The Riftbreaker

no co-op even though listed as "top priority" for years while they have released multiple DLCs

super fun base building and horde game
large tech tree, good visuals and style, mechanics and everything is fine but the dialoges between the lady and her bot are just cringe :D

Overall good game, played it a few years ago and it was much more stable back then, playing now it was very frequently crashing to desktop with different reasons. May be it is related to DLCs, may be to some incompatibilities with newer hardware, overall I have a decent PC build and was able to play on stable FPS, but constant crashes were unbearable... I do trust in devs doing their job and fixing things so I'll give it a positive as overall It was well worth the money.

It has its flaws, but was made with great care, as you can see in the details all around the game. Recomend buying with a small discount.

Hands down one of the better more fun defense games I have ever played, and they are adding coop to it!

It's a fun bit of slight automation nothing major on that front, and horde defence which is where I think it shines. I like to bump up the hordes to make em larger cuz it's fun to see :auyay:

Fantastic game. I've played through the campaign multiple times and buy each and every new DLC. Looking forward to the promised COOP getting added.

A wonderful blending of tower defense/lite base building and twin stick shooter. Feels very nice to move around, shoot and melee enemies. Variety of sandbox play options and ways to tweak game settings, even for the more structured campaign. Mods also supported as well. DLC support and continued updates have kept me coming back to re-experience the game each time, very much looking forward to the new weapon and enemy tweaks and coop coming in the future.

I think anyone who enjoys arpgs or twinsticks and also likes base building games will enjoy this.

Mashing a bunch of genres together is normally a recipe for mediocrity, if not failure. However, Riftbreaker manages to pull this off amazingly. With the base-building and resource management of an RTS, the strategic development of a tower defense network, and the hack-and-slash combat of space Diablo, you'd expect the game to fall flat in all three regards.

I'm happy to report that you're wrong. This game really nails everything it sets out to do and then some. Base building is enjoyable, though do note it is rather clunky on the Steam Deck; there are a variety of buildings that can vary in their utility depending on location. It's fun learning a level's enemies and how best to construct your base defenses. Critically, a good chunk of the game is exploring your surroundings, and it's terrific fun to do so. The game will start you with your trusty cyber-mecha-sword on a planet with feisty critters. You learn in your first few minutes of gameplay how good it feels to literally hack-and-slash your way through the flora and fauna of this brave new world.

After a while, the gameplay loop comes to entail periodic waves of increasingly numerous and powerful hostile fauna, and in the interim you carry out a variety of tasks not limited to exploring, expanding and repairing your base, and working towards your ultimate goal of returning home.

As you progress, you learn more about the flora and fauna of your world, which gives you higher resource yields for flora and a flat damage boost against fauna. Much to my dismay, your encyclopedia does not have the same level of world-building as the one in Subnautica, but it still has a lot of effort behind it.

I would also like to mention how cathartic it is hitting major progression milestones. Getting your first nuclear artillery piece and obliterating a horde of critters is purely delightful.

Overall I would consider Riftbreaker to be something of a hidden gem. There is a lot of fun to be had if you enjoy its component genres.

amazing game if you like a shooter, rts and base building combined!

fantastic game and the devs are still quite active on providing more! it is a full game, but don't expect it to play the same a year from now, major reworks are coming and multiplayer intergation is happening eventually, it's all inhouse work so it's a little slow but they aren't hush hush about it. follow their social or the updates on steam! you learn lots and have fun!

Unique and lots of fun. Devs are always improving and expanding. The included controller support is appreciated.

Game is rad af.. love it. The best combo platter available straightup.

I bough this game mostly because co op was a feature being teased by the devs. For years. Still no co op, so negative review stands until they release it.

"Co-Op mode for The Riftbreaker is expected to release no sooner than Q4 2022."

Its 2025 for fucks sake

This game is absolutely amazing! I am not a tower defense game enjoyer and often hybrid games fall short, but this game is an exception. The best elements of fast, hard combat, tower defense, strategy, economic and research management, outpost management. The graphics are amazing, the game runs smooth at a high frame rate. The soundtrack is equally amazing, one of the songs feels like it was plucked right out of the mid-90s, giving an older gamer like me a wonderful sense of nostalgia. The game alternates between fast-paced combat and quiet base building.

TL;DR: BUY THIS GAME! You will not regret it!

Amazing replayability. Fun, addictive. Can't wait for COOP.

