselves stated they will not implement ranked arenas but there is battlegrounds for those light pvpers. Combat a lot like WoW,Been there done that. Nothing new to make the game call itself it's own. Something new to look at and better graphics. If this was my first paying MMO ever I would keep going with it but it's not. If your looking for ranked PVP you won't find it here. Devs themselves stated they will not implement ranked arenas but there is battlegrounds for those light pvpers. Combat a lot like WoW, nothing new except learning mechanics for the bosses.… Expand
  52. Deyadissa
    Mar 13, 2011
    6
    LAcks PvP endgame Content, doe snot keep it's name for next generation even in Pve. Raids are boring and it's the same mechanics we've seen before.
  53. madhotsoup
    Mar 21, 2011
    6
    Pretty game, but does nothing new for the genre. This would probably be a great game for those new to MMORPG's, but for vets it will probably feel like more of the same. What it did do was take some good elements from other MMO's and incorporated them. Control and UI wise, almost an exact match for World of Warcraft. Rifts are pretty much the same thing as public quests from WarhammerPretty game, but does nothing new for the genre. This would probably be a great game for those new to MMORPG's, but for vets it will probably feel like more of the same. What it did do was take some good elements from other MMO's and incorporated them. Control and UI wise, almost an exact match for World of Warcraft. Rifts are pretty much the same thing as public quests from Warhammer online. The multiple class/soul trees have been seen in Guild Wars. This game, along with all other MMO's just feels like it's trying to build on what's already out there but better, which it does do, but at the same time it doesn't bring anything new to the table.… Expand
  54. Reaktorblue
    Apr 3, 2011
    6
    This game was fun from 1-50. Unfortunately 50 can be achieved within 5 days by an average person, even faster by a power gamer.

    After hitting max level, it seemed like to play the game was forcing regurgitated content down my throat. Kill more rifts for more planarite. Do more of those same dungeons you have been doing with maybe 1 more boss and a new corner of the map. Keep doing these    This game was fun from 1-50. Unfortunately 50 can be achieved within 5 days by an average person, even faster by a power gamer.

    After hitting max level, it seemed like to play the game was forcing regurgitated content down my throat. Kill more rifts for more planarite. Do more of those same dungeons you have been doing with maybe 1 more boss and a new corner of the map. Keep doing these for, you guessed it, more currency to spend on items.

    All told, the game feels like its solely based on grinding the same things over and over again for currency to spend for minor stat increases. This would not be so bad if the game was not able to be played in such a way that gets you to this boring point within a week.

    In the end it just feels like nothing was done that was meaningless. The collection factor (the emotion you get after all that hard work on your character) just isnt there.

    Plagued with the standard bugs most games has, coupled with awesome content (that unfortunately fizzles out after a month) means we have an awesome game here thats worth only playing until the subscription price kicks in.

    If you want all your time and effort to mean something, Rift is not where you will want to turn.    … Expand
  55. grandroyal
    Jul 10, 2011
    6
    This game is exactly what it appears to be, a WoW clone with a better graphics engine. This is either a good or a bad thing, depending on your experience. For me, it was a bad thing. Right from the start of this game, I couldn't find any reason to care about the plot or my character's progress. After character creation you're given a very small piece of lore to explain whats going on, andThis game is exactly what it appears to be, a WoW clone with a better graphics engine. This is either a good or a bad thing, depending on your experience. For me, it was a bad thing. Right from the start of this game, I couldn't find any reason to care about the plot or my character's progress. After character creation you're given a very small piece of lore to explain whats going on, and then sent to the leveling treadmill. To be fair, the Defiant's starting zone was actually pretty cool, and their story works well. The Guardian's however, is just..... bad. So with little incentive to read into the thin plot, I found myself grinding levels, professions, rifts, etc... then I realized that I'd already spent 100's of hours doing the same thing in WoW - and honestly this game just convinced me to go back to WoW (which I haven't played in over a year). Seriously, with the time I've invested in WoW and how many friends I have there, Rift offers absolutely nothing extra to make me want to make a permanent switch.

    Anyway, great game engine, designed well, but absolutely no originality and therefore no lasting value. Sorry.    … Expand
  56. Daematune
    Aug 1, 2011
    6
    RIFT is by far not perfect, but an excellent start to possibly something great. The class system is easily the biggest reason you would play this game. It offers a range of choices for any play-style you can really think of, it lacks healer roles though, and is impossible to be balanced. The quest system is repetitive and very boring. The game world itself is extremely small. The biggestRIFT is by far not perfect, but an excellent start to possibly something great. The class system is easily the biggest reason you would play this game. It offers a range of choices for any play-style you can really think of, it lacks healer roles though, and is impossible to be balanced. The quest system is repetitive and very boring. The game world itself is extremely small. The biggest thing that really stunk is that the dungeons are very, very easy.. even in Tier 1 and Tier 2 and some raids, the boss fights are simply tank and spanks with one easy tactic. The dungeon finder as well as the PvP queues are very long as well. If your looking for a challenge with good quality to it you might want to look elsewhere, it's highly overrated.… Expand
  57. HopelesslyGame
    Dec 6, 2011
    6
    I have written a short review on this game. A quick summary of why I gave it a score of 6: Technically wonderful with lovely graphics, smooth response and very minor glitches. However, gameplay feels a bit bland for long-time players of MMORPGs. Good effort from Trion.
    http://www.hopelesslygame.com/2011/04/entering-the-rift/
  58. dionissos
    Dec 31, 2011
    6
    Ok rift has not bring revolution to mmorpg genre. It seem to follow the same path like wow and any other wow clone in mmorpg. Same boring quests, same gameplay mechanics , boring pvp.
    Is not bad game if you never play again a mmoprg but is boring for a veteran in this genre. The game has some good moment like the nice graphics and the open world and a nice idea for the randomly invasion of    Ok rift has not bring revolution to mmorpg genre. It seem to follow the same path like wow and any other wow clone in mmorpg. Same boring quests, same gameplay mechanics , boring pvp.
    Is not bad game if you never play again a mmoprg but is boring for a veteran in this genre. The game has some good moment like the nice graphics and the open world and a nice idea for the randomly invasion of mob through rifts.    … Expand
  59. Delaro
    Jan 11, 2016
    6
    The Cons.
    1. The game runs horrible, Outdated Gamebryo DX9 Engine that is highly CPU dependent.
    2. PVP in this game is pointless there is not Gear Balance here so if your a new 65 get use to Dying. You simply can't kill someone in R2 and above gear unless it is 3 vs1 or better. PVP is still way off Balance most Souls are pointless to even try. 3. LvL 65 is Grindy as hell unless your    The Cons.
    1. The game runs horrible, Outdated Gamebryo DX9 Engine that is highly CPU dependent.
    2. PVP in this game is pointless there is not Gear Balance here so if your a new 65 get use to Dying. You simply can't kill someone in R2 and above gear unless it is 3 vs1 or better. PVP is still way off Balance most Souls are pointless to even try.
    3. LvL 65 is Grindy as hell unless your Raiding, the majority of what you do is Grind for Tokens this is where the game got boring with Dailies and Weeklies.
    4. The game is centralized around making Cash so expect to Fork up real cash if you want to be Competitive especially if PVP is your main concern.

    The Pros.
    1. Good Story line.
    2. Lots to do if you like Achievements, Crafting and Puzzles.
    3. Plenty of Group Activity.    … Expand
  60. Mac_55555
    Nov 3, 2013
    6
    Rift has the same issues as WOW see below), as they copied almost every feature from that game. So where does wow/rift go wrong? It’s a cookie cutter type game with no depth in gear, spells or abilities… everyone has the same stuff. A new expansion comes out, your: Int, Agi, Str goes up 20 points… ooowee, how exciting! These games are good for a while but you tire of them quickly.Rift has the same issues as WOW see below), as they copied almost every feature from that game. So where does wow/rift go wrong? It’s a cookie cutter type game with no depth in gear, spells or abilities… everyone has the same stuff. A new expansion comes out, your: Int, Agi, Str goes up 20 points… ooowee, how exciting! These games are good for a while but you tire of them quickly.

