I believe "The Rift" is simply, an actual Rift.

[GameChanger]

(Before I begin, let me remind you all I'm not a science major and just an enthusiastic Zombie fan. I'm gonna keep things simple, and I'm probably gonna mess up. Please feel free to correct me if I make an error.)

Mentioned first in Die Rise with the lovely Samuel quote: What do you mean, "Mend The Rift?", we've speculated a plenty on what it could be. Although we get to see what The Rift is in Buried, I'd like to explain what it actually is and what could cause such a thing.

In plate tectonics, a divergent plate boundary is caused by two plates moving away from each other. The gap between the two plates is called a Rift. Once magma rises up in the gap, the resulting crust creates new land. What we see in Buried is plate tectonics in full force, but this shouldn't be possible. Plate shifting should be happening in other parts of Africa, not Angola.

So there ya have it. The Rift wasn't some weird transdimensional portal where Russman could kick it with Michael Rooker and Nixon. It seems that the tectonic shift and resulting Rift/Underground Settler Town was caused by the Moon's rockets. Artificially creating/speeding up the Rift(s) seemed to be a prime objective to Maxis. Personally, I believe this is just another example of how he would stop at nothing to save his daughter, even if it meant the instability and subsequent destruction of Earth.

Once again, I'm just an average Joe trying to keep complicated Science simple. If there's any mistakes or faults (he he) with this theory, please let me know.

[Slade]

Very direct, straight-to-the-point, and well written. Nice work, Gamechanger. Just one question:

What we see in Buried is plate tectonics in full force, but this shouldn't be possible. Plate shifting should be happening in other parts of Africa, not Angola.

Why isn't this possible? And, what does it mean/your conclusion would be...?

It seems clear that Maxis wanted to use the Rift for power, like you said.

A wasted opportunity if you ask me that after Die Rise, this Rift plot is never mentioned again.

-Heather

[GameChanger]

Very direct, straight-to-the-point, and well written. Nice work, Gamechanger. Just one question:

What we see in Buried is plate tectonics in full force, but this shouldn't be possible. Plate shifting should be happening in other parts of Africa, not Angola.

Why isn't this possible? And, what does it mean/your conclusion would be...?

It seems clear that Maxis wanted to use the Rift for power, like you said.

A wasted opportunity if you ask me that after Die Rise, this Rift plot is never mentioned again.

-Heather

Bad wording on my part, sorry. What I mean is that based on a really lazy Google search, their shouldn't be diverging plates near Angola (The presumed location of Buried) but rather in other parts of Africa. Even if there were, I'm sure people would know and talk more about a GIANT LAVA PIT next to a mine before the Moon rockets hit. I'm beating a undead horse here, but I'm really sad Treyarch didn't focus on The Rift and other storyline elements this game.

[Boom115]

Too many hands in the pot in my opinion. They focused too much on the small details and not the big picture. Don't get me wrong I love the mini easter eggs and other story elements; but there needs to be a balance and follow through. Three maps with a ton of small details and extremely underwhelming quests. I mean come on, they couldn't of atleast had richtofen say one line of dialog at the end of die rise.

[MysteryMachineX]

Too many hands in the pot in my opinion. They focused too much on the small details and not the big picture. Don't get me wrong I love the mini easter eggs and other story elements; but there needs to be a balance and follow through. Three maps with a ton of small details and extremely underwhelming quests. I mean come on, they couldn't of atleast had richtofen say one line of dialog at the end of die rise.

What's bad though is that he does... in the cut content. They just never made a trigger for it. Although in its defense, it really does help solidify how Richtofen pretty much ditches them. Then in Buried it's like "Oh? You're back? This is weird."

[InfestLithium]

Considering that three missiles - all being launched from the Moon - gave a solid pounding on Earth, I would think the geological effect of rifts and shifting tectonic plates would not be considered "normal". Physical effects that alter the Earth (example being the massive floating chunks of the world orbiting Earth in Die Rise) could just as well create a new rift in Angola. It was just a matter of the right place in the right time.

[Stop Mocking Me0]

What's concerning is that russman knew of the rift... But if the nukes caused the rift... How did he know before the "incident"?

[InfestLithium]

What's concerning is that russman knew of the rift... But if the nukes caused the rift... How did he know before the "incident"?

