The first open alpha playtest for co-op looter shooter Riftstorm is live from October 16th, 7 PM PT, to October 30th, 7 PM PT, and anyone can jump in for free by downloading the demo on Steam.
What Is Riftstorm?
Riftstorm is a looter shooter action RPG and co-op roguelite set in a mysterious world called the Occultical. Players take on the role of secret agents called Mythic Protocol Weavers whose task is to defend the world from mythic threats invading from all over the universe. Team up with up to 2 friends to enjoy action-packed 3-player isometric gameplay across numerous loot-ridden missions. There are a couple of distinct Weavers you can choose to play as, with each playable character featuring different skills and weapons to suit your playstyle. Players can also customize their loadout with a primary and secondary weapon by choosing from a selection of different ranged guns. Throughout a mission, players can unlock in-mission upgrades to add further depth to their builds.
What’s New in Riftstorm Alpha Playtest 1?
Whether you’re new to this web3 game or are a returning player who participated in the second pre-alpha playtest from earlier this year, and/or the one from last year, this first open alpha version comes with a variety of major updates to test out while potentially earning some exclusive rewards and ecosystem points along the way.
This playtest adds 2 new Weavers to play with: Rook and Thistle. Rook is a powerful all-rounder equipped with a single-target stun spell alongside grenades and mines to stun and blow up any monsters standing in your way. Thistle is a spell-focused Weaver who uses a floating occult tome to cast deadly spells to obliterate groups of mythics marching your way. With these new additions, there are now a total of 6 different Weavers to choose from.
Next to fun new playable characters, the Dungeon System has been upgraded with more mission variety and new visual updates. With Dungeon System 2.0, you can better immerse yourself in a new narrative arc while progressing through bigger new maps and enjoying graphical improvements to the environment thanks to the addition of new lighting systems and biomes. Aside from larger maps with more detailed locations, missions now have various in-dungeon actions and functions that make them more varied than ever before.
The arsenal roster has been updated with new weapons and a highly-requested crafting update: Weapon Loop 0.5. This update introduces new systems, materials, and blueprints that make it possible for players to dismantle any weapon in order to get Scrap. With Scrap, you can craft new weapons using the new Dataseed system, or by using a randomized feature where the crafting process leads to you getting a random new weapon.
What Can You Earn in Riftstorm Alpha Playtest 1?
By completing the playtest mission arc, Riftstorm players can earn exclusive skins and other rewards only available during this test period. Whether these will be possible to mint into NFTs in the future or stay as in-game assets showing your early status once the game is officially released remains unclear at the time of writing. However, what we do know is that this title connects with the growing entertainment ecosystem of developer and publisher Confliction Labs, who have set up a platform referred to as the Portal in which the community can gain access to exclusive rewards, media, and potentially more over time, all set within the same Occultical universe as the game itself.
By joining the Portal, as revealed in a recent blog post, users become a part of the Mythic Protocol, giving you access to an assignment dashboard featuring ecosystem tasks but also quests you can complete in-game to earn Protocol Points. These are ecosystem points that you will be able to redeem for various future prizes, including new media, exclusive Weaver skins, in-game rewards, and more.
The alpha demo you can play now however does not integrate any blockchain technologies, as clarified on the official FAQ page. In the future, Riftstorm will use its own web3 tech to track various player actions and their consequences on the game’s world while enabling asset ownership and wrap/unwrap mechanics. The choices players make can influence the direction in which the Occultical universe heads in as important world events get recorded on-chain for “transparent and scalable world-building.” The wrap/unwrap mechanics will be available on the Portal website and will make it possible for players to turn their items into NFTs if they want to. Doing so however will remove the item from the game so that it can be traded on the marketplace, while unwrapping will destroy the NFT and bring you the item back in-game to continue using it.