    Rift figured it would copy WOW because they are successful, which is only partly true. WOW is successful largely due to the fact that there is no competition for this genre game on the market, rather than it being an epic game to play.

    So instead of being creative and coming up with an epic NEW game, Rift sealed its fate by coping another game on the market; a game with more resources and experience in the market. To add to their problems, their developers are not as good as WOW’s (less cash to work with), they have not figured out a proper PVP balance between classes (big issue!), class/gear/dungeons have even less depth. And selling gear and mounts for cash (US dollars) is simply a mistake in the long run. Yes, you make some quick cash but this will come back to bite them later, as it creates major imbalances in PVP and spoils the idea that earn quality gear! Rift definitely has some positive like good support, and sound on-line game play, but the focus of this post is how to improve the game.

    So the big question, how do you fix these games, or better yet, make a game that blows the competition away! Think unique and individual. Who wants to be the same as everyone else? Instead of spending all that time developing PVE which no one plays in end game you build up a colossal gear stash 1st, a broad range of abilities to level (slowly), EQ’s AA were very good. I could say so much here but don’t have the time or space to write it. How do you make PVE fun? Opportunities for reward!! (GEAR), make it challenging where you require team play, and easy group joining creates friendships, roaming rare monsters and again drops worthy GEAR). I’d make opportunities for good gear equal whether it’s PVP, PVE or Raid and almost everything would be drops… very little purchased! How about building your own weapons with special abilities, weapons that level with the character (30-40 levels minimum) so the gear drop really mean something. More of the gear is tradable. And when gear drops is for your level not something you out grew five levels ago!

    PVP is based on skill, rather than level/gear so you avoid the unbalanced PVP matches. And is it really that difficult to balance the different classes? It must be because Rift does a horrible job of it, as of 10/2013 rogues and heals rule in PVP, mages are pawns and clerics, warriors do ok.    … Expand
  61. Tetsuro
    Jan 23, 2014
    6
    It's a decent game with nice but 'rigid' graphics. Gameplay could be a bit awkward to one used to the likes of Ultima Online or Neverwinter Nights and AI is a bit on the 'stupid side'. The game in itself is very little compelling, it's boring (in everything.. from graphics, to monsters, to quests) and party with someone else is boring too. I have not found any decent player to form a realIt's a decent game with nice but 'rigid' graphics. Gameplay could be a bit awkward to one used to the likes of Ultima Online or Neverwinter Nights and AI is a bit on the 'stupid side'. The game in itself is very little compelling, it's boring (in everything.. from graphics, to monsters, to quests) and party with someone else is boring too. I have not found any decent player to form a real party to do PvE, everyone is busy on doing its things even if it's playing inside a party. And the talking system does not help at all since it's akward (where it was the center of the game in Ultima Online for example). I give it a & but I could have done better with my time.… Expand
  62. aatassi
    Feb 28, 2014
    6
    Played for 3 days until lvl 20
    Good things : graphics similar to Guild wars 1, sound, rifts, mounts, special items used during quests, skills tree
    less : no story lines, quests similar after a moment, need 5 players to sign for guild creation, dungeons mobs
    Game play : 5, graphics : 6, Back ground : 6, lifetime : 6, sound : 7
  63. pythag0ras
    Jan 29, 2016
    6
    Pros:
    +engaging story
    +smooth PvE combat +Dimension system is interesting +Can solo or group to level effectively +Can get real money credits through in game currency +Great graphics +Large player community +world events +weekly updates +leveling is rewarding Cons: - Never seen such grinding.. nothing in RIFT gets done quickly.. -end game consists of repetitive daily and    Pros:
    +engaging story
    +smooth PvE combat
    +Dimension system is interesting
    +Can solo or group to level effectively
    +Can get real money credits through in game currency
    +Great graphics
    +Large player community
    +world events
    +weekly updates
    +leveling is rewarding

    Cons:
    - Never seen such grinding.. nothing in RIFT gets done quickly..
    -end game consists of repetitive daily and weekly quests , and dungeons to build up enough marks (takes years to get enough because you have a finite amount of dungeon bonuses per week. ) and just when you get enough marks they release an xpac that makes all your gear obsolete overnight. When your not grinding dailies/weeklies , youre waiting for raids . see next
    -Raiding --worst raiding of any game i have played. Extremely difficult and unforgiving on boss fights. Requires grinding the boss fight over and over and over again to get the mechanics down ..and oh you can only do it once a week. And then once you actually get through the raid you get to the end chest and its one piece of gear that everyone in the raid gets to roll on.. so more often then not ,you will put in a ton of work and still get nothing.
    -TOO MUCH RNG! Every single thing in the game is RNG based , which of course , adds to the grind. Many many situations where I spent hours working toward something just to never get it (but got to watch 3 other people get it like it was nothing ) Even the chests that you pay real money for are "random" , and usually contain many items that are not only useless (pvp announcer anyone?), but unable to be resold to players or vendors so usually deleted.
    -Dungeon runs take too long and have too high a learning curve for people new to that dungeon. also the loot is for the group to roll on so the majority of times you end up running the dungeon and getting nothing u can use at the end.
    -Constant remaking of the classes , you just get your rotation of your spells you have to cast and they then change it all and you're back to square one with relearning it.
    -No flying mounts (and the devs have stated they will not be adding them in the future) this means you are running everywhere..and the initial mount you can buy is so slow it doesnt even seem faster then being on foot.
    -TONS of restrictions unless you spend money.. no auction house access, the classes you have access to are under powered compared to the pay-for classes, you get knocked off your mount when anything looks at you, more that i cant remember offhand.

    All in all id say its worth playing ... but not worth paying a single dime for.    … Expand
  64. Dethstar
    May 17, 2011
    5
    I have been playing since early beta and finally gave up today. The launch was pretty smooth and the game felt alot more finished than many MMOs at release. All great stuff. Unfortunately, its so like World of Warcraft I just got serious dejavu all the time. Now that might sound like a good idea but consider that Wow is something like 10 years old now. It just feels out of date. TheI have been playing since early beta and finally gave up today. The launch was pretty smooth and the game felt alot more finished than many MMOs at release. All great stuff. Unfortunately, its so like World of Warcraft I just got serious dejavu all the time. Now that might sound like a good idea but consider that Wow is something like 10 years old now. It just feels out of date. The PvP in particularly is a disaster. World pvp has no integration or objective so in reality your just harassing people which soon gets boring. There is a lack of end game content and for the first weeks until recently to hide this Trion just made the game harder and harder. People started to leave in frustration, both at the lack of content and the lack of difficulty. So a week or 2 ago in some sort of kneejerk reaction they dumbed the game down to the point where pretty much anyone can do anything. Reducing everything to a mindless grind and putting a massive skill gap between the end game raids and the general instances dungeons. (Same ones you probably already done a 100x or more). If you like PvP then this is probably the worst MMO choice you could make. If you like WoW, your probably already playing it. Also, forgot to mention, it runs like a lame dog on high end machines. particularly multi gpu. All this has resulted in a game loosing subscribers hand over fist (at least on the pvp servers I play on) I actually cancelled my subscription today. I had more than 50 people on my friends list 4 weeks after launch. Now, only 1 or 2 are still playing. Its cartoony and its simple, its very safe for kids being highly corny with some of the most corny cartoonish voice acting you will see this side of loony tunes. I would feel comfortable with my teenage kids playing it. is probably the only real positive I can offer on this after experiencing as much as I can get out of it.… Expand
  65. hallei
    Mar 5, 2011
    5
    Lots of grass roots marketing fake reviews going on here in the user comments. Anyways, I love MMO's played Rift, nothing spectacular. It's your A typical MMO RPG. Not bad, but nothing new. If you are a Wow player, stick with Wow. Now if Rift goes free to play, it might be worth checking out.
  66. guinevere2
    Jul 9, 2011
    5
    I just could not get into this game...It does everything right, it is polished, has nice graphic and character creation/development system...but everything else about it seems to be so uhmm, generic and unmemorable, that after 3 days I had to force myself to log in. In my opinion this game ia a monument of how lackluster the mmorpg bussines has become. It is just the same WoW over and overI just could not get into this game...It does everything right, it is polished, has nice graphic and character creation/development system...but everything else about it seems to be so uhmm, generic and unmemorable, that after 3 days I had to force myself to log in. In my opinion this game ia a monument of how lackluster the mmorpg bussines has become. It is just the same WoW over and over and over again made by different company under different name with different world, races and classes, but the core is the same. The only innovative thing about Rift are those "rift events" which turned to be just another excuse to mob grinding...Crafting is poorly designed and unexciting, no open world pvp makes the game even more boring later on...It is just another WoW clone with total lack of immersion factors… Expand
  67. Thicky
    Mar 23, 2011
    5
    It's been a month now. I love MMO's when they are fresh and still retain that new game smell. I tend to rush and tell my friends about the most amazing game I am playing, then a few weeks later the shine is gone and I hardly remember a thing about it. Most recently I drug friends and family through the launches of champions online, Aion, Warhammer Online and Fallen Earth. Each time I wasIt's been a month now. I love MMO's when they are fresh and still retain that new game smell. I tend to rush and tell my friends about the most amazing game I am playing, then a few weeks later the shine is gone and I hardly remember a thing about it. Most recently I drug friends and family through the launches of champions online, Aion, Warhammer Online and Fallen Earth. Each time I was excited about the games and how awesome they are. They weren't awesome, they were just new and a little different.

