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Playing Warframe is reconciling yourself with the feeling that you are always a little above your head. Even six years after his debut, it’s still a little strange within the domain of online action RPGs. With an expanding universe hosting a wealth of content, the free-to-play game offers a fantastic amount of freedom to explore, discover loot, and take on missions with his cast of stylish space ninjas. The game has a distinctly unorthodox approach with its non-linear adventure – sometimes, it’s frustrating to travel through the vast Warframe universe, but it’s as satisfying as it is endearing. This is our Warframe Review 2019.
In a broader sense, the Warframe of old was a promising sketch of an idea that had no reason to invest. However, today’s Warframe has filled the bigger picture. Its vision is more precise, and it is now so much more than just space ninjas fighting in corridors. Some of Warframe’s best events involve venturing into deep space, exploring open worlds, and, yes, engage in battles to gain power and face more significant challenges.
Warframe Review 2019: About
- Platform: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
- Developer: Team Ninja
- Publisher: Team Ninja
- Genres: Action, Shooter, Third-Person
- Release Date: March 25, 2013
Official Trailer
Warframe Review 2019: Gameplay
When it comes to gameplay and story, Warframe always seems to throw you into the deep end. The bigger story focuses on an interstellar clan of warriors known as the Tenno as they reacquaint themselves with a larger universe in an eternal conflict. You take control of Frame-Revitalized Tenno warriors from the distant past to take part in missions against a host of enemy factions. This presumption of space-expanding ninjas cutting and shooting across the universe keeps the loose story together while giving you an impressive amount of freedom. Several quests shed light on the history of the Tenno, leading to several profound moments that reveal a remarkable depth for your character and their role in the galaxy.
Warframe is a massive game with countless, complex systems to dive into – but that’s where the problem lies. It’s a challenging game to crack; even with hundreds of hours under my belt, I feel overwhelmed by how much game there is to unveil. However, the trick to understanding this game lies in finding your focus in the nebulous grin – or that’s taking a variety of side activities and missions on a series of planets or investing time to adapt, experiment and tweak your favorite Frames.
It often feels like you’re catching up, as there are six years of content in the package; however, it’s a game that rewards taking the time to absorb everything, rather than rushing. How you get used to this surprising sink-or-swim structure will determine how many miles you get out of it. Most missions are single, discrete encounters throughout the solar system. This fragmented structure ultimately makes the massive game more digestible.
This mostly hands-off approach to acclimatization can sometimes radiate feelings of aimlessness. And it gets even more significant when it turns out that there is no traditional endgame to work on. There are missions and stories in the higher segment designed for more experienced players, some focused on endless battles against waves of enemies, but there is no such thing as raids to unlock later. In many ways, you’ll get to know that usual endgame grind right from the start, and that often means you’ll have to adjust your Frames to cope with many of the game’s more difficult challenges.
The real star of Warframe review 2019 is the different Frames, each with their unique designs and capabilities. Aiming for new characters to play is one of the many constants in your journey, often dictating where to invest your time. It always feels worthwhile when you find a new Frame, especially if it’s one that stands out from the others. Some are highly specialized, such as the stealth-oriented Ash or the aquatic, alien-tentacle-summoning Hydroid. Another specialty is Octavia, a Bard-like Frame that lets you create custom music to boost your skills and attack enemies. Once, a squadmate of mine used Octavia’s skills to effortlessly clean up a corridor full of enemies – all to the tune of Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It.”
There’s a ridiculous amount of room to experiment, and it can be especially fun to strengthen one of the novice Frames with mighty mods and armaments that can melt through enemies. It’s also impressive how deep customization and personalization is in Warframe – you can apply different shaders and accessories and even change their specific animation set. It’s rare to find another player who has the same style and loadout.
It’s a necessity to get your Frame to reach its potential to be viable for more advanced activities. If you don’t apply the right mods and buffs to your character, it can often stop you in your tracks at some tricky moments in your progress. If you’re committed to figuring out the intricacies of the game, then using online guides to understand these advanced mechanics, as with other aspects of the game, is a must. These tools are a great help, but it is disappointing how often you have to use them, as opposed to the game teach you the same information. Without them, learning these systems on your own can be an essential test of patience.
You’ll quickly find yourself in a rhythm where you’ll need to take out the crowds of enemies and increase the power of your Frame by collecting mods and gaining experience as new gameplay systems and events emerge. While the core gameplay is often satisfactory, it’s still common to see a series of highly repetitive missions, most of which re-use tile sets for procedurally generated levels and objective types. This repetition can create a recurring sense of déjà vu, and there were times when it made me feel exhausted after an extended gaming session with the game.
