Review

Developed by:Trion Worlds Published by:Trion Worlds Genre(s):
  • MMORPG
  • Platform:
  • PC
  • Cost:$39.99 ESRB Rating:TEEN Players:1 (Massive Online) Release date:March 1, 2011 Reviewed on:PC Expansion Released:November 16, 2012
    9

    RIFT: Storm Legion

    Expansions are the bread and butter of MMOs. Without expansions, big or small, there would be no reason to subscribe; once you’ve reached the level cap, completed all the quests that interest you, and had your fill of PVP, the only thing left to do is wait. That’s why Rift players were in for a treat when Trion Worlds released Storm Legion back in November!

    Normally it wouldn’t take us this long to review an expansion to an MMO. If you’ve played the base game, it’s likely that  you’ll know what to expect from an expansion. A couple of patches here, a dungeon there, and a new story/main quest line to tackle; outside of a few major releases they are all the same. Though Storm Legion includes all of these things, it is anything but ordinary. One thing that makes this expansion stand out is the fact that Trion added two huge continents to the game; Dusken and Brevane. They’re more than just new “zones” housing a couple of new enemies; this addition more than tripled the size Rift’s world!

    Trion made sure to fill this area with compelling content. A new main quest line is available for those of you looking to dive into the game’s lore. It follows the events of Rift’s main story, introducing the dragon lords Crucia and Regulos as new(ish) antagonists. These quests will take you from Brevane to Dusken and back again. Even if you aren’t familiar with the happenings of Telara, the idea of taking on these powerful adversaries is enough to warrant a grand adventure. Before you get to them though, there are legions of magical creatures, enemy soldiers, and giant machines that are worth battling. Again, these new continents are…well, continents. There is so much to do before reaching the new level cap of 60 (10 more than previous).

    I really enjoyed exploring the new areas while completing quests. Though most quests were of the “kill something x number of times” or “kill something to harvest materials” variety that MMOs are known for, some of them had little twists that made them interesting. One of the earlier quests had me take over a mech-like creature and use it to destroy key structures under Crucia’s influence. The majority of the quests felt like they actually mattered in the grand scheme of things and the reasons behind your actions actually seemed justified; a good way of keeping gamers involved. Unless, of course, you skip all of the presented dialogue and just run to the next icon on the mini-map. Even then, I’m sure there is enough to keep you going. I mean, a simple fetch quest turns into an epic struggle for survival when a major rift opens nearby. Basically, this expansion offers more of what makes Rift awesome in the first place!

    One thing I didn’t like was the inclusion of what I’d like to call “random quests”. These by-the-numbers quests aren’t tied to the story nor do they seem very important. This isn’t a serious problem per say; the issue here is how the quest themselves are acquired. Kill a flying monster and all of a sudden you’re given a “kill this many flying monsters” quest. Enter a location and all of a sudden a random fetch quest will pop up. Personally, I like my quest log to be organized. Quests that need to be completed in the same area as my main objective are picked up while others are left to grab later. The steady stream of quest notifications quickly got overwhelming; I’m supposed to kill what and deliver these gems to who? It got to the point where I avoided fights not tied to my current quest and refrained from picking up shiny things during my travels. A minor problem for most I’m sure. But for me, it became a burden more than anything else.

    Going back to the sheer amount of content to dive into, Storm Legion features seven new dungeons, three raids and a Chronicle (as of this writing only one raid has been released (Endless Eclipse) with the others coming with new updates). With most 20-man Raids, it is one difficult event to conquer. Expect to be at it for a while. The Chronicle and dungeons are a blast to take on. I especially liked how the game throws different things at you. On a basic level most dungeons (in other MMOs) usually have you controlling your group’s confrontations by pulling mobs to fight one at a time before reaching a boss. The group will have to use the each player’s role to the fullest in order to survive. That’s not enough here because, again, Trion adds a twist to the formula. Sometimes you’ll have to do other things outside of just fighting an enemy like pulling levers or luring an opponent into a trap. Other times the only option is fleeing or hiding; one boss shoots a beam of light that kills whoever it hits instantly, regardless of their level. You won’t find yourself just cycling through abilities; there is more to it than just tanking, healing, and damage dealing.