    Rift, played the game in all of the beta phases. Loved it. Absolutely adored it. I bought the CE and a 6 month subscription. I got my brother inlaw to do the same. "Dude, so many soul choices, build what you like!", he was sold.

    It's now been a month of release and tonight I get a text from my inlaw "r u logging on tonight?", no I am not. The magic is gone and here's my thoughts:

    Classic Trinity. Warrior tanks, Cleric heals, Mage dps. We were supposed to be past this, but we're not because Rift is a clone. Rift is a mashup of WoW and Warhammer. You will hit the level cap within a week without trying, once there you will have nothing to do but join Warfronts (pvp battlegrounds) and hope your team has less bots and afk'ers.

    Bots are EVERYWHERE. Just pause for a moment in town and watch the characters run on rails following a scripted path. Why are people botting? For one, there's no cheat detection built into Rift. There's a program called rifterrorhandler which just scans what programs you're running to make sure it's not cheatengine or something easy to spot. But any cheat or bot that is not listed will not be caught. The next factor is the level cap, there's not much to do at 50 other than very tedious pvp battles for rank. Join a warfront at any level and you will quickly notice that sometimes half of your team isn't moving. That's the afk'ers. They just run a script that let's them join warfronts and collect xp for your hard work. The other people on the team may be bots. Does Leggolas always jump down to the left of spawn and wander off to the side instead of heading to the objective while ignoring your pleas for help? That's a bot. Since release bots have invaded the game without any action from Trion.

    Hackers. Rift was released with an exploit that allowed anyone to access your account and take your items and money. A large chunk of the population was hit by this exploit and it has been weeks since it happened and customer support refuses to help them.

    Customer support. Pretty much non-existent. Trion Worlds contracts out their support staff to a company called Rightnow, which is ironic because if you need help it won't be right now, it will be much much later. It could have something to do with having customer support based in Nigeria (not a joke), check their own link https://trionworlds.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/478/~/how-do-i-contact-trion-support%3F

