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Today marks the official review of Trion Worlds' Rift. MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy takes on one of the year's most keenly anticipated titles. Does Rift live up to the expectations of its fans? Find out in Bill's review.
Let’s face it. Rift is a very well made game from top to bottom. From rookie development studio and publisher Trion Worlds, Rift is a flagship title that has launched with perfect timing to draw gamers’ attention. It is both highly polished, and technologically innovative. It may not stray far from tradition in terms of gameplay, but what it strives to do it does exceedingly well. In an age where many gamers have grown impatient with unfinished products, Rift is a very welcome addition to the stable of MMORPGs.
Read more of Bill Murphy's Rift: The MMORPG.com Review.
Comments
"That said, Rift is not without flaws. In a lot of aspects, its systems have become dated. Combat, questing, and crafting all function superbly, but are bland due to the simple fact that they have been done this way before."
8.7? Really? No offense, but shouldn't something that is pretty much a copy in almost every way have a little more of a hill to climb? That's like giving "Skyline" two thumbs up because it looked good, even though it was a regurgitated Independance Day / War of the Worlds / any other alien invasion movie...
Aw, this comes with perfect timeing as Rifts servers just went down for 50mins for another patch.. Im lovin rift and how much Trion is patching+updateing this game.. 1 month after launch and were already into a world event + on the way to a brand new raid instance.. Awsomeness!
Currently Playing:
Rift + Starcraft II + Gears Of War 3 Beta
Neither is Skyline...
This is not a game.
Played Rift in the last 2 Betas but decided not to sub. Review seems spot on from what I saw. Oddly enough, the only reason I din't sub is because I didn't like the artwork/graphics. In your article, you mention that the graphics look better now then in Beta, may warrant a second look.
While some may question the "8.7" rating, I can easily see why you gave it your rating. Compared to what's out there 8.7 is reasonable. The question is, if any of the upcoming hyped realeases deliver, will we have our first 10?
This thought process reminds me of the reason Microsoft Windows has been around for so long. I guess eventually more people will grow tired of the same old outdated software and call for something new, but in the end it's just a cycle.
It is kinda funny though, some people complained about Apple releasing the iPhone 3Gs, claiming it was just a way for them to make another pile of cash while offering very little improvment, but that's the environment we've created. As long as it's "solid" we'll pay for the same thing over and over again.
I will say that RIFT looks way better than WOW, I still don't see how there are people that will defend the visuals of WOW, it's ridiculous.
Agree with the review: Rift isn't new or entirely unique but it is fun, polished, and well supported. Thumbs up to Trion
Sounds pretty fair and balanced. It IS a very high score but there are a lot of redeeming aspects to Rift I guess. I can't judge whether its lack of more novelty would have merited a lower score.
I do consider it a "few months in" review and score though, in which longevity can't be measured yet. I also enjoyed games like WAR and AoC for around three months until the fun was suddenly over. After that period it is all about depth of content.
So I'm real curious to see how Rift's retention rates will pan out after a three month period. If it stays stable they have done an amazing job in my book.
My brand new bloggity blog.
Lol, I'm wondering what score GW2 will get then.
The game is polished and fun for a while, but I do not think it deserves an 8.7 by any means. The game does not do enough that is new and exciting to merit that score.
I played the game for two weeks after release and have already burnt out. It feels far too much like WoW... a game which curiously is rated far lower on this site despite having massively more content and features.
Just got done finishing the review and it's pretty spot on.. Would've been nice to see some comments on the end game raids since i'am only lv 25 myself and looking forward to getting info on those.. But still, very good review and very informative
Currently Playing:
Rift + Starcraft II + Gears Of War 3 Beta
Not to forget SW:ToR, I think that's an 11.5 for each.
Glad to see the 'buy it!' stamp is absent from this review (regardless of the score).
'Second opinion' = very nice idea.
Much better review format guys.
Agreed
I really like the way this was done. A column for the good points,a column for the bad, and a column summing it all up. The additiononal mini-review from Suzie was a bonus.
Too many times I read a review wishing to have more information than just a writers summing up-however interesting it might be.
Not so many MMOs are released that there needs to be such a rush on it.
