Having a long fascination with Rifts, I thought it was finally time to check out 'The Rifter'. After examining three issues to date, I have to say that I like what I've read. The production values are the usual for Palladium (that is to say perfect layout and font for a product published in the 1980's) and the art varies from awesome to incredibly average. However, the content is the focus. Bearing in mind that the Palladium system tries to cover all genres and styles of play, I expected variety and wasn't disappointed. The beauty here is that the material can be slightly tweaked for any setting - the articles for Fantasy can still be included in Rifts, for example. Likewise, the real strength here is what it can add to any other game. I've seen material that I'll gladly port into my D&D, Shadowrun and Star Wars games, so this is a really good investment. The NPC write-ups are usually of a good quality with plenty of background information and motivations, so your choice of villains (or henchmen, or allies) for your next game can be as easy as picking up the right issue of 'The Rifter'.

The only caveat is to read the Table of Contents before purchasing. 'The Rifter' does do themed issues from time to time, and if they aren't your cup of tea then it's a wasted purchase.