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The Riftbreaker

The Riftbreaker Game Cover
91%Game Brain Score
gameplay, story
grinding, stability
91% User Score Based on 8,780 reviews
Critic Score 88%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

Xbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 5Playstation 4Xbox OneXboxWindowsPlayStation
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The Riftbreaker Game Cover

About

The Riftbreaker is a single player and multiplayer survival role playing shooter game. It was developed by EXOR Studios and was released on July 18, 2022. It received positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

"The Riftbreaker" is a base-building survival game where you play as Captain Ashley S. Nowak, an elite scientist/commando in a powerful Mecha-suit. Your mission on the distant planet of Galatea 37 is to build up a base capable of creating a two-way rift back to Earth, using various machines for resource extraction, construction, and combat against hostile inhabitants. This task requires the development of a complex chain of mines, refineries, powerplants, and research facilities.

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The Riftbreaker screenshot
The Riftbreaker screenshot
The Riftbreaker screenshot
The Riftbreaker screenshot
The Riftbreaker screenshot
The Riftbreaker screenshot
The Riftbreaker screenshot
The Riftbreaker screenshot
The Riftbreaker screenshot
The Riftbreaker screenshot
The Riftbreaker screenshot
+42
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91%
Audience ScoreBased on 8,780 reviews
gameplay521 positive mentions
grinding231 negative mentions
  • The game offers a unique blend of base-building, tower defense, and action RPG elements, providing a satisfying gameplay loop.
  • The graphics are stunning, with vibrant environments and smooth animations that enhance the overall experience.
  • The addition of co-op multiplayer has significantly improved the game, making it even more enjoyable to play with friends.
  • The dialogue and voice acting can be repetitive and annoying, often interrupting gameplay with unnecessary chatter.
  • The game suffers from performance issues, especially during intense battles with large enemy swarms, leading to lag and crashes.
  • The research and resource management systems can feel tedious and slow, requiring significant time investment without clear guidance.
  • gameplay
    1,206 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "The Riftbreaker" is widely praised for its addictive blend of base-building, action RPG, and tower defense mechanics, creating a satisfying and engaging loop that keeps players invested. While the game features a variety of weapons, upgrades, and biomes that enhance the experience, some players note that the gameplay can become repetitive over time, particularly in the late game. Overall, the mechanics are solid, with smooth controls and stunning visuals, making it a compelling choice for fans of the genre despite some minor technical issues and a lack of depth in certain areas.

    • “The Riftbreaker is an addictive mix of base-building, action RPG, and tower defense that delivers a very satisfying gameplay loop from start to finish.”
    • “It's a base building defense game with smooth, fun gameplay, a great variety of equipment and buildings, and fantastic visuals.”
    • “The gameplay loop is addictive, the visuals are stunning, and the sense of scale when defending your base never gets old.”
    • “The gameplay loop becomes an endless resource slog of dull, repetitive gameplay where you try to strip mine half the planet.”
    • “The base building is oversimplified in comparison to Factorio, and the gameplay just feels like a basic mobile phone game.”
    • “The gameplay loop is surprisingly repetitive for a factory-lite: you'll be doing the same things in the last hour of the campaign as in the first.”
  • story
    1,107 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in "The Riftbreaker" is generally considered simplistic and somewhat generic, serving primarily as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a focal point. While some players appreciate the light narrative and character interactions between the protagonist and her AI companion, many find the plot forgettable and the dialogue repetitive or poorly executed. Overall, the story is seen as functional enough to support the game's mechanics, but it lacks depth and innovation, with numerous players expressing a desire for more engaging and varied missions.

    • “The story is interesting enough and the exchanges between your character (Ashley) and the exosuit (Mr. Riggs) can be funny at times.”
    • “The story of survival, innovation, and humanity's quest for expansion is beautifully told through the game's missions and dialogue.”
    • “The campaign has great characters and a solid story to follow along as you play.”
    • “The main campaign's story is very generic.”
    • “The story, acting, and writing for this game really are not the focus.”
    • “The story campaign has little to no additional replay value, although that tends to be the case in games with linear story.”
  • graphics
    808 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of "The Riftbreaker" have received widespread acclaim for their stunning visuals, vibrant environments, and attention to detail, often described as top-notch or even AAA quality. Players appreciate the game's ability to maintain smooth performance even during intense action, although some have noted occasional performance dips when building extensively. Overall, the graphics significantly enhance the immersive experience, making it a standout feature of the game.

    • “The graphics are stunning with great hoard AI to bring a good depth of immersion to the game.”
    • “The graphics are top-notch, with beautifully rendered environments and dynamic lighting effects that bring the sci-fi setting to life.”
    • “The visuals are vibrant and great to look at.”
    • “With coop being a new focus, the devs have decided to reduce a lot of visuals to make things more 'readable'.”
    • “For whatever reason, even though this game has very pretty graphics, it feels like a constant chore to play.”
    • “The game ran fine for me but really ate into my GPU despite again having graphics only a little better than SC2's HOTS, released in the early 2010s.”
  • optimization
    274 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players praising its performance and smooth gameplay, particularly on high-end systems, while others report significant lag and performance drops during intense gameplay, especially with large bases or enemy hordes. The recent updates have improved performance for many, but issues persist, particularly for players with mid-range or lower-end hardware. Overall, while some find the game well-optimized and visually impressive, others highlight serious optimization challenges that detract from the experience.

