The Riftbreaker from EXOR Studios is a sci-fi base-building tower defense survival action RPG on PlayStation 5. Learn more about it in our The Riftbreaker review!
The Riftbreaker from EXOR Studios is a sci-fi base-building tower defense survival action RPG on PlayStation 5. You’ll be taking on the role of Captain Ashley S. Nowak, an elite scientist/commando combo who has been sent on a mission to try and save Earth. You’re the titular Riftbreaker and have been sent to Galatea 37 on a bit of a suicide mission. Galatea 37 is far, far away from our planet, and your journey there is currently a one-way trip. Your task is to build a base at Galatea 37 so that you can then use it to set up a way to travel back to Earth in order to continue with the colonization efforts.
To survive the harsh conditions of Galatea 37, Ashley has a very useful and powerful mecha suit that she affectionately refers to as Mr. Riggs. Your mission will begin as soon as you move around the landing zone since you need to build a base while keeping the local hostiles in check. You can take on either Campaign Mode, which will have you advancing through a story, or play in Survival Mode, which is more of a sandbox-style experience.
The Riftbreaker can be played in one of four difficulty settings: Easy, Normal, Hard, or Brutal. Easy is a good option for those of you who don’t have much experience with the genres mixed in this game, so you can learn as you go without feeling too overwhelmed. Normal offers the standard experience, balanced to allow you to test your skills. Hard will dial things up by having more aggressive alien swarms that will frequently attack your base. If you want to take the challenge up to 11, then Brutal is the one for you. Alien hordes of massive proportions will constantly try to destroy everything you build, so any mistake you make will signal your destruction!
You’ll control your character with the left analog stick as you use the right one to aim as needed. The L2 button will be for your left hand, and the R2 button will be for your right hand. Change weapons by pressing left or right on the D-Pad. This is important because some of your weapons will run out of ammo rather quickly! Interact by pressing the Square button. You can use this to collect items or to dig for resources. When you want to build something, activate build mode by pressing the Triangle button.
Once build mode has been activated, you’ll be able to switch between the available tabs by using the L1 and R1 buttons. This is how you’ll access the option for building your base – preferably near a Carbonium deposit. Structures you build will require energy to function, so be sure to add some power sources as well as connect everything on a grid that can provide enough energy for them to function. You’ll be able to see how much energy is being drawn at the corner of the screen so that you can quickly adjust when there’s not enough energy for everything. When the wind favors you, some wind turbines can help boost energy production.
With the local creatures always posing a threat, you’ll have to build walls as well as towers to protect the area. Build some Sentinel Towers that can keep watch over your structures so that you don’t have to take on all enemies on your own. Build walls to protect all of your structures and make enemies deviate from the path they would otherwise take. Build an Armory so that you can craft new weapons for your mech. The enemies that rush your base can make short work of single walls, so I’d suggest you work on adding two or three walls so that your towers have a chance to bring down their numbers.
The game also has three DLC packs to offer, which will extend your time with The Riftbreaker. Metal Terror is the first one of the trio, and it adds a new part to the Campaign Mode set in a new biome with new flora and fauna for you to interact with.. including that of the not-so-friendly variety. The second one is Into the Dark. This DLC will have you exploring an expansive cavern system below the surface of Galatea 37. As you dig your way through this new area, you’ll need to act fast if you want to stop a calamity that could end up destroying Galatea 37 before it can be colonized! And then we get to the Heart of the Swamp DLC.
Heart of the Swamp is the latest DLC that launched a couple of months ago, and it will take you into a deadly fungal swamp with an ecosystem that centers on The Great Mushroom. Unfortunately, the balance of this is in danger! A parasitic species is now wreaking havoc, and it’s now up to Ashley and Mr. Riggs to do whatever it takes to fix this. You’ll be building your base on land and over water as you adapt your technology to the situation at hand.
Trophy-wise, The Riftbreaker has a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy for you to try and add to your collection. The trophy list is split into 20 Bronze trophies, 19 Silver trophies, and 8 Gold trophies. What are the objectives you’ll have to complete to add that shiny Platinum to your collection? You’ll have to explore 50% of a mission area before setting up your base in survival, use 250 consumables, make 101 rift jumps, use skills 500 times, exterminate 1,000 neutral creatures, simultaneously mine every resource in the game at the same time, run 21,097 meters, build 21,196 meters worth of walls, build 1,500 pipe segments, defeat 50,000 hostile creatures, and complete the game’s story, to name some examples. As for the DLC trio, each one will have an extra trophy list for you to work on, so if you want to 100% the game, you’ll need to complete the objectives for the 17 objectives – split between 5 trophies for Metal Terror, 6 trophies for Into the Dark, and another 6 trophies for Hearth of Swamp. If you need some extra help, you can check out this The Riftbreaker Trophy Guide.
The Riftbreaker from EXOR Studios is a sci-fi base-building tower defense survival action RPG in which you’ll be taking on the role of Captain Ashley S. Nowak, an elite scientist/commando combo who has been sent on a mission to try and save Earth. You’re the titular Riftbreaker and have been sent to Galatea 37 on a bit of a suicide mission. Galatea 37 is far, far away from our planet, and your journey there is currently a one-way trip. Your task is to build a base at Galatea 37 so that you can then use it to set up a way to travel back to Earth in order to continue with the colonization efforts. The Riftbreaker is out on PlayStation 5 with a $29.99 price tag. You can get the Heart of the Swamp DLC for $9.99, or you can go all in and get The Riftbreaker Complete Edition for $49.99, which includes the base game, as well as the Metal Terror DLC, Into The Dark DLC, and Heart of the Swamp DLC.
Disclaimer
This The Riftbreaker review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by EXOR Studios.