    I have canceled my account with Rift. I look forward to the next shiny new MMO to hit the market and again I will try and hold off on a rushed review.    … Expand
  68. Flash_Over
    Jun 23, 2011
    5
    I will start with the Pros. The games graphics are very impressive. The dungeon system is smooth. Basically everything you would expect from a paid MMORPG is here. Also RIFT brings more things to the table, like multi-class system tree which allows for good variety of game play. Character customization is also more in-depth then most other MMORPGs. The rift events also add a good twist.I will start with the Pros. The games graphics are very impressive. The dungeon system is smooth. Basically everything you would expect from a paid MMORPG is here. Also RIFT brings more things to the table, like multi-class system tree which allows for good variety of game play. Character customization is also more in-depth then most other MMORPGs. The rift events also add a good twist. Cons: The graphics and cities could be a major lag issue for people with less powerful computers. Even by lowing the graphics the mire presence of many players in fairly small cities could cause a major lag issue. The dungeon system is smooth, but they do not make key factors in boss fights easily recognizable (Which could be a con and pro). Rift events especially major ones cause such huge lag problems and can be chaotic with 50+ players attacking the same target, thus moving or even fighting nearly impossible. The armor and some weapons from level 1-40 are pretty much the same looking, 0 variety. The game also lacks a in-game re-customization of your character like WoWs and Lord of the Rings Online's Barbershop. It also lacks a dungeon finder leaving instances easily skipped to avoid the headache of spamming for LFG. Most of all the combat experience is smooth, but leaves you empty hearted and yearning for the "I just kicked some butt" feeling. That eventually leaves you bored and uninterested in grinding. Over all, this games a dud, but by far the best MMO to be released since 2004. If you like casual RPGs with low intensity leveling and combat. Rift is the game for you!… Expand
  69. Sicklecell
    Sep 25, 2011
    5
    Disappointing game because it's really not about "rifts". It's about dungeons.. and lots of them. The way the game is sold is as an alternative to WoW but it's that only in the sense that fast food is dinner compared to a meat and potatoes meal. There is a TON of grinding for nothing but gear at endgame so if you were looking to escape from WoW because of that, you actually fell out of theDisappointing game because it's really not about "rifts". It's about dungeons.. and lots of them. The way the game is sold is as an alternative to WoW but it's that only in the sense that fast food is dinner compared to a meat and potatoes meal. There is a TON of grinding for nothing but gear at endgame so if you were looking to escape from WoW because of that, you actually fell out of the frying pan into the fire. Rifts seem to be static loot pinatas that you whack every so often and coins for gear come out. Whack enough rifts and you get some really super average gear that isn't worth the time. the lower levels in this game are absolutely abandoned and if you start now, you won't be doing a lot of the huge boss rift invasions because of lack of interest from the community. most people are level 50 and play on alts which they are speedleveling to 50 to play with buddies, so noobs won't get the time of day. fanbois will say "my server is packed and we do stuff all the time" but that's everygame has one or three servers like that while the rest are dying. Rift has about 70 servers mothballed; not technically closed but not technically open neither. If you have a toon there, you can stay but if you start the game you won't even see the server on your list. There are plenty of folks who made homes on them only to have Trion shut them off from everyone else but you can transfer out. That ruined a lot of communities in the game and people quit. their sub rate is bargain basement (probably the lowest in the industry) due to falling subs so if you pay for a year in advance you can pay as little as $120. Pretty desperate but if it fills the game then good idea I guess. SWTOR and GW2 will be coming out soon (GW2 next year) so I'd play consoles until then like BF3, GoW3, Madden, etc and save the 120 bucks for the big event games coming like those. RIFT will probably be going FTP by next summer so holding off would be wise while they try to fix the awful PvP balancing and at least give people something to fight for as now it's just arenaball with no ball. World PvP is non-existant. The game has good things like hit a button and sell all your grey loot, decent graphics (not AoC or FFXIV worthy), and low price. But the replayability is awful because there are only TWO starting zones.. that's right.. two. For a mmo launching in 2011 that's lazy. The armors look horrible (do a Google search for Rift armor and you'll see) and they repeat like.. level 10, 20, 30, 40 etc. So if you find some epic gear at 50 it will have 50 stats but looks EXACTLY like level 30 gear. Again, LAZY DESIGN. It's hard to believe they spend 50 million dollars on this and five or six years development. They didnt even have guild banks at launch. The mounts are all the same that repeat like CE mount: plain turtle. World event mount: Green turtle. Achievement mount: White turtle. LAZY DESIGN. The lore is pretty bland and mundane; it inspires nothing. You dont feel a part of the world or like your fighting to keep mobs from invading.. it feels like your grinding for loot because the story is canned. The game was few bugs at launch but as it's gone on, it's gotten more buggy. Notsure how that happens but things just get broke. Maintainence is pretty much almost every day and for 20-30 minutes at a time but you can have several of those.. sometimes back to back which is annoying. Better way would be once a week for four hours and then done but the piecemeal work is upsetting. The community is made up of 600k people from WoW (or was) so it was kind of immature to start but now it's just plain nasty with one or two nice guilds telling trying to convince everyone new this isn't "their community" even though they play their game. Amazingly funny that. Anyways, to recap: WAIT FOR THE SUMMER WHEN RIFT GOES FTP as they already have a cash shop in the works from their other game that they will no doubt switch over because the population is dropping fast. if you have other games you've been wanting to try FTP now (Fallen Earth, DCUO, EQ2, LOTRO, AoC, WoW trail, Dragon Nest, Champs Online, Star Trek online) you'd be better off spending 10 or 15 bucks once or twice in there and be done with it.… Expand
  70. prh99
    Oct 7, 2011
    5
    You're not going to kill WoW by copying it. The interface, talent trees, and professions etc all feel very WoW like, sure there are some minor additions and tweaks, but this is very much a game buy a company who wanted to go the safe route. Which is not surprising given the costs and time required to make a triple-a MMO, but to then try to go head to head with an 800 pound gorilla that isYou're not going to kill WoW by copying it. The interface, talent trees, and professions etc all feel very WoW like, sure there are some minor additions and tweaks, but this is very much a game buy a company who wanted to go the safe route. Which is not surprising given the costs and time required to make a triple-a MMO, but to then try to go head to head with an 800 pound gorilla that is WoW and invite direct comparison in the ads was fool-hardy at the very least. I mean Warcraft has 20 years of story and lore development from it's origins as an RTS, you can't beat that. It's not a bad game, but it was never going to be a WoW killer. Trion should be congratulated on making a very polished game, and hopefully their future releases will start to veer off the path Blizzard created.… Expand
  71. bosnian
    Mar 18, 2012
    5
    Great graphics and nice balance to the most polished MMO I have seen on the release date. However, game offers one thing that is different from any other MMO, a rift concept, which was cool for the first 20 hours or so and got incredibly old and tideous after that. Other than that, it is WoW... released 7 years later.
  72. sundog005
    Apr 16, 2012
    5
    I played rift til level 30, its a WoW clone like AoC and most MMO's out there...if you like that stuff you'll love Rift its WoW in a new setting, ofc it has all the old problems WoW did, Elitism over gear, unbalanced class's that can solo better than others, in fact solo elites in a bikini and not lose any health from what i saw and heard....if you are a power player and like no challengeI played rift til level 30, its a WoW clone like AoC and most MMO's out there...if you like that stuff you'll love Rift its WoW in a new setting, ofc it has all the old problems WoW did, Elitism over gear, unbalanced class's that can solo better than others, in fact solo elites in a bikini and not lose any health from what i saw and heard....if you are a power player and like no challenge and bragging rights its a game for you....the Clerics and Mages don't even need to rest or buy drinks, I believe the phrase the players use is "Duracel" Clerics and "Energizer" mages....they seem to be oblivious of the fact that if you are fighting elites solo and not losing health the game is broken badly. The macro system is also a leet kids wet dream of convenience and mash this button to win gameplay, the players didn't even talk to each other in instances or when they did it was a novelty thing, sad proof that tactics and teamwork were not required in this so called MULTIPLAYER game...try the trial don't buy it like i did you'll regret it, if you're an old school fairplay gamer like me...unless they fundamentally change it in the new patch which i haven't seen any signs of, i'm not going back....bring on a balanced MMO someone please! sheesh or even something vaguely original lol...i ask too much obviously! apologies *sighes and heads back to skyrim with his tail between his legs*
    It gets 5 for the cool Rift effects!    … Expand
  73. MarcTryon
    Nov 27, 2014
    5
    How quickly things change. You can see a positive review from me in July. Now, after a very ill-considered change to the auction house and increasing lag and instability, including a much higher frequency of a very annoying appearance bug (face turns pale and lips green) that you can find references to in forums as far back as 2012, I have to drop my rating.

    The game has its moments but    How quickly things change. You can see a positive review from me in July. Now, after a very ill-considered change to the auction house and increasing lag and instability, including a much higher frequency of a very annoying appearance bug (face turns pale and lips green) that you can find references to in forums as far back as 2012, I have to drop my rating.

    The game has its moments but the combat is sluggish by modern standards and Trion has clearly decided to put it in 'harvest' mode: minimal support while they extract what cash they can. I'd suggest thinking twice about any long term commitment to it but it's worth dabbling with.    … Expand
  74. ojinneal
    Jun 16, 2011
    4
    I feel there's something missing. Rifts and invasions were fun for a little while and I liked tinkering with the soul tree, but after that it was just another mediocre MMO.
  75. moocow
    Apr 22, 2011
    4
    Definitely overrated game. Certainly better than other MMO releases within the last 3 or 4 years, but nothing special or new. Pros- beautiful graphics; great scaling with system compatibility; extreme character variety; smooth launch and updates; fresh take on PvP; non-instanced raids; takes the best from well-played MMOs and bundles them.
    Cons- the grind: same old linear quests;    Definitely overrated game. Certainly better than other MMO releases within the last 3 or 4 years, but nothing special or new. Pros- beautiful graphics; great scaling with system compatibility; extreme character variety; smooth launch and updates; fresh take on PvP; non-instanced raids; takes the best from well-played MMOs and bundles them.
    Cons- the grind: same old linear quests; single player is far too easy, no one forms parties or even chats; PvP is chaotic and unbalanced-but at least it is not WoW garbage; horribly convoluted lore; character classes have too much variablility- I wanted to build a melee healer (Justicar) but the lack of abilities and DPS forced me to cast (Purifier) ranged spells all the time. Most character builds oddly end up performing in a similar fashion despite the vast breadth of choices for development. ---I wish this game luck because WoW veterans (I started in 2004) have been starving for a decent MMO again.    … Expand
  76. TwsitedComplex
    Mar 13, 2011
    4
    I give this an average score for an average game

    There's nothing special about it. It's just blah.