What is not known is whether or not he knew about it prior/after the nukes. Given that it was at least a decade after the impact, that's ample enough time for him to know more about the Rift.

[MysteryMachineX]

Or Richtofen told Samuel and Samuel told Russman.

[Stop Mocking Me0]

What's concerning is that russman knew of the rift... But if the nukes caused the rift... How did he know before the "incident"?

What is not known is whether or not he knew about it prior/after the nukes. Given that it was at least a decade after the impact, that's ample enough time for him to know more about the Rift.

Where are you pulling decade from?

[GameChanger]

Probably from this (cut) Maxis quote:

Credit: viewtopic.php?f=100&t=18279

[Stop Mocking Me0]

Do we consider that canon? It was never added to the game was it?

[MysteryMachineX]

All things are considered canon unless you can definitively prove otherwise. For example, you can prove the DG-2 isn't in Kino, so quotes about the DG-2 in Kino are not canon. But quotes that are specifically relevant to the storyline but just didn't make it into the game are still considered, especially because they tie loose ends otherwise unraveled.

There must have been a considerable amount of time passing between Nuketown and Green Run. After all, the Jumping Jacks had to EVOLVE. Not to mention other character quotes, such as the group never having seen a tree before.

[Stop Mocking Me0]

Well, Samule hasnt seen trees, purhaps impling he's more of a city slicker and doesn't get outside much... The jumping jacks may have been evolving ever sence the benazine spill in 2005... Not the nukes...

See... No theory can be proven...

[MysteryMachineX]

Well, Samule hasnt seen trees, purhaps impling he's more of a city slicker and doesn't get outside much... The jumping jacks may have been evolving ever sence the benazine spill in 2005... Not the nukes...

See... No theory can be proven...

If the theory could be proven, it wouldn't be a theory anymore. Theories are about likelihoods, and yes, one theory can be shown to be more likely than another. For example, a person not seeing trees because intact trees don't exist anymore is a far more likely scenario than a person not seeing trees because he lived in a city. Cities have few trees, not zero.

[Stop Mocking Me0]

But if this is 2025, who's to say real trees are in city's anymore?

Also what about the fact he may beleive all trees to be fake from a conspiracy?

[Slade]

But if this is 2025, who's to say real trees are in city's anymore?

Also what about the fact he may beleive all trees to be fake from a conspiracy?

Why wouldn't there be real trees in the cities anymore?

- Heather

[GameChanger]

I'm not him, but if the whole "I've been searching for decades" thing was true, obviously the survivors would have to go into hiding/fortify the decimated Earth. I think Stu's amazement at looking at a tree is a subtle hint that this has been going on for a while. Ever notice how the N4 don't act too shocked towards the dead walking when spawning at the Bus Depot?

Then again, I may be over analyzing it and Stuhlinger's just really insane in the brain.

[Stop Mocking Me0]

Don't forget the panic-ed tvs that sound quite fresh....

[GameChanger]

Don't forget the panic-ed tvs that sound quite fresh....

Well, as shown in COTD, transmissions don't necessarily have to be left recently.

Also, I just thought of something. Could all the lava in Tranzit be caused by Rifting as well (on a smaller scale)?

[Stop Mocking Me0]

Black ops and WAW had radios, which were capible of holding the same message for extended periods of time.... Tvs are ment to Imediantly pick up, transmit, and then lose signals....

[83457]

Not pushing any particular theory, but;

Russman says it's 'the rift', something specific. The entire earth is covered in rifts. Why say 'that's THE rift'?

Russman sounds like he's American, not like he's from Angola.

Couple that with time as well as space seem compromised: we have an 1880 ish American west town, transported through time and space to end up appearing in an underground cave with mine shafts.

On one hand, the town appears to have materialized there, with parts of the buildings crushed or shoved aside where they meet solid rock. Yet, on the other hand, the mine shafts appear to be connected to the town: they have old signs in American English. Where you would expect the local rock to be African mines.

So, the town appeared in the cave and brought some random mining tunnels with it or it appeared while people were living there who then decided, 'okay, we're here, let's just mine here'. Which is nonsense.

I assume it's just a game without any critical reasoning.

I think what I'm saying is that I've reasoned that the reasoning is unreasonable.