There was much controversy about Rift and a lot of people do not seem to like it for some reason or another and because of that there is a lot of trash talk about the game. This is a short reply to all those complains and an answer to the question "Is Rift: Planes of Telara worth playing?".
Yes, it is worth playing. RIft: Planes of Telara takes the most basic form of the MMORPG, the "wow-clone" if you want to call it that way and pushes the boundaries so far out that the game ceases to be just a "WoW Clone" and becomes something entirely unique. A guy at beta 1's chat said it most clearly - "If WoW is EQ version 3.0 then Rift is EQ version 5.0". Yes the basic gameplay is like any other MMO that there is on the market and yet it offers better combat experience than any other. It offers more character customization than anything else and it offers a world that feels more alive than that of any other MMO.
There were some complains that the game is boring. Well, I suppose it could be if you play it like it is a chore for the sole purpose of reviewing it but there is actually plenty to go around in this game. The game is full of content and achievers, crafters,Rift Gold explorers and PvPers all have their own place in the world of Telara. Rift offers a variety of playstyles tied up to the different souls some of which are rather unique. You have DPS healers, you have skill-play characters that require you to cast spells and abilities in a certain way to maximize their efficiency, there are also the crowd controllers, the different support characters including the stat-stealing party-buffing masochist that is the Archon, there are plenty of pet, stealth and tank classes and although there are lots of them they still feel different – the five different tank souls offer completely different approach to tanking and one of them is actually a rogue soul.
The combat system in Rift is also a hot point of discussion. I think that all the attacks against it are pretty much baseless. Let's make one thing clear – Rift is not an action flick so if you are looking for DMC-like experience in an MMO then this is just not your game. Still if you enjoy a solid dose of good old western MMO-styled combat then welcome to heaven.
The combat system features all the good things we can find in any well polished MMO - there are taunts, there are mezzes and stuns, there are plenty of AoE attacks, plenty of transition skills, shields, life-steals, morphs, DoTs, blinds and most importantly – plenty of skills that work together. The positioning matters as you can attack only the targets that are in front of you and there are abilities like "backstab" that require a certain position to be cast or do bonus damage. There is everything that the combat in non-action MMO should have and perhaps a little bit more as some of the skills require thought to be utilized correctly and not just pointless button mashing.
