RIFT. Does it fill a hole in the MMORPG community?

To answer this, we have to look at different aspects of the game. In the long run, most MMORPG's are compared to World Of Warcraft. I would be lying if I said that this game was better than World Of Warcraft, however, it does throw in different elements that Blizzard never even though of. Trion (The games developers) have tried to separate RIFT from other MMORPG's.

Presentation:

Sigh. I wish it was free.

RIFT is set the the world of Telara. Turns out that this world is actually made up of many elemental planes. Now, while RIFT offers the 'traditional' quests and adventures, there is something very special about this game. All over the world, spontaneous events are happening. No area is 'peaceful'. I think this is a really nice touch, as it means that you can return to places and something new will be happening. Didn't think of that, did you Blizzard? All of this aside, this game is beautifully crafted. It really adds a different element to the game that people adore. These spontaneous events make people come together to end whatever has happened, giving the game a real sense of community. The draw back here is that you still have to pay about £9 a month subscription fee.  8/10

Graphics:

I'm a friendly spider I swear...

As much as I hate to admit it, unless you have a fairly good set up, you'll really struggle to get decent FPS (Frames per second) Then again, you'll have this problem with most MMORPG's including World Of  Warcraft. If you want a game that'll run smoothly on a worse-for-wear rig, then go check out a game like Guild wars. If however, you think that it'll run fine, then this game easily compares to World Of Warcraft. RIFT gives you that feeling that you're in the game, without it being a First Person Shooter. While rendering can be an issue at times, this game really has the capability to be beautiful. 7/10

Gameplay:

'Dude! What the hell is that?!'

You guys know how much I enjoy writing this bit. Okay, so for all you MMORPG veterans RIFT is mainly based on grinding. Go kill this, or vanquish that. While this may sound boring and tedious, the way Trion has presented this, it's actually really fun. From graveyards to jungles, it's all there. Sadly, the gameplay is VERY generic. Trion hasn't really done anything new with the storyline, or the way you quest. What Trion has done, is including what's known as RIFT events. These are random events that allow all players in that area to close a 'rift'. It's really just a community grind... Wait. That sounds wrong. Imagine being given a quest to kill a certain thing, and everyone else near you joins in. So, RIFT isn't hugely innovative. The highlight of the game for me, is the class system. For those of you who know what that is, you might want to skip this part. The class system is basically where you fit into a party. For example, a 'Mage' class is usually a DPS (damage per second) where as a warrior is mainly a tank (Someone that gets all the enemies attention). What Trion has done, is they've basically said 'We don't want to limit players to one particular job. We want players to experiment with their characters and see how far they can push them'. Now obviously, a Mage still won't be a tank, but they can now be healers. You can take abilities from different skill trees, and see what suits your play style the best. 8/10

I'M ON A BOAT.

Verdict:
RIFT is not going to be surpassing World Of Warcraft any time soon. So if you are planning on paying for your MMORPG, then I would go with World Of Warcraft. However, for those of you wanting to try a new world, and have a character that is TOTALLY unique, then definitely give this game a try. There's even a free 3 day trial so you can get a feel for different class builds. 7.5/10

-James