    Skip this if youre playing one already. If you're pining for an MMO, then play a free one until something good comes along this year
  77. dark_heresy
    Apr 11, 2011
    4
    For those who have played World of Warcraft for the majority of their MMO carry, Rift will feel like a breath of fresh air by the very nature of being different. Unfortunately, for veterans, such as myself, who have dedicated countless hours to every major MMO release since before the dawn of the WoW behemoth, there isn't anything new under the sun to see, here. Additionally, there areFor those who have played World of Warcraft for the majority of their MMO carry, Rift will feel like a breath of fresh air by the very nature of being different. Unfortunately, for veterans, such as myself, who have dedicated countless hours to every major MMO release since before the dawn of the WoW behemoth, there isn't anything new under the sun to see, here. Additionally, there are plenty of glaring balance issues, and server shards go down on an almost daily basis with very little prior info (usually a 10 minute prior announcement). The whole game feels defined by imbalance. Additionally, while the graphics are better in terms of polygon count compared to WoW, other games ranging from Everquest 2 to Age of Conan have much better engines and don't have an almost constant problem of armor clipping on characters. Likewise, the character animations look lethargic and stilted and loose their appeal quickly. While I will give Rift credit for having a better more recent MMO launch, it is sadly not the savior of the MMO genre that I am looking for, nor is it even compelling enough to permanently keep me from playing what still remains the best of the genre: World of Warcraft.… Expand
  78. Tredskies
    Jul 16, 2011
    4
    The only way to get even close to objectivity, I have attempted the past few days to take a step back and make a list of things I like about the game. On the same sheet of paper I tried to record day to day what the Official Rift Forum Community says most about the gameâ
  79. Necrotaur
    Jul 18, 2011
    4
    Rift is a game that fails to live up to it's potential. It has a few interesting concepts: multiple "souls" (aka talent trees) to play around with, and world events in the form of rifts or gateways to elemental planes, which spawn monsters and must be combated. The soul system at first seems like a good idea, but it quickly becomes clear that spreading your talent points between moreRift is a game that fails to live up to it's potential. It has a few interesting concepts: multiple "souls" (aka talent trees) to play around with, and world events in the form of rifts or gateways to elemental planes, which spawn monsters and must be combated. The soul system at first seems like a good idea, but it quickly becomes clear that spreading your talent points between more than 2 trees actually hampers you, and there still is an "optimal" build that you should be using if you want to maximize your effectiveness. It also suffers from talent point bloat, similar to WoW prior to 4.0's talent reorganization - you will spend 5 points to increase the damage of an ability by 5%, for example. The rifts/invasions I felt were fairly well done, if a little simplistic. Even if you shut one rift down, another will open in a short while. I was disappointed when, after closing several footholds on a beach, I turned around to see the first one open again.

    The rest of the game, I'm sorry to say, is horrible. For one, there is virtually no replayability. If you've played one Defiant character, you've played them all, and questing is crushingly linear. Except for dwarves and bahmi, the races are virtually identical and consist of a fair skinned human and elf for Guardian and a dark skinned human and elf for Defiant. Boooooring. Questing is 100% the stereotypical 'go here, kill X, click on Y and talk to Z' fare. You will also encounter many instances of finishing a quest in an area, only to get a follow up quest that takes you back into that same area you just cleared. Also, I hope you enjoy the way you look at level 2, you will be wearing that same outfit up through your 20's, not to mention if you are a pet class such as a beastmaster, that creepy purple cat will be with you throughout the entire game.

    In closing, you might find a few features you like, but they will be drowned out by the negative aspects of the game.    … Expand
  80. simph1
    Jul 21, 2011
    4
    The hype was amazing. The graphics are amazing. In a few words, you get to level 30+ and you suddenly realise that everything is getting teadious. You find yourself grinding over and over again the same areas. The variety of souls that you pick to create your character skills unique in many ways, is all that was keeping me playing to be honest. You can level to 50 in 5 days. Pity, it couldThe hype was amazing. The graphics are amazing. In a few words, you get to level 30+ and you suddenly realise that everything is getting teadious. You find yourself grinding over and over again the same areas. The variety of souls that you pick to create your character skills unique in many ways, is all that was keeping me playing to be honest. You can level to 50 in 5 days. Pity, it could have been a wow killer.… Expand
  81. Riot
    Jul 30, 2011
    4
    This game is nothing more than a WOW clone with some improvements and fine touches here and there, few bugs and a very prompt developer studio when it comes to patches and adding content so far. the graphics are very nice although while running the game using the recommended hardware, FPS starts to drop at medium settings. The Soul engine is a nice addition to RPG, but it does not workThis game is nothing more than a WOW clone with some improvements and fine touches here and there, few bugs and a very prompt developer studio when it comes to patches and adding content so far. the graphics are very nice although while running the game using the recommended hardware, FPS starts to drop at medium settings. The Soul engine is a nice addition to RPG, but it does not work very well and it confuses players ranging from newbies to mmo veterans. The crafting is an absolute joke, there is nothing new here, the same professions you can find in any other fantasy mmo and leveling them up is a child's play. The quests add nothing new to the genre, same kill X, gather Y time intensive tasks to keep you more in game. The gear and items are basically the same as in most mmos, I encountered dozens of profession items that have the same icons and names and probably even prices wow has. I have to admit the Rifts are probably the best addition especially because it really makes players group together via the auto grouping feature so at least they are trying to not make it another solo rpg. All in all it is not worth it, either if you want an alternative to wow (and I'm comparing it to wow because Trion marketed this game as a better, more polished alternative to the giant). So in conclusion this looked to me as a game especially made so that Trion can grab a big share of the mmo market and grow some capital. Honestly, you get more atmosphere and involvement from LOTRO (which is free) that this game. On the other hand, I am more curious on their upcoming game Defiance, I hope it will sur class this yet another second hand fantasy mmo.… Expand
  82. Booface
    Nov 1, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Alrite guys I'm going to break this down into simple sections based on PvP, PvE, whats available in the market and why I would give this game a 4 and why it would seem like a troll score compared to what others are saying.

    1: PvP. If you are buying rift for PvP, do not buy it. I cannot stress this enough. It is a PvE centric game with PvP tacked on in a horrible way that is horribly unbalanced. If you send me a message I will send you a link to show me deleting my top rank level cap Warrior for PvP. Warrior just cannot be used in PvP at end game. Its that simple. Other classes have had similiar nerfs/buffs completely changing your ability to play the game overnight with little to no community feedback before going live and even months after the change and hundreds of threads, they will not change a thing. The Second part of PVP - Gear. You gain gear by pvping, but the gear gap on the PvP is insane. I have seen players go afk in the highest tier gear vs people who are FORCED to fight them because of no tier seperation and not die to lower tier gear players only to have the player return, use a potion or skill, and then go about killing the 2-3 players that were on top of him for the last 30 seconds. You MUST go through this process in order to obtain gear and it can takeup weeks upon weeks of basically getting beaten from an unfair advantage until you are better. That is statistics speaking, some may say it isn't like that, it really is.

    2. PvE: For PvE, this game is not bad. It has horrible graphics and really bad rendering problems due to the water in the maps but I'm not going to comment on graphics and optimization because I'm not a tech junkie its not what you want to read about. The major draw for PVE is end game Raids and partying, and of course RIFTs what this game is named after. Raids: Simple, scripted encounters based on gear and hotbar setup just like other games of the genre. Not hard, not easy. Just a normal setup.
    Partying: Very easy, not even required until end game. Can solo most of the game and most players do.
    RIFTS: These will seem very 'random' and require a team at first. After reaching lvl 30 and being competent in how you go about PvE, Rifts are no longer requiring a team except for the final bosses which are extremely OP based on what class you are. The 'loot' they offer and other shinys are next to worthless compared to forced PvP and Raid end gear. Otherwise useless little things added to the game to try and attract people and if you play and enjoy rifting I'm not meaning to hurt your feelings, just pointing out that its a content void, like a death rift.


    What else is on the market: There are alot of other games and if you haven't tried some of the higher rated more fan related and better % of happy player games out there, I suggest you would go for that one before this one. This is a large mix of what is on the market, and while it is captivating for 50 hours, it becomes very stale. The developers also have no ability to speak to the playerbase and do not attempt to help them out or listen to their concerns at all. There are multiple posts with people deleting their highest tier characters and unsubscribing due to what they feel is unfair and the developers will not speak with the players or even attempt to fix anything. They post feedback threads and delete actual feedback posts and stick with the players agreeing that its not broken. I'm not speaking of troll posts, I'm speaking of posts of people who do the math and do care about the game.