    Speaking of roles, Storm Legion adds four more Souls (sub-classes) to Rift; one for each calling or main class. Just like before, each sub-class can be mixed and matched to create a specific role. In order to test each of the new Souls, I decided not to mix in the older classes as much as I could. Moving on, the four souls are the Tempest, Tactician, Defiler, and the Harbinger. The first one I used was the Tempest under the Warrior calling. He can channel lighting and charged bolts to fight enemies from a distance as well as can create illusions to confuse them. As cool as this may sound, for the most part the Tempest is the same as the other Warrior souls with the added bonus of being able to attack from afar. Next up was the Defiler from the Cleric calling. This guy was tricky to use. His abilities allow him to take the damage given to other characters and absorb them himself. In order to sustain life while this is happening, he casts a buff that takes a certain amount of the incoming damage every few seconds. With practice, you could keep multiple party members alive without healing them. That’s easier said than done as keeping up with all of the damage coming and going can be a pain. And while he can heal people, his heals aren’t as good as other Cleric Souls.

    The Harbinger was pretty cool; he’s from the Mage calling. This sub-class was good at going toe-to-toe with a single foe. They’re able to take a considerable amount of damage (for a Mage) and dish out equal amounts of pain. Their only drawback was that they don’t have any AOE attacks, making encounters with multiple enemies a pain.  My favorite new soul, the Tactician, came from the Rouge Calling. Using a female this time, I was able to apply buffs that caused my every attack to not only damage enemies but also heal me and people in my group. Adding to this was the fact that she used a ranged weapon, keeping me out of harm’s way when attacking and healing. She could also place machines that would heal nearby allies or harm nearby enemies, set up high damage-dealing turrets, and utilize other life saving support abilities. Of course, being a Rouge, they don’t take damage like a Warrior and they can’t heal as well as Cleric. That said, they still make a great addition to any party!

    There is so much to talk about when it comes to Storm Legion. One thing I definitely want to make note of is the inclusion of Dimensions. Dimensions are player owned slivers of Telara that are fully customizable. Using found (or bought) items you can build and shape them into whatever you want them to be, given enough time to learn this feature’s limitations, of course. It’s easy to set up an awesome castle featuring a round table, training dummies and more. I bought a tavern by a water fall and decorated it with Christmas lights just cause. Dimensions are basically places pulled from the game, set in its own “instance” for you and your friends to hang out in and are easily one of the best additions to an established MMO. You can have your own place to congregate that is also fully customizable.

    When it comes to the MMO genre there is a lot of familiar content presented here. Also if you weren’t a fan of Rift before this expansion, it won’t make you a believer. The fact that the content is geared towards those at level 50 and above certainly doesn’t help in that regard. On the other hand, if you’ve been playing up to level cap and want more to do, you can’t go wrong here. The crazy amount of content, little twists to the normal gameplay, the inclusion of Dimensions, and the new additional Souls all should significantly increase the time spent behind a keyboard. With more end-game content coming in future updates what more could you ask for. Three months in and I haven’t gotten bored yet…that’s saying something!

    Gameplay:

    9

    More content then the average MMO expansion and most of it is great!

    Graphics:

    10

    Rift looks as great as ever!

    Sound:

    8

    The voice work and music are what you’d expect from Rift…pretty good.

    What's New:

    9

    The Dimensions feature is a really awesome addition. Finally, I have a place in a MMO to call my own!

    Replay Value:

    9

    More and more content (mostly Raids) will be coming down the pipeline soon. Even then, just beating one of these challenging events once is a feat. Expect to be playing for some time!

    Final Score:

    9

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