E3 2012: RIFT shows Storm Legion's Tower of Dawn, confirms digital CE
While we got a great preview of some of the excitement coming with this fall's RIFT: Storm Legion expansion at E3, the public was treated to a "sneak peek" livestream from the press room by the devs. The livestreamed some of the content we've seen already, such as the clockwork dungeon and the mighty colossus attack, but also dropped a few new surprises as well.
When asked if the expansion will have a collector's edition, the dev confirmed that it probably will have a digital CE. He then laughed that he probably let the cat out of the bag on that one. He was reluctant to show the in-game map of the new continents, however, explaining that they are a work in progress.
The Trion Worlds team also demoed a special interior for the first time, the Tower of Dawn. While not a proper dungeon, the tower will be an expansive and dangerous location to explore. The dev said that players were asking for more interiors to explore, hence why Trion took the time to make it.
You can scope out some of our screengrabs from the livestream after the break!
"It's honking large," the dev said of the expansion as a whole. Here he took us into the clockwork dungeon, which looks absolutely beautiful.
More of the clockwork dungeon, minus enemies. Trion removed mobs from these interiors in order to show off the artwork.
The colossus Volan emerges in a ground-shaking cutscene.
Volan is truly enormous; the screenshots do not do it justice. While he's slated to be a level 60 encounter, the dev assured us that "fresh" level 60s can get in on the action.
The colossus is covered with wicked-looking armor. Players will need to hack away at the armor to get to the gooey insides, and as he loses his protection, Volan will change his attack pattern.
Players have several useful tools to aid them in their fight against Volan. He will occasionally drop mighty power-ups that provide different benefits. The one we saw in action allowed the player to shoot a 140,000-point blast into the chest of the beast.
There are also numerous brightly colored jump pads in the area that launch a player -- mounted or on foot -- high up into the air. While getting some serious air time, players can perform their abilities, including charging Volan from hundreds of feet up.
Because the team now has two expansive continents to mess with, there was no problem with sectioning off this part of the world for the sole purpose of an open-world mega-boss fight. Volan went on a rampage through the area, jumping over bridges and smashing through walls.
Here we head up into the Tower of Dawn. The tower is a place where genetic engineering has gone bad, and plant-tentacles are sprouting out of the walls and floors.
The dev reminded us again that this interior will look a lot more populated once the game launches.
And here's the final streamed video!
Massively's on the ground in Los Angeles during the week of June 4-7, bringing you all the best news from E3 2012. We're covering everything from PlanetSide 2 and SWTOR and ArcheAge to RIFT's and LotRO's upcoming expansions, so stay tuned!
