Rifter Review

A game should convey a strong sense or purpose that gives the player significant agency. Rifter will take you to dangerous planets in order to discover and destroy anomalous towers and rifts. At this point, you can wipe out these planets. Why? But you don't know. You'll learn the secrets of the galaxy over time and understand your immense duty as a Rifter.

Tiny, a support drone called Tiny, is there to accompany you on your cosmic journey. Its loud disposition gives more than a subtle nod towards The Ocarina of Time’s Navi. Tiny, unlike the much-maligned fairy was charming and funny to me, with their lively chatter punctuated by expressive emojis.

Rifter is a platformer in the truest sense. However, you won't be spending much time on the ground. Instead, you will use a grappling hook that will lasso many hook points in the sky and swing among them like a futuristic space Tarzan. To get to the destination, this swinging mechanic depends on speed, momentum, timing and luck. It's great fun to swing through the levels looking for hidden shortcuts or collectibles.

Rifter PC review

It's an easy setup on the surface, but I have to admit that it was not as simple as it seems. This is not a one-trick pony. There are several levels where you can fight deadly drones or evade homing miners. There are levels in which you must escape from a wall of death. Bonus stages where you must blow bubbles by doing precise swinging.

Brightly colored shards are hidden in these levels. They can be exchanged for abilities and upgrades at planetary shops. These shards can be used to increase your speed and health, or to add tricks to your arsenal such as the ability to accelerate down for more momentum. This is a great incentive to search every level for shards, and to work hard to find the most remote locations.

Rifter game review

Rifter's initial world is gentle, but you'll be challenged as you go. Upgraded enemy drones. Levels that have time limitations. Zones infested by missile-launching tentacles. Towering colossi bosses. There were over 90 levels, so it was easy for things to become stale. But around every corner, there is a new enemy, mechanic or hazard - for good or for worse.

Combat is easy but rewarding. Force fields are used to make enemies less vulnerable to attacks from the rear. It creates a balletic tango where enemies focus on you with missiles and lasers, while you frantically swing to your weak spot.

Rifter Steam game

Rifter isn't as difficult as Celeste and Super Meat Boy overall, but checkpoints become eroded when you run out of life, so you go back to the beginning. This has the downside that you will have to do difficult acrobatics repeatedly in order to collect shards for each level. You'll also die later. It's difficult to tell the difference between challenging and pissing off a player. Rifter's greatest flaw is its inability to do this consistently.

Rifter's visuals are what really make 80's scifi come alive. The amber setting sun, bright spots of neon, generous lashings purple and sharp, abstract geometry are all part of Rifter's visuals. The campaign's aesthetic is clean and simple. However, it doesn't change much over time. Each world has roughly 30 levels. However, each world is basically a palette swap for the original template.

Rifter by IMakeGames

Rifter's retro visuals are the foundation for the soundtrack, which features a great selection of synthwave songs. This pulsing electro ties the presentation together in a way that is both unique and extraordinary.

Rifter is an acrobatic platformer with many achievements that will keep you coming back for more. You can collect hidden shards and complete bonus challenges at each level, or beat your high scores to advance up the leaderboards. There's so much more than just completing the campaign.

It is not easy to master the difficult swinging mechanics, but I cannot wait to see the crazy stunts that the community can pull off with a little practice. Rifter will be a paradise for speed runners, I swear.