To help alleviate this feeling of repetition, Warframe does inject several variations on standard missions but also adds new activities. Along with Nightmare challenges, tougher versions of previously completed levels, several missions even remix previous missions by including multiple enemy factions within a single level, making some standard objectives much more hectic.
Some targets have entirely different game modes, especially the Archwing, which links up the familiar action sequences with Wing Commander-like shooter levels. There’s even a set of PvP game modes, such as the Conclave and Duel modes, wherein the latter you can invite another player to a player-made clan dojo to take part in a solo fight. Unfortunately, the PvP activities come across as extraordinarily fundamental and awkward compared to the core of the PvE experience.
Although the game has grown over the years by adding game-changing features, the roots of Waframe are still firmly planted in its fast and satisfying core battles. The overall speed and flexibility of the action is something it consistently excels at, and there is a constant sense of grace and finesse that can make even ordinary missions exciting. He often shows the same colors as a fast-paced gang shooter through a stunning character action game, where your team tears through enemies using many skills and armaments.
The core battles and general crossing of Warframe can move at breakneck speed. Despite how complex they can get, they’re still intuitive enough to dive into, and you can play out Warframe’s advanced acrobatics such as sliding, wall-runs, and the aptly named “Bullet Jump,” which frisks your character in every direction, reasonably quickly. Melee combat also has its complexities, allowing you to use an array of combos and aerial skills to cut through legions of enemies in a flashy display. Over time, the sequence from slick parkour jumps to quick attacks with your weapons can become second nature, resulting in the most satisfying and stylish encounters with Warframe.
Warframe can be daunting for newcomers, but it can also be a challenge for players – like myself – who have to take a long break and learn the basics of new features, while at the same time unlearning old ones. This is the case for online games, and fortunately, Warframe has an active and open community to interact and seek help. You can communicate directly with others in different social places on different planets. It often happens that you need to consult external sources to find out what to do next; otherwise, your progress may come to an abrupt standstill.
If you keep playing the game long enough, you’ll gain access to the more involved cinematic story missions and open-world settings that best demonstrate the game’s significant growth. Unlike the fragmented storytelling in most of the games, these two pillars offer a more guided plot that offers memorable storylines and character moments. Some of these missions even include the surprising addition of a dialogue system, which can result in some slightly different events in quest lines.
In the open-world environments of the Plains of Eidolon and the Orb Vallis, which open after you reach the planets on which they are located, you can see the sights of the large-scale worlds, engage in dynamic bounties and events with teams and even learn more about the brewing conflict within each environment. The story of the Vallis is particularly fascinating and deals with the rights of the workers and the dangers of late capitalism in the interstellar era. Although these main stories that take place in the open worlds end far too quickly, the amount of nuance and narration was impressive, so I wanted to spend more time in the settings to continue the interaction with the characters.
I’m consistently pleased with the flexibility of Warframe’s many systems, and how it allows you to achieve a variety of rewards and unlocking at your own pace. Of course, there is an assortment of items, weapons, and even Frames for sale with real money or with Platinum, the premium currency of Warframe. Fortunately, most items in the game are accessible through gameplay, which usually allows you to enjoy the contents of the game unabated. The in-game economy of Warframe is very active, and if you are resourceful enough, you can even trade some of your stuff and blueprints with other players for Platinum.
When new content is introduced, the path to experiencing the quests or acquiring the next Frame is available to all players. This relaxed approach is reassuring, especially for a game of this size. I find buying stuff and new classes generally quite manageable. However, there are still some time sinks that usually feel random, resulting in the expected and sometimes prolonged rut that is common in free-to-play games. Therefore, Platinum’s primary intention is to bypass investments in both time and resources.
Warframe Review 2019: Conclusion
Although there are inevitable frustrations here and there, I always manage to center myself once I have switched to other possibilities. In many ways, this is what Warframe does best. One minute you’re taking part in a random spy mission on Saturn, and the next, you’re working with a powerful team of players who will help you through various empty cracks. Just when you feel like you’ve hit a void, a better and more satisfying opportunity is likely to present itself. Perhaps most importantly, Warframe ensures that the time you spend in the world is almost always well rewarded.
That’s it for our Warframe Review 2019. Also, read our Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 Review