    So like I said, its a decent game worth trying if you have nothing else. It is not worth staying subscribed to for long and I believe most of the 10's on this website are lies and fake reviews written because if these people played as long as they said they did and play right now, they would not be posting that. Just check the public forums on the game site.    … Expand
  83. majypoo
    Mar 13, 2011
    3
    Honestly don't see what the fuss is about, Rift is a average game that has done nothing to progress the MMO genre. It's just so bland, boring and dull with the same old same old kill 10 badgers quest system. Animations are clunky with overuse of glow effects, PvP is unbalanced due to many souls. Dungeons lack imagination and are far to easy, the game doesn't offer a challenge at all andHonestly don't see what the fuss is about, Rift is a average game that has done nothing to progress the MMO genre. It's just so bland, boring and dull with the same old same old kill 10 badgers quest system. Animations are clunky with overuse of glow effects, PvP is unbalanced due to many souls. Dungeons lack imagination and are far to easy, the game doesn't offer a challenge at all and the Rifts just get in your way and become tedious.… Expand
  84. horsington
    Apr 25, 2011
    3
    I played the beta and this should have been a clear indicator of what was in store, but there was a group of gaming friends still interested in playing so I tagged along on release. Here it is a month later and I'm bored to tears of the end game content, fed up with repetitive key mashing for DPS and lackluster PVP. It was a great idea of Trion to learn from their peers in the gamingI played the beta and this should have been a clear indicator of what was in store, but there was a group of gaming friends still interested in playing so I tagged along on release. Here it is a month later and I'm bored to tears of the end game content, fed up with repetitive key mashing for DPS and lackluster PVP. It was a great idea of Trion to learn from their peers in the gaming world, to simply create a frankenstein game that just mashed together parts of others is a bit weak though. The leveling was a series of 'quickly get to the yellow ring and kill everything, never mind WHY I'm doing it' that was simplistic and short lived (thankfully). You are rewarded at endgame with tedious dungeons littered with trash mobs, weak loot and the never ending quest for items with purple frames. Trion did add new class structure and features, but these are not enough to overlook the boring old shell of a game this is. It's environments are generic and cliche, its encounters are the same old formula and the story is lacking on so many levels (as well as utterly unimportant), They had the chance to make something amazing, and instead spit out a WoW clone.… Expand
  85. Itzal
    May 16, 2011
    3
    The good:
    Some of the dungeon mechanics are refreshing. The environment and UI both are pleasing to the eye. The music in some of the zones is excellent. The in game community is both helpful and friendly.
    The Bad: The class system is still under development. It should have been handled in alpha. Itemization needs some work. Crafting system still needs some work as the numbers on the    The good:
    Some of the dungeon mechanics are refreshing. The environment and UI both are pleasing to the eye. The music in some of the zones is excellent. The in game community is both helpful and friendly.

    The Bad:
    The class system is still under development. It should have been handled in alpha. Itemization needs some work. Crafting system still needs some work as the numbers on the green gear are bellow quest rewards and random green item drops. Mats for some of the crafting tiers are sparse and are in zones higher than what your questing in. End game is the standard grind dungeons and BG's for faction to get gear for next tier of faction grind. Gold spammers are a little more prevalent than I would like. Overall leveling was fun until about level 40. That is where it went stale for me as I did not see too many new quest types or mechanics. New MMO players will like it . Vets that expect something more might not. If you have a interest I recommend the 7 day free trial before you drink the cool aid    … Expand
  86. Cruz
    Jun 9, 2011
    3
    Despite the seemingly innovative rift system for dynamic content, I found that Rift was one of the least imaginative, most formulaic MMO I have experienced in some time. It looks gorgeous on a high-end PC, but the game has little substance. The setting isn't very immersive or memorable, and there is almost no attempt to provide any mission content beyond the bog standard "hunt X of Y"Despite the seemingly innovative rift system for dynamic content, I found that Rift was one of the least imaginative, most formulaic MMO I have experienced in some time. It looks gorgeous on a high-end PC, but the game has little substance. The setting isn't very immersive or memorable, and there is almost no attempt to provide any mission content beyond the bog standard "hunt X of Y" stuff. The game is linear to the extreme; there's not much opportunity to cut your own path through the world. The dynamic rift events turn out to be context-free grinding...chaotic and not all that fun. The character customization is one of the more impressive features, but it is not as robust as it first appears since here are only certain soul combinations that are practical...a small minority of the technically possible combinations.… Expand
  87. jazzif
    Jun 29, 2011
    3
    Rift has a decent lore, graphics and a unique soul system that allows customization beyond other mmo games. Unfortunately that is about all it has above the rest because the rest is just good old fashion grinding and same old boring dungeon runs. Yes you will have to grind reputation, many different currencies and the rift feature is also just another form of grinding and are just reallyRift has a decent lore, graphics and a unique soul system that allows customization beyond other mmo games. Unfortunately that is about all it has above the rest because the rest is just good old fashion grinding and same old boring dungeon runs. Yes you will have to grind reputation, many different currencies and the rift feature is also just another form of grinding and are just really quick public quests that aren't anything special. You should be pulled into a rift, that would be much cooler :P Even warhammer had public areas similar to the rifts so its nothing that hasn't been done.

    If you are a pvp junkie (like myself) then Rift will let you down completely. The potential for great pvp play is in Rift but with the amount of stunning, silences and confusion along with spammable "polymorphing" and severely overclocked souls pvp play becomes frustrating and boring very quickly. PVP also has no affect on the game world as its just arena scrapping in small, chaotic and simple warfront maps. Once again, even Warhammer has this beat as well.

    Even though the game is all around plain and identical to the rest, the player base is very friendly and can be a lot of fun to play along with, so if your just a casual gamer this game is for you, but if your more hardcore and don't leave your basement often, I wouldn't recommend investing your time in it. Even at 50, raiding is just the same old stuff, nothing new at all. You will just once again have characters on a game that will eventually be behind within a year or two.

    We need something original! Rift gets a 3 for its effort at graphics, soul system and decent enough lore.    … Expand
  88. RevertedInted
    Aug 23, 2011
    3
    This game is terrible. The graphics are just not as pretty as these reviews make them out to be. The gameplay is generic, leaving you with almost too many options. It's such a shameless WOW clone, just play wow... I can't believe I fell for that and bought this. I fell through giant bugs in the map at several points, and then the servers were down like half the time I wanted to get on toThis game is terrible. The graphics are just not as pretty as these reviews make them out to be. The gameplay is generic, leaving you with almost too many options. It's such a shameless WOW clone, just play wow... I can't believe I fell for that and bought this. I fell through giant bugs in the map at several points, and then the servers were down like half the time I wanted to get on to play. I played appx. 3 hours and I never plan on touching this game again. I wish I could take it out from my steam account.… Expand
  89. Jaunty
    May 13, 2012
    3
    Don't bother with this one. It's so derivative that it fails to create it's own uniqueness. It may have fun technical features, but it lacks soul. Borrowing heavily from World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online, it fails to be better than either and instead settles as a solid "time filler" while you wait for better games to come out. The animations are poor, the music is generic, and theDon't bother with this one. It's so derivative that it fails to create it's own uniqueness. It may have fun technical features, but it lacks soul. Borrowing heavily from World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online, it fails to be better than either and instead settles as a solid "time filler" while you wait for better games to come out. The animations are poor, the music is generic, and the performance is all over the place. The community is also the absolute worst I've seen in a MMO, and I've played many. When I made a new character on the Seastone, I said "Hi, I'm new to the game" on local chat and everyone told me to "GTFO." So after giving this game 3 weeks of my time, I decided I'd rather not play with a bunch of immature kids who bought time cards at Walmart because they're not old enough to use credit cards, and find something better to do with my time.… Expand
  90. Casualobserver
    Nov 11, 2012
    3
    Leveled a few characters to the trial limit of level 20, solo and through the instant adventure. Played the open beta a week before Storm Legion is to be released. I felt picked on if I tried to go against the flow, like some petty gamemaster meddling with mobs. The veterans awards stinks of con job, where you see in server messages people getting rewarded for 1-36 month subscriptions. TonLeveled a few characters to the trial limit of level 20, solo and through the instant adventure. Played the open beta a week before Storm Legion is to be released. I felt picked on if I tried to go against the flow, like some petty gamemaster meddling with mobs. The veterans awards stinks of con job, where you see in server messages people getting rewarded for 1-36 month subscriptions. Ton of fail mechanics, I'll list a few. I could kite enemy guards around a tent or building in such a way that some if not all of the would end on the roof in an eternal stand off, looks kind of dumb. My pet would only hold agro on one mob and the other mobs would attack me if I healed my pet, except if I did it out of line of sight. One class from both factions has the ability to leap, which can be somewhat exploited if done during a normal jump to get on top of structures. I was able to get guards, quest npc's and invading mobs stuck in walls during the predecessor event for Storm Legion and no player could attack them. Seems to be covert fanboys or staff hanging around to jump in and cover up flaws in high visibility areas and events. Mount speed plays a huge factor in whether you'll be annoyingly dismounted every 15 seconds or never. A 150 to 200 percent mount goes faster than the game can populate an area you are in, until you stop, at which point might be in the middle of a pack of mobs that you would of seen and avoided on a slower mount. During level 9-18 zone invasions, it is routine for level 50 players (unmentored for you fan boys) to be there 1 shotting bosess etc, ruining the challenge to players of the appropriate level. The mentoring system is allow to lower yourself from a higher level say 50 to do quests with say a lvl 10 friend, totally is half-baked, you are twice if not tens as powerful a normal level 10. The chat system is awkward and daily bashing of other mmo's becomes annoying if not necessary to distract you from all of Rift's shortcomings. I am strongly against fraternization between players and gamemasters because of favoritism. I quit Wow with a slight bad taste at Wotlk due to huge faction imbalances. I can't rationalize Rift charging the same rate as Wow with a fraction of the player base and quality. Rift main hype is the graphics which will stumble badly on the average video card causing you to pause during prime time in the capitals or raids. It has been slipped that many developers are ex-wow developers, I think even ex-wow emulator, get my drift. Spawn location or mob placement very rough to many here to little there, like rough it in, oops sidetracked, finish it someday.