    • “With the new 2.0 update, the increased outpost limit, and the infinite locations you can discover, the possibilities for huge, hyper-optimized, automated production are nearly limitless.”
    • “Amazing optimization, combat animations, surprisingly better than any AAA game.”
    • “The game has great optimization; it's smooth and features spectacular visuals in the graphic department, allowing you to move freely across the planet and complete quests.”
    • “The game suffers from performance issues.”
    • “No idea how this game was released 4 years ago and just called itself 2.0 but still suffers from absolutely horrible game-breaking bugs and optimization that can cripple even a high-end computer.”
    • “However, the game is extremely badly optimized and really struggles to be played in the moments where gameplay absolutely peaks - when alien hordes attack your base.”
  • grinding
    253 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed feedback from players. Many find the resource management and questing to be tedious and repetitive, particularly in the late game, where tasks can feel like busywork rather than engaging gameplay. However, some players appreciate the cooperative elements and base-building mechanics, which can alleviate some of the grind, making the experience enjoyable in short bursts despite the overall grindy nature of the game.

    • “Very enjoyable, be it base building or combat. I especially enjoyed that base building wasn't tedious; it was easy to build, repair, and expand large bases.”
    • “Building and resource management is also not tedious like so many other similar games.”
    • “Base building is deep enough to be interesting while not being tedious, and it ties in really well with the combat.”
    • “The gameplay loop is incredibly repetitive and gets tedious very quickly.”
    • “It's just so annoyingly tedious.”
    • “The campaign itself is more grindy than difficult as you get attacked regularly but you're not on a clock.”
  • replayability
    167 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The Riftbreaker offers substantial replayability through various modes, including randomized survival and cooperative gameplay, which keep the experience fresh even after completing the campaign. While some players find the campaign itself lacks replay value, the game's modding community and diverse difficulty settings enhance its longevity. Overall, many reviews highlight the game's potential for endless replayability, particularly for those who enjoy experimenting with different strategies and setups.

    • “Overall, The Riftbreaker is a creative, energetic, and endlessly replayable experience.”
    • “With support for modding, co-op multiplayer, and a dedicated survival mode, The Riftbreaker offers substantial replay value.”
    • “The randomly generated maps increase the game's replay value.”
    • “The story campaign has little to no additional replay value, although that tends to be the case in games with linear story.”
    • “Sadly, this game has zero replay value, so once you got through the campaign you can basically uninstall.”
    • “Not very replayable; unless you want to streamline your base or play survival and keep restarting, there's not much point to going back once you beat the final wave.”
  • stability
    126 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting frequent bugs, glitches, and occasional freezes that can disrupt gameplay. While some find these issues to be minor annoyances, others describe the game as a "buggy mess" that can lead to game-breaking problems, particularly with mission progression and save corruption. Overall, while the game is enjoyable when functioning properly, its stability issues significantly detract from the experience for many players.

    • “The game is basically bug-free (except the bugs you kill) and it's very optimized (I mean very optimized).”
    • “Runs great on my old 4790k and GTX 1070.”
    • “Looks great, runs great, not one crash, tech trees are huge, weapons are awesome, base building is easy/fun, love the variety of towers and resource production.”
    • “Its a buggy mess, the core game is fun, but almost every mission has a game-breaking bug that doesn't let you progress. Given that it's a 4-year-old game, there's no hope the devs care about it.”
    • “The game is extremely buggy; it just crashes all the time.”
    • “It's a decent game but a buggy mess that crashes on startup 4 out of 5 times after making you watch intros you cannot skip.”
  • music
    117 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players praising its beauty and ability to enhance the gaming experience, particularly in relation to the game's graphics and atmosphere. However, some users find the soundtrack repetitive or generic, suggesting it lacks memorability and variety, which can detract from long play sessions. Overall, while the music is appreciated by many, it also has its detractors who feel it could be improved to better match the game's themes and intensity.

    • “Gorgeous graphics and an interesting soundtrack keep the game alive, especially between different biomes.”
    • “The music is lovely; I find myself humming along with the pounding soundtracks, and the weapon sounds make you really feel like you wield some serious power.”
    • “The excellent graphics (it even has ray traced shadows) accompanied by a superb memorable soundtrack makes playing this both a visual and audio treat.”
    • “The music is probably the biggest negative; it's pretty boring, but it's not terrible.”
    • “Music unfortunately is where this game airballs for me. It gets repetitive before the refund button becomes unavailable. This is dangerous for any game developer; I'm so sorry, the music is very bad.”
    • “The soundtrack isn't great; it does the job for a couple of hours, but then it gets far too repetitive.”
  • humor
    46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is frequently highlighted, with players enjoying the witty banter between characters, particularly between the protagonist Ashley and her AI companion Mr. Riggs. Many find the game's absurdities, such as the comedic scientific names of alien species and the intentionally flawed mechanics, to be entertaining. Overall, the humor adds a light-hearted touch to the gameplay, making it enjoyable for those who appreciate a mix of action and comedy.

