Rift [Download]

by Trion Worlds

• Full-Featured: Guilds, dungeons, raids, auctions, crafting, a vibrant economy, Player vs. Player combat, and more!
• World as Your Adversary: Extra-planar creatures surge into the world from rifts, turning bastions of safety into frenzied battlefields.
• Build Your Class: No other game lets you build your class the way Rift does. Specialize in a single class or pick and choose abilities from many to create a character uniquely suited to your playstyle.
• PvP Combat: Battle others in exhilarating Player vs. Player combat! Earn PvP ranks, titles, loot, and unique souls to further enhance your character.
• Choose Your Role: Each character can have up to four different roles, so you can choose different classes for every situation! You might have one for PvP and another for raids; or perhaps you want a high-damage or high-defense build.

Product Details

• Downloading: Currently, this item is available only to customers located in the United States and who have a U.S. billing address.
• Note: Gifting is not available for this item.
• ASIN: B004M191RQ
• Release Date: March 1, 2011
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (152 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #473 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #16 in Video Games > PC Game Downloads > Role-Playing
  • #20 in Video Games > PC Games > Games > Role-Playing
  • #23 in Video Games > PC Game Downloads > Adventure

Product Description

Platform: PC Download | Edition: Standard

From the Manufacturer

Rift is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) for PC that challenges players to stop an ongoing invasion of their world by horrific creatures from other planes of existence, while simultaneously growing ever more powerful by doing so. These creatures appear at a variety of elemental rifts that erupt at the confluence of these planes. Using an extensive level of customization, which allows players to very nearly create their own character classes, players defeat enemies, seal rifts and draw power from them. Additional features include: standard quest gameplay as well as player vs. player action, two factions each containing multiple races and a dynamic world full of unpredictability.

Create your own character class to fit you fighting style.
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Extensive guild support.
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Elemental rifts to battle and close.
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A wide range of creatures to conquer.
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Varied and expansive environments.
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Story

Rift is set on Telara, a fantasy world which lies alarmingly close to a variety of other planes of existence In the final days of the Mathosian civil war, the Ward that protected Telara from planar convergence with these other worlds was severely weakened by a disaster known as the Shade. Since that time, rifts between Telara and other planes have been increasingly devastating the land, and old enemies in the form of monsters, held at bay by elemental prisons have begun actively clawing their way out. Telara's greatest enemy, the god Regulos, pounds against the outside of the Ward, seeking reentry into Telara to finish the job he once started. Meanwhile, Telara's own pantheon of gods has suddenly grown silent, and the world is descending into total chaos.

The people of Telara are now convinced that the end of the world is at hand. In these desperate final days, two major factions have arisen to battle the coming apocalypse: the Guardians and the Defiant. Though each faction wants to save the world, their beliefs and methods differ, and they war upon each other as often as they do other enemies of Telara.

Factions and Souls

Rift contains two main factions, the Guardians and the Defiant. Within either of these factions players can choose from four character callings, Warrior, Cleric, Rogue, Mage. Further, within these players gain access to a variety of different character possibilities known as "souls" - each soul granting players access to a unique "Soul Tree," which contains all of the traits and abilities that a soul had mastered during its life. As your character levels up, you earn soul points that can be used to improve that tree's soul level, granting players access to even more powerful traits and abilities. As a player's character grows in power, so does his or her ability to take on, or "attune" souls. A maximum-level player will be able to attune up to three souls of their choosing each with their own attributes. Souls grow in power as they become more specialized, and have well-rounded abilities that make them great for both solo and group play. The result is the ability to create your own class for virtually any situation.

Gameplay

Although it can be played on its own, Rift like all MMORPGs is designed to be played with others online. Players assume the role of an "Ascended Soul" - a Telaran slain during the great Shade War and resurrected to combat the forces of Regulos, the dragon god of extinction. Once a character's calling and initial soul(s) are selected players can take on quests alone or join together in loose confederations or more organized guilds to seek to defeat creatures that are spawned from rifts dynamically. Close the openings, and gain rewards to progress and level up. Rewards are given for all sorts of actions, including attacks, healing and more. Of course different guilds will also seek to undermine each other as well, leading to substantial player vs. player combat opportunities.

PC System Requirements

Minimum

• Operating System - Windows XP, Vista or 7
• Processor - Dual Core 2.0 GHz or better
• RAM - 2 GB
• Hard Disc Space - 15.0 GB available
• Video Card - Nvidia GeForce FX 5900, ATI/AMD Radeon X300, Intel GMA X4500 or better
• Sound Card - DirectX 8.1 compliant card
• DirectX - 9.0c, June 2010 update
• Other - Broadband internet connection (DSL, cable modem or other high speed connection); subscription fee required for play

Recommended

• Operating System - Windows XP, Vista or 7
• Processor - Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or better
• RAM - 4 GB
• Hard Disc Space - 15.0 GB available
• Desktop Video Card - Nvidia GTS 250 or better
• Notebook Video Card - Nvidia GTX 200M series or better
• Sound Card - DirectX 8.1 compliant card
• DirectX - 9.0c, June 2010 update
• Other - Broadband Internet connection (DSL, cable modem or other high speed connection); subscription fee required for play

