RIFT: PLANES OF TELARA

PLATFORM" EXCLUSIVE ON PC

GENRE: PERSISTENT ONLINE-RPG

PC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Operating system: Windows XP, Vista or 7Processor: Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or better
Memory: 4 GBHard disk space: 15.0 GB available
Desktop Video: Nvidia GTS 250 or betterNotebook Video: Nvidia GTX 200M series or better
Sound: DirectX 8.1 compliant cardDirectX®: 9.0c, June 2010 update
Broadband internet connection (DSL, cable modem or other high speed connection)

Rift is a game built for MMO veterans. Its core gameplay is almost identical to that of World of Warcraft or EverQuest, but there's a layer of complexity gently draped over some of the more important aspects. This might turn off newcomers to the genre, but hiding behind the steep learning curve is a rich world with a lot of depth. It's also incredibly polished for a new MMO, with fewer bugs, less lag and more client stability than any in recent memory.

During character creation, you choose a character archetype or "Calling" out of four options -- Mage, Rogue, Cleric and Warrior. Your Calling determines what armor you'll be wearing and which 9 of 36 souls you'll ultimately have access to. The number and variety of souls provides you with a lot of different playstyle options, but not all of the souls combine very well. This is particularly true with the Mage, whose trees tend to focus on a specific school of magic. The Mage also seems to have the least amount of versatility when it comes to group play, as it can reliably heal and support with a couple souls, and can deal ranged damage with the rest, whereas all the other callings have access to tanking, ranged and melee damage, support, and (with the exception of the Warrior) healing.

 PvP, by the way, is a lot of fun in Rift. There are four warfronts that you unlock at various levels, and while they all conform to game types we've seen in other MMOs -- capture the flag, capture points etc… -- the maps are well designed and provide strategic positioning options for virtually all roles. Black Garden's trees help Fang carriers stay hidden from attacks on the ground but the adjacent walls make the carriers susceptible to attacks from above. In The Codex, each capture point has its own layout, with spikes of stone providing a good vantage point for ranged attacks and narrow bridges serving as excellent chokepoints for defenders. There are power-ups hidden around the maps, but usually away from the action, meaning you need to trade a temporary numbers loss for the potential for to seek out their bonuses.

I believe that's why rifts, the entities the game is named for, are present -- to break up the monotony of questing. Rifts are massive tears in space that open a pathway for creatures from other planes to enter Telara, the world you reside in. If left open long enough, the monsters that spawn from the rifts will begin to overrun your settlements and questing hubs, so closing them becomes a priority. Rifts are broken into stages, with each stage spawning more difficult (or just more) monsters than the last. There are optional bonus stages for rifts that require you to slay the monsters extra fast, and depending on how well you perform, you are rewarded with a pool of items unique to closing rifts. The items are all pretty useful and a lot of the consumables can be lifesavers. 

 Meanwhile, the collectables part of Rift is amazing. Hidden across the world are little glowing balls, called artifacts, which can be picked up and added to a series of collections. Completing a collection gets you a token for a vanity reward (like a pet or a hat) but the real fun is in the collecting. The little glowing orbs are almost always placed off the beaten track, behind a box or in a tree, or between rocks. They've been carefully placed in areas where you wouldn't see them unless you were looking.

Trion has come out of the gate swinging with Rift. There are flaws -- it's a game that will overwhelm anyone who hasn't experienced an MMO before, and it brings little new to the genre -- but to my mind the quality of the content, the detail of the world, and Trion's excellent early support outweigh those flaws. There's a steep learning curve, but once you're comfortable with what Rift offers, you will find a deeply immersive experience. Telara is a worthy alternative to Azeroth for anyone looking to explore a new world.