I've just returned from Rezzed, the new PC and indie gaming convention organised by Eurogamer and Rock Paper Shotgun as a sort of little-sister event to their larger annual Eurogamer Expo. Taking place in a seafront venue in Brighton over two unseasonably stormy summer days, the convention boasted 26 playable games in the main area plus another 16+ more in the indie Leftfield Collection. Below, I've picked out my entirely subjective and completely biased top 10 for your gaming pleasure.
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10. Rift (Trion Worlds)
The top pick of several WoW clones on display at Rezzed, the fantasy MMORPG Rift was released for Windows in March last year and has been plagued by population issues, with developers Trion Worlds struggling to draw enough people into the game to fill its expansive technicolor terrains. From what I saw of it on the convention floor, this seems to be more down to general fatigue with the endless stream of similarly-styled games rather than any failings on Rift's part, though an inherent problem with demoing games such as this is a lack of opportunity to delve the undoubtedly extensive depths of the class, battle and skill systems that make or break MMOs. Still, if I had to choose one post-World of Warcraft MMORPG to get stuck into, I think the steampunk-inflected visuals of Rift would tilt my hand. Rift is available now for Windows only in stores or as a digital download directly from Trion Worlds, with the Standard Edition costing £19.99 plus a monthly £8.99 subscription fee.