A great game to keep you coming back. The campaign does get a bit repetitive; find new biome, scan for deposits, finish some research, setup subsidiary base, defend it from enemies, realize you need to expand, repeat. The loop is certainly entertaining, while offering a large variety of weapons and customization options. I love base-building/tower defense games and this one scratches that itch. Fast paced and lots of carnage!

fun base building, exploring, and killin' game. Also they run it on their own custom engine which is pretty cool

The endgame is nearly unplayable even on a high-end desktop which is sad because I really love this game.
It's the kind of game where you can relax/waste entire days easily by trying to build just one more building or push deeper into the fog of war. Maybe it'll be worth the purchase in 5 to 10 years or when PC components are priced affordably.

It's a beautiful game hindered by CPU limitations and the computational complexity of having everyone and their mom zerg rush your base when you get up to take a piss.

I would recommend this game, but the game crashes. In fact the game powers down my system. I tested other games thinking my system was overheating and had no problems. Such a bummer as this game is fun. Maybe in the future an update will address the games instability it, may even be a driver issue.

Fantastic game!!! This game mixes so many different mechanics together to make a game that for me, ticks many boxes together. Tower defense strategy to protect from hoards of enemies. Base building/resource management. Tech tree development on massive tech trees that require some exploration to fill out. Add on the Diablo style third person combat and it's a winner.

While the graphics are beautiful, they don't tax the system too hard and a high frame rate experience isn't hard to achieve. Ray tracing can even be added in without crushing your AMD system. Ray tracing however seems to add very little in the way of actual visual benefit.

The one negative that I've been able to find is that the hoards are fairly predictable and with only a couple of fortified positions you can hold off all attacks. The hoard AI being a little predictable can take the game from feeling a bit too difficult in the beginning of the game to feeling a bit too easy at the end. It's a matter of figuring out where they are going to appear from. They do spawn some nests that challenge your defenses coming from seemingly random places. But the massive hoards always come from the same places around the edge of the map.

Overall, I've really enjoyed my time with this game and will be buying the expansions to continue. Maybe the addition of a character leveling system would add to the game a bit.

Yes. Been playing these devs stuff since zombie driver (Sadly i missed DIP RIP).. they got the top down game play style down.

Base building is simple, yet effective, defenses are chunky and fun to use. Enemy hordes are HUGE. Plus the game actually will slow down time, which while disorientating- lets you take it all in when there is a LOT going on.

Guns/weapons are all real chunky and meaty. Hard to focus on just one tech tree for them as they are all very fun to use.

Game looks pretty, some times a lil too pretty as I know personally I can lose sight of my mouse.

Plus the devs are rebuilding the entire game engine to support multiplayer and have been doing this since like 2021ish?
The DLC isnt half bad either and adds some neat stuff to the game!

If you are a streamer, they actually have it integrated to where your chat can vote on what kind of random effects also happen in the game. So say they wanna make your life hell. Cause a earth quake in the middle of a huge wave. They are nice? Boost your power output when it might already be struggling. Lots to work with here.
Anyways, bunch of really cool devs who know what they are doing. These guys are great :)

On normal mode, this game has you running everywhere, facing constant attacks and trying to put out fires everywhere, while tossing destructive weather events at you that destroy your base. About twenty minutes in, it tosses bosses at you, as well as enemies that are immune to the starting weapons. You never have time to get research done so you can unlock new weapons, because the constant attacks force you to stop what you're doing. There's a countdown timer that shows the time until the next big attack, and when you beat it, the next countdown timer starts. There's also other timers that count down to smaller raids, and those also never stop. The end result of this is unceasing attacks that one person can't deal with. If you wipe out the nest supplying the smaller attacks, it respawns and the timer starts again, making it pointless to deal with.

I love this game, highly recommended if you like tower defense and survival games.

Whether or not you use mods makes no difference, if you buy the DLC, it'll crash and crash often. You will get to a point in the game where returning to the main base will crash the game. If you saved right before trying to go back to the main base, it'll simply crash every time you try to load the save. I have a top of the line gaming computer, so it's not hardware, just the Riftbreaker DLC software. (I did beat the game with no issues before buying the DLC, don't buy the DLC)

Base building in a mech suit with a chainsaw. Fun to play...missing coop. I thought it would be out by now. Pick it up on sale. I plan to play this a lot more in the future when it is updated.

Combine Starcraft with Diablo and you get this masterpiece.

This game need multiplayer, which is in development already.
Hope it will work for Campaign mode too and not just only survival mode.

The survival is kinda boring, you are stuck to only one map.

Also more story, more dlc or even build big RIFT GATE to another planet.
Game support mods, there should be official level editor for not so procedural map generation.

Fantastically fun game with elements of survival, tower defense, ARPG, and also has built-in mod support! If you're having trouble finding the right game to interest you, highly recommend trying out the demo to see if this one could be your next gaming fix.

