Warframe: Flying Through An Endless Space
In March of 2013 an old friend of mine reached out to me looking for people to try this new “crazy ninja-MMO”. Seven years later I still can’t forget what I felt as I entered into my Liset for the very first time. Looking through my spaceship’s window at the endless infinity right in front of me, I couldn’t do anything more than stare in amazement. It wasn’t only the fast-paced combat gameplay that caught my eye, but the idea of traveling through Warframe’s solar system. I was always fascinated by space--the amalgam of stars shining and the beautiful nebulas. Since I was a kid the idea of an infinite unknown vastness that I could explore mesmerised me as much as it terrified me.
*Extremely Carl Sagan Voice*: SPACE.
I’d really like an Archwing, just for like popping down to the shop quickly and stuff.
There I was, seven years ago, looking right at the most beautiful depiction of the infinite, walking in the skin of a futuristic ninja, prepared for sailing to the stars. Of course, the game wasn’t that big at the time. As it happens, Warframe had a notoriously long journey from their humble beginnings to where they are now. Many mechanics had to be crafted and upgraded along with a steady flow of content and new gameplay introductions, as well as graphical improvements that renewed the game with fresh looks. Sometimes the journey met rocky situations and also smooth moments of victory, but more important: the people behind it had a constant hunger for improvement. Archwings were introduced in October of 2014, these weaponised jetpacks were the first step to properly flying across space. Presented as a pair of detachable wings with their own set of weapons, they would allow you to fly through wreckages of destroyed ships and fight any remnant enemy left on them. This, along with the Kubrows and Sentinels, was the first of many additions that helped to make us feel less lonely in the darkness of space, as silent companions in the dangerous missions that take us through the vast number of planets in the solar system.
As time went by and the game evolved into a more complex experience, something that didn’t change at all is the approach that the studio has at interacting with their audience. It’s worth noting that both the community team and the developers excel at reaching out to the players, succeeding in not only receiving feedback but also being honest on their responses about said feedback. No matter how good or bad, the topic can be addressed. Digital Extremes isn’t afraid of admitting their mistakes and focusing on working on them, and that’s a mindset that not many studios maintain today. It also helps that the updates on the work in progress are presented in the form of periodical transmissions (called Devstream and Prime Time), which shows an interest in documenting their development processes while providing glimpses of the near future of the game.
Out of all of the fake words in this game Railjack has to be one of the best.
Last December, we finally got our own Railjack in a new expansion called Empyrean. Galleon-like spaceships that allow us to form our crew and take the battle to a higher level. We paved our way across the galaxy destroying entire enemy stations while the New War unfolds and we finally get to freely navigate the space between planets. A game that started as “Ninjas in Space” knew how to adapt and overcome its difficulties, re-inventing itself as many times as necessary and updating its mechanics, in a way that always feels fresh for the player to face. Now displaying action scenes and warlike situations that could only happen in the most epic of sci-fi movies, so much has changed since 2013 that it barely feels like the same game. After seven years, thousands of hours played, 70 Warframes, hundreds of weapons and with a passionate fanbase playing on every console and PC, even if the game changed this much, at the core, we’re still space ninjas doing parkour, drifting through the solar system, hearing Ordis’ dad jokes.
In May of 2020 I walked into my Railjack and, after taking a look at my newly formed crew of players beside me, my ship gets out of the Dry Dock and sails to the stars. Looking through my spaceship’s window at the endless infinity right in front of me, now I can do more than stare in amazement. I can fly through it.
