Rift review

As well as going on quests, there are the ubiquitous rifts, which appear randomly across the map in waves. Rifts also spawn groups of invaders who head for strategic points on the map, and a global quest will be given to all players in the region to help defeat the invaders. Individuals or small groups can also take on the rifts themselves, killing waves of guards and a final boss to seal the rift.

Some of Rift’s monsters are titanic bosses that take a whole group to bring down

Like World of Warcraft, there are many levels to Rift – a complex and rewarding crafting system, an epic Story quest chain that aims to immerse you in the story of Telara, a competitive PvP system, and numerous dungeons that are staggered to appeal to players of all levels.

What’s most impressive is the presentation and polish of the game. While there are bugs, it’s been one of the smoothest MMO launches we’ve experienced, and server performance is exemplary. Updates are small but frequent, and typically take the servers down for less than half an hour. The interface is fully customisable, with beautifully designed icons and engaging text.

Rift’s day and night cycles make for some atmospheric settings

It’s the small things that really impressed us, and it’s evident that Trion Worlds has gone through games like Warcraft with a fine-toothed comb to make sure everything works as players would expect. Rift’s graphics are far more sumptuous than Warcraft’s however, and the public quest system add an extra layer of game-play that Warcraft lacks.

Whether you’ve played Warcraft or not, you’ll still enjoy the variety and depth that Rift offers. With so much more to do and see, we’ll certainly be logging into Telara for the foreseeable future, so Rift wins our Best Buy award.