8/10 for base/tower defence with a hero if you like this one try -Age of darkness or Diplomacy is not an option
This game is like if factorio, starcraft and a tower defence game had a kid, a very smart kid who is also a big sci-fi nerd and respects your time

If you like rts games and dota youll love this, very well made, runs well on most computers and overall fun. no need to worry about item conveyors and super mega optimized efficiency, a nice break from the culture of making you need to be a masterclass german engineer man to just play a base management game.
You play the role of captain Ashley S. Nowak - you are the Riftbreaker, an elite scientist/commando inside a powerful Mecha-Suit. Enter a one-way portal to Galatea 37, a distant planet at the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, with the purpose of building up a base that will allow travel back to Earth and further colonization. Ashley's Mecha-suit, which she calls "Mr. Riggs", can withstand the harshest environmental conditions and has a full range of equipment for base construction, resource extraction, gathering specimens and of course - combat. It is capable of traveling through rifts that connect space across vast distances.

Game rips! These magnificent devs have been updating the game constantly after release and even decided to *completely rebuild their game engine* to in order to implement multiplayer/online co-op. Absolute champions. They're soon adding randomized loot and more powerful weapons as well.

The multiplayer isn't done yet, however it's in testing and they're being very communicative and extremely thorough in testing, making sure it's a great experience for everyone when it finally releases. I hope the game has something of a "second release" when multiplayer hits.

Fantastic game and a great developer. 100% recommend.

I do like this game a lot. However I feel like I should warn potential buyers that there are a few bugs and strange design choices. The biggest bug I found was that an endgame building would not work unless I sold it and rebuilt it. This took quite awhile in game and used up a lot of rare resources. Annoying but not unsurmountable. The design choice I dislike most is that many of the research projects do not tell you how to unlock them so you are just kind of stabbing in the dark. One I really wanted I had somehow missed and had to consult the internet, while others were part of the DLC with no indication to this. The game play is very fun however, and it pretty well showcased in the trailers.

It's Factorio without the factory lines... Way more action packed and still has satisfying RTS/Tower Defense like mechanics with resource management. Very fun changing out load outs of weapons/armor/skills/items with different mods for gear to customize. Fun campaign mode that introduces you to the entire tech tree and teaches you fundamentals of the game. Then there's survival mode for pushing your Game Skill & Knowledge.

All and all, a very satisfying game meat grinding 10,000s of aliens as you expand your resource gathering, outposts, and walls n walls of walls with lots of rockets artillery and much juicy firepower.

Wanted to get this review out of the way because, while I've been enjoying it, there are key points I absolutely need to highlight.

Pros:

• Decently fun automation, objectives, and research in campaign. It plays like Factorio for a bit but then it branches out to become its own thing that reminds me heavily of Gemcraft and some of Supreme Commander but single-player. The additional focus on combat is very welcome and enhances the gameplay when compared to Factorio, which was an annoyance at best.
  
• Cloud storage for resources. Because of how resources can generate while you're away, and you're encouraged to generate resources while away, you don't need any chests or massive amounts of rails, etc., just to get upgrades. In other words, all raw resources can be easily set to sent to a cloud storage. If you played Satisfactory's 1.0 update with alien artifacts, that was a very nice QOL thing, and I want that in all games.
  
• You play in a mech. I love mechs.
  

• Absolutely terrible voice-acting and writing for Campaign. Had to mute that the first chance I got.
  
• Like Gemcraft, very easy to abuse certain towers and just scrap the rest. This is a common issue in tower defense once you get past a certain point, so I won't entirely put it on the developers.
  
• The game prefers its enemies to zerg rush. It was fun for a bit, but due to how you have to eventually focus on expansion for materials, this means having to deal with a hundred or so small enemies at a time. They are manageable, but this falls back into the trap that I mentioned with Factorio. On one particular map for me, while playing on Hard, this gets to the point where it's just constantly fighting thousands of mobs, only made worse for a bad map seed for me. Definitely not fun.
  
[*] Can be janky in places, especially when setting down finer stuff like pipes and specific buildings. I don't mind it too much to be an annoyance, but it is worth mentioning due to how the base-building is.

Amazing game, super underrated, and it continues to get love and updates from the devs years later. It's like a factorio-lite but where you're a badass killing machine in your own right from the beginning, with tons of great quality of life features, as well as decent enemy variation and a ton of cool weapons and weapon customization.

Perfect for people who want to do casual starcraft style macro basebuilding but also excellent individual combat and light exploration.

The game gets better and better with fresh updates.

Had hopes, but 'bad ass gurl boss trying to save environment while bad man robot says otherwise' is an annoying enough that I'll return the game rather than suffer this dry, overused, lame story/dialogue.

Gameplay itself is alright, feels like they made a lot of upgrades in game to force the game to appear 'complex' when it's simply tedious and lame.