I hope that when Tera, Star Wars,etc. come out that you will continue to use the same in-depth format.
Why even bother have a scale from 1-10 if the games you rate are always 7 or better. Personally I feel Rift is a good game if someone has never experienced an MMORPG before, with that said, Rift has quite a few short comings that I think many veteran players will agree either gives the game to much of a "been there - done that" feel or completely misses the boat. In my opinion, based on my experience with the game, I see it only rating a 6.5 at best.
Completely agree
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The bar is now set so low that almost anything can pass muster. can you play it on most machines? you can-well it must be a great game. Do they have a ton of quests?-they do then it must be a great game. Is there any type of crafting?-there is wow must be a great game. can you chat easily?-yea must be a great game. Do the mobs give me any type of resistance?-they do while it must be a great game. How about some type of creativity! Are the quests well thought out, do they have any type of story line that continues for many levels. Is combat fun or do I just keep swinging my sword or throwing my fire ball til I start to cry with boredom. Do I just run around collecting stuff then throw it on a table and voi-la there is my nice shiny bobble-or do I have to work just a little combine a few ingrediants a bit of magic and then voi-la. Can you fly , go underground make a clone of yourself-just something different. Are the mobs just standing there or do they move with any purpose maybe even hiding behind that rock.
Rift just seems like they took everyones mediocrity and said " here masses is what I have for you now bow down to the god of sameness and ehhhh" No I will not bow down to your so called god , save me from this abyss of nothing
Agreed.
Spec'ing properly is a gateway drug.
12 Million People have been meter spammed in heroics.
I agree with the review and score. Rift is a solid MMO, it has plenty of content and fun PvP and the class system is beyond any other MMO out there atm. The additional bonus of a good Dev team that acknowledges issues quickly and is addressing the areas that need it most is rare in almost all MMO's especially the speed in which they do it. I also believe Rift set the bar for a solid launch as well, this was the best Ive ever seen in 12 years of MMO gaming. Sure Rift has some issues, its not perfect but its a decent game and I intend to play quite a while.
And here is your reward for best drama queen. You totally moved me!
But I have to agree with the score, Trion earned it, and if they keep up the good work, i'de expect them to get an upgrade to their score.
Not really. They took what works and successfully incorporated it into their game. Sure there isn't a ton of innovation (there is some, the ascended soul system is quite fun and rifts do break up the quest grinding to make leveling a bit less mind numbing), but you don't need innovation to be fun or good. Has CoD fundamentally changed that much in the past 2-3 titles? Is it still fun/good (at least sells well).
Mind you, I'm no fanboi (didn't even buy the game but did play a few closed beta's and the open beta and was very impressed with the quality, just wasn't my cup of tea though), but it's a great game that has a lot of draw. To top that off from what I've heard from friends and read, Trion has amazing customer service (both when you have issues, and especially in listening to and providing feedback to players), which is a rarity nowadays and is, IMO, one of the most important aspects of an MMO. I don't remember them ever saying they were going to break MMO norms and create some game that defies all the currently accepted paradigms.
I like to think of the MMO genre in terms of evolution (whether or not you believe in it is irrelevant). In evolution there are many major points that can be mapped; the developement of a vertebral column, the developement of a hard shelled egg helping reproduction on land, etc. All these major events didn't just happen overnight. No one organism gave birth to a baby who suddenly had a backbone. All these major events were a culmination of multiple little changes.
So what I'm trying to say is that the MMO genre, more so than other genres, changes in baby steps and major revolutionary points in the genre are going to be recognized in after the fact. For example, no one could have predicted during WoW's developement the impact it was going to have. All WoW did was take all the little changes in the genre that occured before it and utilize them well. So in everyone's mind WoW marks a major evolutionary change in MMOs, but it could not have done that without the others that came before it.
Bringing this all back to Rift, while I agree that it is pretty cookie cutter in many aspects (and I don't see myself playing it 4 months from now) it does make its little contribution to the genre. From here on out, it will be difficult for an MMO to be released unfinished and unstable. Rift has left its little mark on the genre whether it fails or succeeds, and can say it contributed to the overall evolution of MMO's.