Warframe’s latest replace helps fast-track new gamers to The New Conflict, and after enjoying it, it is simple to see why. This sizeable cinematic quest is an elaborate showcase of lavish cutscenes, enormous area vistas, and one unbelievable story beat proper after one other. The builders at Digital Extremes are utilizing all of the instruments to make the arrival of Warframe’s new large bads, the Sentients, a momentous event for his or her years-in-the-making storyline.
Proper from the beginning, it throws you into the footwear of three characters from main factions caught up within the invasion. Beginning on Earth you are taking management of Kahl, a cloned Grineer soldier who’s simplemindedness is surprisingly endearing. Aboard a spaceship in orbit is Veso, a helpless engineer who makes use of robots to struggle for him whereas he takes orders from a laughably unsympathetic overlord who cannot even bear in mind his title. Lastly there’s Teshin, the fan-favourite ninja who carves a path by way of a Sentient ship all by himself.
None of those segments are groundbreaking, nor do they shake the truth that Warframe is constructed atop the bones of a recreation that is virtually a decade previous. Regardless of this, gimmicks like ordering robots round as Veso and juggling elemental powers as Teshin make for a enjoyable twist. Even combating towards the ageing recreation’s limitations, all of those components serve their narrative objective, fleshing out the world and giving new views. Every character will get their very own little arc. Whereas the questline retains issues small and grounded within the moment-to-moment, there’s an enormous variety of places and characters all through, impressing upon you the sheer scale of occasions. One minute you are taking pictures your manner throughout a planet’s floor and the following, you are zipping round a humongous area battle in your individual craft. The New Conflict is an enormous, inescapable occasion.
However every part we have been proven pre-release was virtually a intelligent little bit of misdirection. This conflict is not fought in large battlefields however on a a lot smaller, private stage. Following the hunt’s first act, the Tenno are on the again foot and left with none of their warframes and even their powers of the void. You are left virtually solely human and intensely susceptible, pitted towards corrupted warframes beneath a brand new regime. These enemies, referred to as Archons, are your fundamental foes over the central chunk of The New Conflict and make for a enjoyable problem when you must struggle them with out your standard arsenal. You possibly can sort out them in any order, and every one has its personal little tips to determine and exploit. Whereas Warframe’s age holds them again, I nonetheless had a blast determining easy methods to greatest every of them.
The photo voltaic system is an excellent darker place in The New Conflict, with bastions of refuge like Fortuna changed into shadows of themselves. A corrupted model of “We All Carry Collectively” is haunting, twisting one of many recreation’s most poignant expressions of its themes into a brand new anthem of subservience. On high of the destiny of the photo voltaic system, you are hell-bent on making an attempt to rescue your mentor/protector, Lotus, and there is a lingering query of whether or not it is each doable and smart to take action. Your character has extra of a presence than ever earlier than on this quest, with plenty of spoken dialogue. And with no mentors left to information them, they’re making their very own decisions now. Watching your operator go from a hopeless teen to a maturing, succesful fighter is likely one of the updates’ most compelling components.
To face an opportunity and set issues proper, you may should name on some buddies and forge unlikely alliances. The workforce at Digital Extremes have spoken about how a lot planning The New Conflict represents, and as you play, you undoubtedly see that. Even other than the sheer manufacturing worth of its lovingly animated cutscenes and new belongings, the plotting brilliantly ties collectively dozens of characters and subplots from throughout years of quests. It is thrilling to have a lot payoff stacked in a single storyline with none of it feeling compelled. That is the natural subsequent step for the story.
For all of the foreshadowing that precedes it, the hunt has various scrumptious twists that some followers will little question have already put collectively. Issues get unusual, and I admire Warframe trusting its viewers sufficient to convey key beats with minimal dialogue and counting on visuals to do the heavy lifting. That I can’t solely comply with a storyline that blends collectively rogue AI, psychics, the bending of area and time in addition to alternate realities but in addition stay invested in every reveal, speaks to how a lot work Warframe has picked up through the years. Greater than that, it has picked up large momentum. The New Conflict is firing on all cylinders, pulling every part collectively and charting a course into all new territory. As pleasurable as this story is—and it is crucial story Warframe has informed up to now—it is nonetheless laying the groundwork for what’s to comply with. There may be closure right here, although, and a conclusion to no less than a major chapter of Warframe’s narrative. Catharsis abounds.
Warframe is probably the most compelling free-to-play recreation obtainable proper now. As I sank hours into this newest replace I used to be frankly dumbstruck at factors considering how this elaborate narrative journey prices nothing however time to expertise. Loads of video games on the market have extra graphical horsepower, but Warframe nonetheless goes toe-to-toe with gaming’s greatest area operas. There’s nothing in The New Conflict that basically modifications the way you play it or that may win over anybody who dislikes what’s there already. However for followers and people looking for a grander, stranger sci-fi epic, Warframe is comfortably a heavyweight in the perfect form of its profession.
