So. The Secret World has been temporarily, at least, dethroned as my go-to game; I’m currently throwing myself at Warframe, and totally loving it.
I’m a big third-person action game fan: my top three video games of all time are probably Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, Mass Effect 2, and Silent Hill 2. Assassin’s Creed 2 is close on their heels as number four. I also found myself completely surprised to enjoy Mass Effect 3’s Multiplayer mode as well as Resident Evil 5’s co-op mode (in fact, it was through those channels that I was eventually tempted into trying out MMOs and TSW and, well, we all know what happened there. Can you say addict?) . So when my buddy told me he was getting back into playing a little Warframe, I mentioned I was curious about the game, and he said I should give it a shot.
It was love at first play.
In some ways it was a lot like returning to ME3 MP without the hideous connection issues. Sci-fi setting aside, there are small missions for you to accomplish, and you go up against up to 3 types of enemies, and you have different special moves depending on what warframe you choose (as you earn credits and materials, you can buy blueprints and craft other frames to try out different classes). The maps are quite a bit larger than ME3 MP’s; some lovely settings, although I could see getting tired of the ‘ship interior’ look after a while. Fortunately there’s some pretty outdoors-y bits on Earth that I’ve seen so far. You can play it sneaky or guns blazing, though if you’re low level, you’re probably going to have to go at least mostly sneaky. You can do missions alone (moreso than ME3 MP, where soloing is putting things on serious hardcore mode) or with friends, but soloing is tough, especially when you’re new. It took me more tries than I’m willing to admit in order to beat the first mission on solo–can I blame still learning the moves?
I went with the Excalibur frame, which is what they recommended for first-timers. I’m still eyeballing the Loki frame with lust (decoy, invisibility, teleport, mew!) though I’m not sure my playstyle will support my desire ;P. My first venture out, I slash-dashed straight into a roomful of enemies, ate a load of lead, and thoughtlessly hit the revive button. Repeat (with some flailing, confused scrambling to get away from the roomful of enemies) until I’d used up my revives for the day. Turns out you get four. I had no idea, and from then on, I went out much, much more carefully. Crouching behind bulkheads, trying to line up that sniping shot only to have a gun that takes several shots to kill anything. Yikes. Cue death, many more deaths. And inevitably slash-dashing my way into another sticky situation…
Later, my friend and I went in co-op and face-stomped our way through all of the starter area (Mercury). It helped that he was in a level 30 frame, though trying to level up a new weapon (your weapons and frames all level up individually, through use). That was a different kind of ridiculous yet fun time, as I scrambled to keep up with his super speedy Ash frame and ran headlong into enemies he was stealthily sneaking up on. “It’s just ’cause I’m high level that I can run and gun like this,” he advised me. “When you’re at level there’s a lot more hiding under the stairs.”
Good advice. I kept forgetting to listen. Excalibur leaps out, guns a-blazing! Excalibur needs another revive…
But I’m starting to get the hang of it. I’m pretty good at Extermination missions. Slash-dash is now turning into a beloved move rather than a “crap what did I just dash into” move. I hit roughly 50% of the things I aim at.
Hey, I said I loved action games, but I didn’t say I was good at them. But I definitely love Warframe. Would totally recommend to those who love co-op and shooting at things. I’ve read a lot of complaints that it can be repetitive/grindy, but to be honest, I don’t mind. I find it a fun, relatively quick little adrenaline rush, and I like earning mats, mods and other rewards to help me advance and to build new items (just finished the parts for a new Rhino warframe). I definitely suggest playing with a friend if you can–for many missions, solo’s doable, with patience, but there are some missions where it seems you need a second or even fourth person to watch your back. If you’re kind of a noob like me, you may have to only solo missions you’re overleveled for.
If you play, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
