Recently I’ve been really interested in the Bullet Heaven (also known as Horde Survival) genre. While I am not the most familiar with Power Rangers or the Sentai genre, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by Rift Rangers. While it isn’t my favorite Bullet Heaven out there, it has some interesting ideas and tweaks the formula in a new way.

You play as one of 4 (currently) Rangers, each with their own starting abilities and a unique ability. As you play and earn Energy Chips, you can not only upgrade your stats but also unlock other starting abilities for each ranger. There are also feats that unlock new weapons and abilities by meeting various criteria.

As the Rangers, you’ll have to protect the Earth from waves of the Master Brain’s minions, lasting for 20 minutes of increasingly difficult combat. Unlike other Bullet Heavens, the Ranger’s abilities are turrets known as Rift-Tech. Instead of the attacks coming from your character, you’ll place them down and must avoid damage while they cut through enemies.

By capturing points on the map, you’ll gain upgrades to your overall stats. By collecting XP from enemies, you’ll be able to get new Rift-Tech or upgrade existing Rift-Tech. Each run, the upgrades are procedurally generated, so you never really know what you’ll get. Disappointingly, there are only two levels available in Rift Rangers.

With that said, there are updates that have been rolled out since the launch with balance changes, new music tracks, and more. So, it isn’t beyond the realm of possibility that new levels, characters, weapons, and more would be added in the future. There are also currently 13 levels of scaling difficulty to challenge you as you play.

Personally, I’m not much of a fan of Tower-Defense or RTS titles, so while I do like the Bullet Heaven gameplay of Rift Rangers, it may not be one I dive into all that often. I love the comic/cartoon-y vibe, mixed with the Kamen Rider/Power Rangers Sentai aesthetic though. It just feels like a strange disconnect to me to not be directly causing the damage and simply relying on turrets.

Also, with only two levels and a limited number of weapons and upgrades currently, there isn’t much to keep me interested. Vampire Survivors and other Bullet Heavens I’ve played are loaded with secrets and things to uncover. If Rift Rangers has that, I’ve missed it. For a game that was in Early Access (starting back in December), this still seems unfinished.

With that in mind, if you like Bullet Heavens and Tower Defense elements then Rift Rangers will definitely scratch that itch for you. However, I wouldn’t say this is a beginner-friendly Bullet Heaven, simply for the sort of gameplay that some folks who aren’t used to turret-based combat might not find engaging. All the same, Rift Rangers is a fun time.

A PC review copy of Rift Rangers was provided by Epic Story Interactive for this review.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Also, if you’d like to join the Phenixx Gaming team, check out our recruitment article for details on working with us.

Phenixx Gaming is proud to be a Humble Partner! Purchases made through our affiliate links support our writers and charity!

Rift Rangers

$4.99 USD

6

Score

6.0/10

Pros

• Eye-Catching Visuals and Theme
• Decent Gameplay
• Simple Controls

Cons

• Not a Fan of Turret Based Combat
• Need More Levels and Secrets
• Kinda Bland