    • “It's got some light story, with some good humor as well.”
    • “The story is interesting enough and the exchanges between your character (Ashley) and the exosuit (Mr. Riggs) can be funny at times.”
    • “Fun, challenging, makes you think, witty banter between the pilot and AI is rather funny.”
  • atmosphere
    21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its stunning graphics, immersive sound effects, and engaging environmental design, which collectively enhance the overall experience. Players appreciate the balance between relaxing and intense moments, with many noting that the atmospheric elements contribute significantly to the game's depth and enjoyment. Overall, the atmosphere is described as captivating, well-optimized, and integral to the gameplay, making it a standout feature.

    • “Absolutely stunning atmosphere and graphics, especially with ray tracing enabled.”
    • “Lovely atmosphere, addicting gameplay loop, and wonderful visuals.”
    • “The atmosphere is very good, awesome graphics, and very well optimized.”
    • “I actually think the game would be better without any of the voice dialog - making the atmosphere more dense.”
    • “The atmosphere is almost like she knows that everything she says and does will be recorded and audited when she returns to Earth.”
    • “Others are blanketed in thick, toxic atmosphere and you’ll have to refine toxic sludge into flammable gas to use in a gas power plant.”
  • monetization
    14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the monetization aspect of the game has received mixed reviews. While some players appreciate the absence of intrusive microtransactions, ads, and loot boxes, others criticize the presence of in-game ads for DLC and the perception that the game is shifting towards a cash grab model. Despite initial positive impressions, concerns about future monetization strategies and the quality of the base game have emerged.

    • “It's been a while since I've put a lot of effort into a game or even given a positive review, but wow, this was a game I was hoping for that didn't disappoint. A huge bonus: no loot boxes, no battle pass, no pay-to-win, just jump in and play.”
    • “Now it's here after 7 years waiting for a game like that, all my expectations came true. Even better, it's on PC and has no in-game purchases.”
    • “Bug-free release, no microtransactions.”
    • “There is also the very slimy business practice of in-game ads for their shovelled out mid-tier DLC, and then altering the base game so if you want to fully complete it you have to buy them.”
    • “This game was good at one point, but now... it's just an overly difficult cash grab engine.”
    • “I may be wrong, but based on normal small-studio trends, I suspect that they did this so they can cash grab some 'horse armor' DLC ASAP.”
  • emotional
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players express a mix of emotional engagement and frustration with the game, highlighting moments of heartbreak when their bases are destroyed and the repetitive nature of gameplay. While some enjoy the thrill of combat and the potential for emotional investment, many feel that the story and voice acting lack depth, making it difficult to connect with the characters or the stakes of the narrative. Overall, the emotional impact is hampered by technical issues and a lack of serious storytelling.

    • “Putting a negative review on this game is kind of heartbreaking.”
    • “It's so heartbreaking to see your base being destroyed and there is nothing you can do about it.”
    • “Story, writing, and voice acting weren't really taken seriously; it doesn't feel like the life-and-death situation we are faced with is real.”
  • character development
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the reviews indicate that character development in the game is largely lacking, with many characters described as one-dimensional and shallow. While there are hints of potential growth in the early stages, the consensus is that the game does not deliver the depth or complexity found in more acclaimed titles. Players seeking rich storytelling and character arcs may be disappointed.

    • “The first quarter and half were a slow burn consisting of good build up with adequate character development.”
    • “Character design and backstory: 8/10”
    • “Although this does mean I literally do not know the story, maybe it gets better, maybe there is a ton of character development?”
    • “The characters are one-dimensional and there is no character development to speak of, and the first time the pilot's supposed care for the environment actually translates into a mechanical choice is choosing whether to go for the true ending or not.”
    • “If you want the character development from The Last of Us, or the storyline of Final Fantasy VII, go elsewhere.”
    • “There is, however, no actual character development, and the characters feel quite shallow.”
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88%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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26h Median play time
79h Average play time
10-50h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 90 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

The Riftbreaker is a survival role playing shooter game.

The Riftbreaker is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and others.

On average players spend around 79 hours playing The Riftbreaker.

The Riftbreaker was released on July 18, 2022.

The Riftbreaker was developed by EXOR Studios.

The Riftbreaker has received positive reviews from players and positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

The Riftbreaker is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include They Are Billions, Mindustry, Age of Darkness Final Stand, Grim Dawn, Volcanoids and others.