    During the open beta a week or so before the long overdue expansion, I felt they could not possibly fix, finish or tune it before the release. They made everyone instant 50 to test, the more finished zones. Then the last of the last day, everyone instant 60, which was way to late to be effective measure of anything besides maybe pvp, which is still going to be pre-made destroying pug. I able to get a dungeon group only twice in 5 days, steamrolled it. Impressing me with these are old players where are the new ones? I am totally against any kind of monopoly, but I laugh when someone says Wow killer about this game. I have played on similarly populated free "private" wow servers which I am not in any promoting.
    It is very easy to grief players because of developer short sightedness. Vote kick , no reason allowed, will often be yes to get the prompt out of your way. Or join a 15+ person instant adventure, trigger a ready check every few seconds and leave before you can be vote kicked. I have see a number of Wow bugs in a couple of years, but I could show Rift has a thousand times more at any given time. I do enjoy the hot looking females from the neck down, the faces seem slightly boyish.    … Expand
  91. Szani
    Sep 20, 2014
    3
    Grind fest mmo, very poorly optimized game client, kind of not bad implementation of f2p, but not best. End game isn't very satisfying. Bad class balance and nearly destroyed PVP experience, boring dungeons (imba mega grind, as I said).
  92. moifoi
    Mar 28, 2011
    2
    The game has balance issues in both pve and pvp, there are many talents in tree's that don't work, one was giving 100% armor penetration instead of 1% how this gets through alpha, beta and has been in the game for awhile is baffling, the only pvp in the game is a grind and the maximum pvp level can be achieved in a few days.
    There are no arenas or rated clan vs clan warfronts and they have    The game has balance issues in both pve and pvp, there are many talents in tree's that don't work, one was giving 100% armor penetration instead of 1% how this gets through alpha, beta and has been in the game for awhile is baffling, the only pvp in the game is a grind and the maximum pvp level can be achieved in a few days.
    There are no arenas or rated clan vs clan warfronts and they have stated in interviews they will not add them, so the new problem is premades are vsing public groups which is unfair.

    The good thing about the game is that it only takes 3 days played time to hit max level. It doesn't feel like to big a waste of time when you realize you've rolled the gimp class(rogue).    … Expand
  93. nopistons420
    Apr 19, 2011
    2
    i played it got to level 50 first week of the "head start"

    this game is the grindfest to end all grindfests

    not to mention it runs on gamebyro; its like warhammer online 2 bascially except minus all the fun RvR stuff that made warhammer great - theres nothin next gen about it
  94. Blackcompany
    Aug 16, 2011
    2
    Did you play WoW? Did you enjoy WoW? Would you like to play WoW again, with slightly improved graphics and completely improved and innovated, well, nothing else? If you answered yes to these three questions, then perhaps Rift is for you. The game features loads typical MMO fare, replete with endless grinding, enemies completely devoif of personality, shoddy combat animations, weightlessDid you play WoW? Did you enjoy WoW? Would you like to play WoW again, with slightly improved graphics and completely improved and innovated, well, nothing else? If you answered yes to these three questions, then perhaps Rift is for you. The game features loads typical MMO fare, replete with endless grinding, enemies completely devoif of personality, shoddy combat animations, weightless weapon strikes, repetitive click fests while fighting and a never-ending need to craft items for the sake of crafting items. As for the game's namesake, the Rifts are an interesting mechanic. Unfortunately, you really just end up staring at the same invasion time and again, day after day and even hour after hour. Watching the same mobs and same boss invade 10 minutes after you just defeated that invasion really kills the fun. If you can find any in this endless grindfest to begin with. A must play for hardcore MMO lovers; a must avoid for everyone looking for a game with any sort of personality.… Expand
  95. Stanners179
    Jan 3, 2014
    2
    Rift is a game that looks good on the trailer/screenshots but when you get in the game you just think ‘Why did I waste all this installation time for a game that is almost nothing like the trailer’. What I mean is the trailer is supposed to be an example of the game and the Rift trailer is nothing like the game its self. I recommend you to stay away from that title.
  96. Patches13
    May 27, 2014
    2
    Don't bother unless you plan to spend roughly $30 USD for 1 set of souls and then have to spend $30 more dollars to get another set of souls so you are relevant for content.

    Don't bother if you think the forum's are going to help you learn your class, mostly filled with a toxic player community that is actively encouraged by Trion's Modder's. If the PTW doesn't spoil this game for    Don't bother unless you plan to spend roughly $30 USD for 1 set of souls and then have to spend $30 more dollars to get another set of souls so you are relevant for content.

    Don't bother if you think the forum's are going to help you learn your class, mostly filled with a toxic player community that is actively encouraged by Trion's Modder's.

    If the PTW doesn't spoil this game for you then the Trion support staff will.    … Expand
  97. richj8990
    Feb 3, 2017
    2
    Not sure why this got an 86 rating and Neverwinter got a rating in the 60's. Both are repetitive, but as some others have said on here this one is way too easy. After doing about 20 quests which lasted about two minutes each, I was wondering when the game would start. It never did. I'm not even going to play it to level 50. The graphics are fine, the class system is mediocre but acceptableNot sure why this got an 86 rating and Neverwinter got a rating in the 60's. Both are repetitive, but as some others have said on here this one is way too easy. After doing about 20 quests which lasted about two minutes each, I was wondering when the game would start. It never did. I'm not even going to play it to level 50. The graphics are fine, the class system is mediocre but acceptable (compared to LOTRO for example). I even liked it more than Everquest, but it has a huge flaw: quests are way too easy and way too short. Under level 50 it's basically: kill these 3-5 creatures 200 feet away, who don't even attack you, and if they do, they maybe do 5% damage to you, and do not even come remotely close to seriously harming you. You just walk up to quest creatures and kill them, often without even a fight, walk back to the quest start point and earn something. Over and over again. WTF? Why so easy? At least Neverwinter was challenging right off the bat.… Expand
  98. Ansatsu83
    Sep 12, 2011
    1
    Developers need to stop cloning World of Warcraft. This game could have potential but they need to have a new form of game play that is not a clone of WoW or Lineage 2.

