This game was released for "head start" access for those who pre-ordered, on Feb 24, and officially releases for North America on March 1. I participated in the final beta, and purchased the game for "head start" access. The interface is a clone of WoW, and it is a leveling game with 2 PvP factions like WoW, but it has a terminator style twist thrown in, and there are a lot of UO reminders. Bards, shards, boglings, and the like.
Also, there is a dynamic aspect in Rift that is lacking in WoW. At any given time a rift may open over an area and it starts an undead invasion, much like a UO champ spawn where the mobs get increasingly more powerful. It takes a group to defeat them, and opposing faction can interfere with your efforts. If you fail to close the rift, the town or settlement gets overrun and it interferes with access for a while. They have it set up very well - when you get near a rift the game automatically starts a public raid group and you just click a button to join. Being part of a rift raid does not interfere with your normal quest objectives. A full raid group is required to unlock bonus waves in the rifts, and when the objectives are done, it automatically prompts you to collect your share of the loot.
A nice thing, Rift was designed to run on less robust machines, and LOOKS good. Like UO, there is one client worldwide, and if you are willing to brave the lag, you can play on any shard you want - either North American or Euro. You are allowed 6 characters per shard.
The game has a rather mind boggling array of class/ability combinations, which can be a bit overwhelming, but although you can't change your main class once selected, you can make changes to your role for a fee in game currency. You plug "souls" into your class to change it and souls have ability trees (like talent trees in WoW) that you can mix and match. At the level cap of 50 you acquire a dedicated PvP soul with abilities specifically tuned for PvP combat, and begin to earn PvP prestige.
I don't know how this game will ultimately perform for long term play, and I've barely scratched the surface of it, but so far it is very stable, looks nice, and is FUN!
Here is a screenie of my Rift Skylark.
Also, there is a dynamic aspect in Rift that is lacking in WoW. At any given time a rift may open over an area and it starts an undead invasion, much like a UO champ spawn where the mobs get increasingly more powerful. It takes a group to defeat them, and opposing faction can interfere with your efforts. If you fail to close the rift, the town or settlement gets overrun and it interferes with access for a while. They have it set up very well - when you get near a rift the game automatically starts a public raid group and you just click a button to join. Being part of a rift raid does not interfere with your normal quest objectives. A full raid group is required to unlock bonus waves in the rifts, and when the objectives are done, it automatically prompts you to collect your share of the loot.
A nice thing, Rift was designed to run on less robust machines, and LOOKS good. Like UO, there is one client worldwide, and if you are willing to brave the lag, you can play on any shard you want - either North American or Euro. You are allowed 6 characters per shard.
The game has a rather mind boggling array of class/ability combinations, which can be a bit overwhelming, but although you can't change your main class once selected, you can make changes to your role for a fee in game currency. You plug "souls" into your class to change it and souls have ability trees (like talent trees in WoW) that you can mix and match. At the level cap of 50 you acquire a dedicated PvP soul with abilities specifically tuned for PvP combat, and begin to earn PvP prestige.
I don't know how this game will ultimately perform for long term play, and I've barely scratched the surface of it, but so far it is very stable, looks nice, and is FUN!
Here is a screenie of my Rift Skylark.
