Warframe is a free-to-play action role-playing third-person shooter multiplayer online game developed and published by Digital Extremes. Released for Windows personal computers in March 2013, it was ported to the PlayStation 4 in November 2013, the Xbox One in September 2014, the Nintendo Switch in November 2018, the PlayStation 5 in November 2020, and the Xbox Series X/S in April 2021. Support for cross-platform play and cross-save, as well as ports to mobile devices, are planned for the second half of 2021. The game is in open beta.
Original release
Warframe was publicly announced in June 2012 with its closed beta launched in October 2012. Player feedback helped to refine the game’s structure. An early change in the beta in early 2013 was their monetization scheme to avoid pay-to-win scenarios. For example, initially, each Warframe had a skill tree that the player could unlock completely through missions and gaining experience.
Setting
Set in the future, players control members of the Tenno, a race of ancient warriors who have awoken from a century-long cryosleep as they awake again on Earth, with their memories about the Old War lost for the moment. In the Solar System, they find themselves at war with the Grineer, a matriarchal race of militarized and deteriorated human clones built upon metal, blood, and war; the Corpus, a mega-corporation with advanced robotics and laser technology built upon profit; the Infested, disfigured victims of the Technocyte virus; and the Sentients, a race of self-replicating machines made by a long-dead transhuman race known as the Orokin. The Lotus guides Tenno through difficult situations, as well as gives hints which help the player defeat enemies. To fight back, the Tenno use biomechanical suits, the eponymous Warframes, to channel their unique abilities.
Gameplay
Warframe is an online action game that includes elements of shooters, RPG, and stealth games. The player starts out with a silent pseudo-protagonist in the form of an anthropomorphous biomechanical combat unit called ‘Warframe’ possessing supernatural agility and special abilities, a selection of basic weapons (primary, secondary and melee), and a spaceship called ‘Orbiter’. With one Goal at this point to explore the Star chart and Only later, in the course of the game, the player gains direct control of the ‘Operator’, which is the true Tenno protagonist in physical form (and no longer silent). The Operator is able to physically manifest themselves in the environment by projecting out of the Warframe, and disappear by resuming control of it (a process called ‘Transference’), and possesses abilities of its own. Subsequent to that, the Operator is able to Transfer into a larger, purely mechanical combat unit called ‘Necramech’, which is the technological precursor to Warframes.
Warframe resource extractors
Extractors – are drones that collect Resources from a planet’s surface, which allows for the automatic gathering of resources without the need for player control.
Titan Extractor – The Titan Extractor drone is the most basic type of all Extractors that you can place on a planet on the star chart. The drone slowly collects some of the resources from that planet’s nodes until it is full. It requires 4 hours to collect Resources. The Titan Extractor drone can be forged using a reusable blueprint purchased in the marketplace.
Distilling Extractor – The Distilling Extractor has a greater chance of collecting Uncommon and Rare resources. This type of extractor follows exactly the same mechanics as the Titan version. However, it takes 8 hours to collect resources instead of 4 hours. It requires a fair amount of Oxium and far more Credits to build. The Distilling Extractor drone can be forged using a reusable blueprint purchased in the marketplace.
Conclusion
Warframe received “mixed or average reviews” on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, while the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 versions received “generally favorable reviews”, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. GameZone’s Mike Splechta said of the PlayStation 4 version, “If you already enjoy games like Monster Hunter which require you to farm for items in order to craft better ones, Warframe follows that very same formula, except with much more satisfying and faster-paced combat.” However, as of 2018 PC Gamer said that “Warframe’s growth doesn’t resemble a well-tended plant – it’s more like a mutant science experiment.