So far, on normal difficulty, seems like a fun game which is forgiving of mistakes (as of yet) and has some wonderful quality of life inclusions - eg the repair button seems to rebuild your base as it was, rather than you having to remember what a destroyed building was. Has just crashed on me though, but hopefully this is a rarity. Has not happened before this.

Great game, I love the blend of Factorio style resource extraction with base building similar to They Are Billions.
Add to that the fast paced combat and steady skill tree progression and I'm hooked.

It seems a bit silly to me to grow plants to leach minerals from the soil rather than just extracting the deposits directly. Like we have no trouble accepting way lower yields that take a literal lifetime(of the plant) to harvest.

Since this is done in an effort to minimize harm to the environment I try to counter balance that by slaying as many neutral lizard-chickens as I possibly can.

Great game though, 46 hours in 4 days?
Sounds like my kind of game alright
ROCK and STONE

I wish I could tell you how it ends, but my campaign save game magically disappeared after 14h of gameplay. And yes, cloud is up to date.

Factorio on easy mode meets Diablo and Starcraft.

Not recommended at all, lost all my savefiles after 8 hours of playtime. After a google search, this does not seem to be an unkown issue. DO not buy if if you value your time.

Good game. I like the 3rd person and basing concept

Base game has not much story but good action and decent base building mechanics.

tl:dr - If you are thinking about how great this game will be when they release with co-op, just look elsewhere. If single player is your jam, the game is fantastic, but I was lured in by hopes of co-op four years ago and we still don't even have a beta for it.



Got this and was absolutely loving it.

Found out they were working on implementing co-op, and they did say upfront it was a hefty task that might take them a while. I don't typically repeat games, and I love going through things for the first time with friends, so I decided to take a break. I figured maybe six months or a year before we would have public access to the Co-Op beta.

We are now four years later, I still don't have access to the co-op. Not any kind of beta access, or any kind of alpha access.
I've read all about how they devs get to play it. I've read how they accidentally created a PvP mode, and that's super cool for them.

Four years later and still no public coop beta?

Is it my fault for hoping it would not take this long for co-op? I don't think so. I think four years is completely reasonable amount of time to have PUBLIC ACCESS to a beta.

Fun base building game with enjoyable top down combat, would definitely recommend picking it up on sale if you want to try something similar to Factorio but with more focus on actually fighting aliens and exploration instead of building a factory/base. The different environments are similar in many ways but are definitely unique in their own way. There's no penalty for rearranging your base either so it's highly encouraged that you adjust it based off of your current needs minus the headquarters and rift station, which are always static I believe. All in all a fun experience, but I don't see myself getting absorbed in its replayability like other games.

Get it on sale, not worth 30 dollars, Normal Difficulty Campaign can be completed in 24 hours or less, Survival mode feels like it was an after-thought that was tacked on to try and justify the price.

Been waiting for the multiplayer for >2 years since I bought the game (which they made it look like it would be out real quick).

Feeling lonely for the wait and I decided to make this review so that it can accompany me with the wait.

Terrible game! After 60+ hour run encountered a game ending bug where all energy production stops forever! Apparently bug has been known about for at least 3 years! Instead of fixing devs decided to focus on creating DLC. DO NOT BUY!!!

Wow, what an absolute gem! I bought this on a whim during a big sale after it popped up in my Discovery queue a few times. I had not previously been much for the "tower defense" / "horde defense" genre until They Are Billions hooked me.

Bored and looking for something to scratch an itch I couldn't quite describe, I snagged Riftbreaker and decided to give it a shot...and y'all, it is an absolute SMASH! In fact, I don't think I've ever played a game that has done such a good job blending genres as this one has. Surprisingly deep, yet easy to start, The Riftbreaker really does stand on its own as a unique and stellar game! Highly recommended to anyone into Base-Building, exploration, ARPG-style action combat, and horde-defense!

PROS
+ Beautiful graphics considering the age
+ Easy to get started
+ Deep crafting and base-building
+ High replayability thanks to randomized maps
+ FUN combat!
+ Good build variety
+ Good enemy diversity
+ Fun set pieces!
+ Challenges and Quests
+ Resource management and transport (vaguely similar to

CONS
- Mediocre writing makes the bare story framework feel even more tacked on
- Somewhat punishing if you haven't mastered the resource loop by hour 2
- Some tedium in balancing certain resources

Game is pretty fun initially, but quickly ends up tedious. Seems like most of it is just waiting around.

The game crashes over and over again. Huge disappointment. It made my computer reboot on one of the crashes. The game is fun, I'd love to play it. I've tried to change all sorts of settings and get it to stop crashing...but it's just not possible. It obviously works for some/most people but it's just too risky recommend.