Key Game Features

• Confront Primal Forces - Creatures from the Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Life, and Death planes battle for control of the world of Telara. Two warring factions - the Guardians and the Defiant - face off against each other and fight extra-planar creatures as they seek to save the world.
• Create Your Own Class - Focus in a single class or pick and choose abilities from many to create a character unique to your play style.
• Multiple Roles - Character can have up to four different roles, made up of the attributes of different souls. This is available tool as you move between activities such as questing, defensive stands, raiding and PvP combat.
• Player vs. Player Action - Experience Player vs. Player action like never before, earning PvP ranks, titles, loot and unique Souls to further enhance your character. Head to cross-server Warfronts and fight others in world PvP.
• A Complete MMO Experience - Experience guilds, dungeons, raids, auctions, crafting, an in-game economy and PvP combat.
• A Beautiful Look and Feel - Rift features stunning visuals playable on any PC with a reasonable set of system requirements.

Product Description

Rift is the complete and full-featured MMO experience you’ve been waiting for! Adventure in the world of Telara as either a noble Guardian or techno-magical Defiant and enter a dynamic fantasy where 8 primal forces battle for control and the landscape is ever-changing. Build your own class using the Ascended Soul system and embark on challenging quests to take your RPG experience to new heights of achievement and excitement!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 73 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's not perfect, but it's a great start March 1, 2011

By Jereth

Platform for Display:PC Download|Edition:Standard

Coming from someone who has been playing all type of MMORPG games from MUD to WoW and all that are in between. RIFT is a great game by its own rights. It's been a long time since the MMO community has a very successful launch. I'm not going to compare features between this game and that game, but here are the good and the bad from my playing experience.

Default UI is a great. Although many of the goodies are turned off by default, you can easily turn them on through the interface setting. No need to go to addon website to install extra stuff. Things like target of target, AoE auto loot, auto sell gray items, etc. The UI layout editor is very easy to use. I'm actually really happy with it out of the box. It's not perfect, but a great starting point.

Public groups. I thought it was dumb when I first saw it, but there's a plus sign above everyone's avatar. You can click this and invite yourself to create an auto-group with the person. This is great when you see someone doing the quest you're looking to do, you can just auto group and you both and help each other. When you're done, just leave and be on your way. You can turn this feature off if you don't like a random stranger joining you. This also works for Public Group when taking down world events, such as RIFTs and Invasions. If there are multiple public groups, it merges them in to one.

Warfronts. Essentially, it's instance battlegrounds. The queues are very quick since its cross-servers. You need to be at least level 10 to do your first Warfront. There are brackets from 10-19, 20-29, and so on. It's pretty much the same old same old here, so nothing exciting about it. The experience gain is enough that you could level from just playing the warfronts if you choose to. I don't recommend it though, it gets boring pretty fast if playing it back to back... to back. Plus, you'll be pretty weak because you can't get gear efficiently if this is all you're doing.

Rifts and Invasions are pretty cool at first. After awhile it's just a zerg fest. I don't mind doing this, but again, in moderation. The blue and purple tokens you get from it are zone specific, so spend those to get yourself stronger. Not a lot of experience from invasions, so you can't level off of it like you can from warfronts. If you farm the invasion currencies you can buy items to make yourself stronger.

Quests are pretty much a straight shot. What is great about them is that you get pretty decent gears from following quests line. It will continually upgrade your gear as you go along. So this is the most effective way to get decent gear if you're playing by yourself or with a friend.
Dungeons are also pretty much like other games, but a lot prettier! It's hard to describe in words. The first instance is the Realm of the Fae, and the winter top mountain is pretty amazing, a must see! I won't spoil it.

This brings me to another point. The graphic and game effects in this game look very nice. Warrior's cleave bring up dust from the ground looks amazing. If your computer can handle ultra setting, the game is very pretty. I enjoy the graphic a lot. The last game I play that I thought was pretty was LotRO, this beats it.

Sound effects is pretty good, nothing that stands out. The script events and voice over is a nice touch, but nothing special. I turn music off when playing so I can't comment on that.

The loot is pretty also straight forward. The nice touch here is that all souls in the class use the same stat no matter what you're doing. For example, all clerics will use WIS gear. So I won't have to haul STR/DEX gear when tanking, WIS when healing, and INT/DEX when trying to DPS. All cleric uses WIS as the main attribute and that gets converted depending on the souls. If I'm tanking as Cleric Justica my WIS converts to STR for tanking. All I have to worry about is if I want to tank with 2H weapon or 1H and shield. Pretty awesome!

The Classes and Souls system is also nice, because it's very flexible. You can also purchase new roles to swap out from Tank to Healer on the fly. Since you're using pretty much the same gear from one role to another, it's painless.

In my opinion, this game doesn't bring anything new or innovative. It takes all the things other games done well and implement them in a nice package. There are a lot of improvements to be made. Like I said, it's not perfect, but it's a great start.