    Part of the issue is that the game cloned wow far too much, while it did add a new multi-class system, the simple fact of the matter is, its been done many times before. In the end it leads to only two or three builds per    Developers need to stop cloning World of Warcraft. This game could have potential but they need to have a new form of game play that is not a clone of WoW or Lineage 2.

    Part of the issue is that the game cloned wow far too much, while it did add a new multi-class system, the simple fact of the matter is, its been done many times before. In the end it leads to only two or three builds per class that is viable for anything.

    The developers completely screwed up PvP, the PvE is repetitive and monotonous, this game seems intended to be played by the new "amateur" gamer's of this world. Yeah I know mmorpgs are for the community these days but listen, if the community is full of idiots and bullies (since I dont want to swear in my review) then why bother?

    If you are a real gamer, you might enjoy it for 20 to 30 levels, but after that, go seek an actual challenge. The questing is pretty much the same as WoW, the rifts are ok, havnt been done in an mmo but still, they need some work to have more variety.

    Part of the issue could be the world events do not happen enough, if there was one always going on at all times it would be so much better.

    I bought the game for a friend since they really wanted to play, I played a bit, to level 28 actually, but after 28 I just cant stand to connect to the game now.    … Expand
  99. reviewfrommewhe
    May 1, 2011
    1
    - Very boring and repetitive questlines. - PvP instances are really mediocre. PvP is quite often premades repeatedly steamrolling pugs, and this is apparently working as intended. Both sides have what is basically a Warhammer Bright Wizard locking down the battlefield with mass AE and mass CC.

    - While the class structure initially looks great, it in fact is a nightmare of min maxing    - Very boring and repetitive questlines. - PvP instances are really mediocre. PvP is quite often premades repeatedly steamrolling pugs, and this is apparently working as intended. Both sides have what is basically a Warhammer Bright Wizard locking down the battlefield with mass AE and mass CC.

    - While the class structure initially looks great, it in fact is a nightmare of min maxing players vs. devs. Yo-yoing balance patches and random nerfs are pretty commonplace, but they seem to break more than they fix. - The Rift events (their signature "thang") are either nonexistant or overly in your face, locking down entire zones with 12 total players in them with no chance against the NPC invaders. The loot from Rifts sort of sucks relative to other lvl 50 gear so its no surprise people dont really seem to bother.

    - The "elite" PvE instances (the ones you run to grind tokens for gear, just like WoW) are rehashes of the instances you see from lvl 1 - 50 with yet more trash to clear.

    - Crafting is a luck based system in which you grind dailies to get tokens to get uber patterns. So are some of the gathering "recipes" - random luck based drops off nodes. Yay for luck based MMOs.

    - The devs seem sort of out of touch as to what the players are actually doing in PvE, PvP and with the construction of their characters using the "unique" soul system. One example is that there are two main healing classes and the one that is the better of the two cannot even queue as heals using the (now in Alpha) looking for group tool. This is apparently working as intended.

    - While gathering or traveling expect masses of gray mobs to aggro you, slow you down, dismount you and force you to clear them. All while trying to get your luck based crafting daily done so you can once again not get a tablet that is necessary to get the good patterns.

    Try it if you gotta, but I highly recommend a one month sub because thats about all the gameplay Rift has in it.    … Expand
  100. Nehaxak
    Jul 3, 2011
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's a good few months now since the release of Rift and the flaws within it and the ineptitude, incompetence and sheer lack of experience by Trion in the MMO scene is so shockingly evident at this stage.

    The PvP in the game and the state of it, is absolutely dire and has been since the start, with no effort from Trion to even show a modicum of change to set things right.

    The instanced PvP (warfronts as they're called, similar to Wow's Battlegrounds) although fun for a while, get very boring and repetitive - I should know, my main character is Rank 6 prestige in pvp.

    That boredom and repetitive nature of the warfronts (coupled with Trion inexplicably and inexcusably allowing premade groups to farm those that have joined the warfronts as solo puggers) makes your goal toward the higher ranks in pvp an absolute horrible grind - and after all that, there's nothing to aim for other than going back to those same warfronts to compete against those same premades again and again - zero fun.

    In the latest patch (June 2011) 1.3 - Trion attempted to address the premades wrecking everyone else's fun in the warfronts by splitting the queue system, so premades had to play premades and the solo pug players could just enjoy the fun of the warfront and the balanced challenge that they bring without premades destroying it for everyone.
    Lo and behold though, not a week passed with that patch being implmented when Trion reverted on their change to the queue system and we're all back to square one.
    When the 1.3 patch first hit, the queue to get into a warfront if you were solo was instant, even in the early hours of the morning, instant queue, decent enough fun.
    When Trion reverted the change in the subsequent hotfix 5 - the queues have gone from instant to between 10 minutes to an hour or more, worse even outside of primetime hours.
    This was mainly due to players just giving up at this stage, having had enough of the incompetance shown by Trion and coupled with a large majority of players boycotting the warfronts or just quitting the game completely - it really is that bad and it really is that big of a deal. That Trion have failed miserably to even forsee this, shows how bad and inexperinced they are to the MMO scene and the contempt with which they view the majority of their own paying customers.

    World pvp is almost non existent and that which does exist is baseless and tiresome. There's no goal to any open world pvp, no point and no fun. Trions response to this was to introduce some daily pve based quests, kill this mob, collect this stuff, lalala, oh and as your reward ? Here, have some free pvp favor and prestige points (WHAT THE HELL!!!).
    Oh, there was one daily quest which required you to kill members of the opposite faction - though the point of same on a pve server seems to be lost on Trion as that daily and none of the others auto flagged a person for pvp - seriously, face, palm, wall, head, bang, repeat...

    From a PvE perspective, there's a bunch of 5 man dungeons which you will need to farm constantly (yawn...) to get plaques/tokens for Tier gear, most just skip the T1 dungeons and go straight for the T2's due to Trion making them so much easier in a previous patch - bad mistake. The Dungeons were fine as they were, they were hard, they were a challenge - now they're just another boring grind, something you have to do to get the gear to allow you progress your character for raiding purposes.

    As for the Raids, they're a challenge at the start but generally, they're also fairly boring and lacklustre.

    There is no real end game in Rift, there really isn't, no matter how many Trion shills will post otherwise on forums et all, there is no end game. At this moment in time in Rift, there is no point and nothing to aim for after you've hit 50, ran the required dungeons to gear up and got yourself into a decent raiding guild. Once you've done the raids a few times you're left wondering what the hell do you do now ? So you dabble in pvp maybe ? Oh no, no no no, just don't go there. I mean sure, you can throw a guild premade together maybe and steamroll all over a bunch of solo players - but honestly, how fun is that after a few times ? There's no competition, no fun, no challenge.

    Rift had an awful lot of potential but alas, as always it seems the case these days, the developers themselves kill the game off before it's even had a chance to settle down to pull in the required amount of serious followers.

    Don't bother with this game, don't waste your time. It's just another poor clone of Wow, badly implemented, badly supported and full of utter fail.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

27
#27 Best PC Game of 2011
31
#31 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
50
#50 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 59 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 56 out of 59
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 59
  3. Negative: 0 out of 59
  1. AusGamers
    Nov 29, 2011
    90
    There have been obvious comparisons made to WoW, with some even going as far as calling it a clone. But what makes Rift so special is that it goes out of its way to avoid falling into the same traps as the many that have fallen before it. It avoids the painful, mindnumbing grind, makes incremental patches everyday and listens intently to its rapidly growing community.
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  2. Computer Games Online RO
    Jul 20, 2011
    89
    It's true that the soul trees offer outstanding flexibility for character development and the rifts bring a welcome sense of insecurity into Telara's everyday life, but for some players this simply might not be enough.
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  3. Gamers.at
    Jun 28, 2011
    88
    Rift offers a really polished MMO experience but looks and feels much like a mix of many good MMOs like World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online and Warhammer Online.
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