Warframe

Warframe is an action role-playing game with a first-person shooter element, and a massively multiplayer online game: (an ARPG FPS MMO, if you will!) In the game, you control members of the Tenno, an ancient race of warriors who were in what would be called an enchanted sleep in a fantasy, or cryostasis in a sci-fi game – suspended animation by any other name!

About the Game

These warriors wake up to find that the world as they knew it has changed and that they are now at war with various other factions. Some levels – the earlier ones – tend to be procedurally generated, while later ones offer a more open-world effect, allowing you to explore more widely. This was a response to player feedback and offers a nicely immersive experience.

You can enjoy a lot of action in the game: from shooting and melee games, to parkour, and RPG quests, the rewards from which will power up your equipment and earn you upgrades. The Tenno are aided by a character called The Lotus who acts as a guide and hint-giver, pointing the way forward. The Tenno use bio-mechanical suits, known as Warframes, to channel their natural abilities.

The Orokin were a powerful master race and all the current factions (see more about these below) originally splintered away from them. The back story is detailed and impactful, with wonderful plot twists keeping you guessing all the way through. And, unusually for an ARPG, the backstory is highly relevant to the game’s conclusion. From the moment you awaken, you are on a path to the final, amazing revelations!

The Nitty Gritty

Various updates expanded on the original narrative arc, ensuring that players remain engaged with the game and could enjoy more hours of play time. Elements of RPG, stealth, and shooter games in the form of new content is constantly being produced as the developers want to keep their already satisfied players happy and coming back time after time.

Later content also includes more RPG activities, like fishing, hunting and mining – which is something of a departure from the space travel and combat of the earlier levels, but it does give the game an all-round completeness.

At first, newcomers to the game can feel that it is too complicated and perhaps not worth bothering with, but if you stick it out long enough you will get a feel for the layers in the game. It won’t be long before you get drawn into the story arc, and decide it is well worth sticking with for an hour – or a hundred! – more.

There are 59 unique and collectible warframes, each with their own abilities for you to learn and master. Your inventory can only hold two of them, so you could be faced with a difficult choice!

All the Opposition

You will battle as a Tenno warrior against:

The Grineer: a matriarchal race of human clones, who have deteriorated and been patched and militarised, infused with a thirst for blood, metal and war

The Corpus: personnel of a for-profit business, with superior robotics and laser tech

The Infested: sufferers disfigured by the Technocyte virus

Sentients: self-replicating machines who were created by a now-extinct race (the Orokin)

The Orokin: a now-extinct race of people from whom many of the above races are descended in one way or another