NOTE: If you are looking to buy this game, I recommend getting the Digital Collector's edition for $60. An extra $10 will get you a mount right off the bat (no level restriction) for all new characters that you make. The cheapest mount you can get is about 2.5 plat. I didn't get 2.5 plat until about level 20 from a normal play. I created 3 characters to level 20, and it's pretty much the same pace. Having the mount as soon as you can get to the mailbox is awesome.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but without staying power. August 16, 2011

By katann23

Platform for Display:PC|Edition:Standard

Fun: 3.0 out of 5 stars   

When my guild fell apart on WOW after the Cata expansion, I decided it was time to try something new. I had heard some good things about Rift and knew a few people playing, so I went ahead and gave it a shot.

For the first month or so I was hooked. The graphics were amazing, and the ability to really customize your abilities and switch easily between specs made for a fairly versatile toon. Not knowing a whole lot of people on my server, the public grouping system for rift raids was appealing, and in the beginning, a lot of fun. I loved the sparkly artifacts tucked away in dark corners and hidden places. Being able to start the game with a mount (with the Collector's edition) was pretty cool, too.

After about 6-8 weeks, I started to lose interest. The random zone raids felt more like being part of a swarm of bees moving by instinct rather than an actual group coordinating and communicating to achieve a common goal. This was one of the big draws to the game for me and so it losing it's luster so quickly was disappointing. Also, while I enjoyed leveling, due to the lack of players (at least on my shard) max level content largely consisted of rep grinding - there simply never seemed enough players to raid, etc. Rift does have a queue system for pugging, much like WoW, however, even with tanks and heals in place, the queue time was often in excess of 45 minutes. The dungeons, at least for me, were unremarkable and unmemorable, making the wait for a group all the more frustrating.

I give Rift credit for being the first MMO to pull me away from WoW in years. It definitely has potential, but only time will tell if the game can get enough players and bugs worked out to become sustainable. Possibly worth giving a shot now that the game price has gone down, but don't be surprised if you don't stay. I definitely recommend trying it for the first month before committing to a long subscription!

41 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Telara is (thankfully) not Azeroth! March 18, 2011

By Candy Beauchamp TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Platform for Display:PC|Edition:Standard

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

What to say about Rift? Is it beautiful? Yes. Is it fun? Amazingly so! Is it different? Both yes, and no.

Visuals and Sound:

Are you tired of cartoony graphics that stress your video cards but don't really look all that good? I know I was! World of Warcraft knock offs abound these days, and I have gotten sick and tired of the same graphics every time I try a new game. I remember buying Age of Conan and being wowed by the graphics, why has it taken so long for another game to follow suit?

Well the wait for amazing graphics is over! Rift's graphics are on par or better than any other MMO out there. Everything is very "realistic" (in quotes because it is a fantasy world). Water looks like water, spell effects are top notch, and this is all done without stressing my 2 year old computer too much.

The sound quality is very rich. Yes, it can be a bit repetitive. A sword hitting a shield can only sound so many different ways. I do wish there was a bit of differention in the combat music but oh well. That is a minor gripe. Speaking of music: it is a mix of World of Warcraft and Guild Wars, depending on the area. I loved GW's music and am glad to see that someone else picked up on this style.

Gameplay:

If you've played an MMO recently, then you know how battles go. You hit your predefined buttons until either you or the enemy dies. What makes this game different is the range of skills you have available even very early in the game.

Speaking of skills: You do not just pull from one specific class (or soul as they call it). You can use up to 3 souls at a time. Yes, the three you are using are fairly similar in purpose, but the function is completely different! By mixing the souls and purchasing their abilities how YOU choose, your characters can be very different even from someone else using the same 3 souls.

You can also change "Roles" on the fly. These are like Talent Builds in WoW. You can use any souls that you have available on different roles. I currently have a Tank role and a DPS role on my Warrior. This makes it much easier to make sure you are playing the right character for the job.

But is it "Just another MMO"?

Game play can be divided into a few areas: Open world grinding, Open world rifts, Dungeons, PVP.

PvP: This is done similar to other titles. There are battlegrounds with specific objectives. These are instanced and can either be really fast, or take a long time depending on the teams. PVP can also happen in Open World. Both reward you with points that can be spent on gear.

Grinding: Unfortunately, the quest grind is pretty much here to stay. At least it is very story driven in Rift. I do think they have you running around a bit too much, but this keeps the areas fresh and interesting, so I was pretty much ok with it once I got my mount (about level 15).

Rifts: This is a blast! You get another type of currency for closing Rifts and defeating "Footholds" in the open world. Every so often there is a major incursion which takes a large group to defeat. These are so much fun, everyone turns out to defeat the invasions from the rifts, and I always stop and close any Minor Rifts I find (it takes a small group to close a Major Rift). Footholds can easily be defeated in a couple of minutes by one person, depending on their level.

Dungeons: Pretty much your standard group of 5: 1 tank, 3 dps, a healer. So far the dungeons are a little shorter than some other games, but are still challenging and offer nice rewards. Definitely worth the time and effort!

Overall: I will definitely be playing this game a lot for the foreseeable future! The mix of Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, and Age of Conan is the perfect mix in my opinion. Finally, a gaming company learned from the mistakes of others and made very few of their own!