A Warframe could be anything from the estranged twin cousin of Firefall’s “battleframes” to a homicidal portrait well-versed in the art of large-scale military combat, but you know what? The F2P videogame called Warframe doesn’t look half-bad. Digital Extremes has finally seen fit to show off some real (read: not paused in a state of dramatic tension) gameplay, and there’s definite potential here. I mean, yeah, it looks like Mass Effect 3 meets Metal Gear Solid’s Gray Fox, but wait, let me re-read that thing I just wrote. Oh my.
Admittedly, it’s a pretty brief snippet, but I spotted Vanguard-esque teleportation, fleet-footed space ninja sprinting, techno-magic projectiles, and a stasis power that reclassified the situation from “even fight” to “sci-fi version of Fruit Ninja.” These are things I can get behind.
As a quick refresher, Warframe’s not actually competitive. Rather, it sounds like Horde Mode with a bit of Left 4 Dead thrown in for good measure. On top of that, levels are procedurally generated – though obviously, that feature could turn out incredibly hit-or-miss. Tossed in a blender with showy sci-fi katanas and lots of neon lights, though, it sounds like it could make for a pretty refreshing recipe – at least, as far as F2P offerings go.
That said, Digital Extremes’ track record on original projects has – in the past – trended decidedly toward the middle of the road (see: Dark Sector, Pariah, Warpath, etc) so here’s hoping this one can finally make the leap from “OK” to “great.” Or the cybernetically enhanced rocket lunge, as it were.
You can sign up for the beta now, and you can expect it to kick off “soon” – which, in this case, might actually mean sooner rather than later, seeing as Warframe’s set to launch in “Winter 2012.”
10/08/2012 at 10:02 Spacewalk says:
I cannot for the life of me tell what is going on in that screenshot.
10/08/2012 at 13:09 Ciber says:
He is making them fall over by magic.
10/08/2012 at 19:23 Dreforian says:
If you’re familiar with ME3 multiplayer, it’s the thing the human Vanguard does where he smashes the ground with a biotic falcon punch and the resulting shockwave knocks down/up/back enemies in a small radius around him. You can see it in the last 10~15 seconds of the video.
10/08/2012 at 22:21 noom says:
There having a dance contest, obv.
10/08/2012 at 10:06 Tridae says:
Looks like one big mod for Mass Effect. If there’s no ability to crouch behind waist high walls then it may actually be worth trying out.
10/08/2012 at 10:06 Nemon says:
WARFRAME!
10/08/2012 at 10:11 Raydalyze says:
FACEFRAME!
10/08/2012 at 10:32 ArcaneSaint says:
FRAMEWAR!
10/08/2012 at 14:24 Skabooga says:
PICTUREFRAME!
10/08/2012 at 18:29 volcano_fl says:
FACEPICTURE!
10/08/2012 at 19:06 apejonk says:
PICTUREWAR!
10/08/2012 at 10:11 patrick says:
WARFRAME?
10/08/2012 at 10:11 Syra says:
WARFACE
10/08/2012 at 10:15 Garmr says:
Frameface of war
10/08/2012 at 10:42 Hunchback says:
WARFIGHTER ?
10/08/2012 at 10:45 Skyhigh says:
Faces of War: FrameWars!
10/08/2012 at 10:47 McDan says:
WARFRAME: SOMEWHERE NICE TO PUT THAT PICTURE OF YOU WITH YOUR WARFACE. AVAILABLE ON ALL GOOD BATTLEFIELDS.
10/08/2012 at 10:53 Narbotic says:
WACEFRAR
¿UTIKI NO MOJO?
UDISI KRAMA!
10/08/2012 at 20:44 The Random One says:
¿Quién es más warframe?
10/08/2012 at 10:58 Stuart Walton says:
FRAME of WAR : Modern Future Warframe Battle Storm Rising
10/08/2012 at 11:11 GGno says:
POKERWARFACE
10/08/2012 at 11:20 Orija says:
FRAMEd WARFACE
10/08/2012 at 11:52 BoZo says:
Call of Face: Framewar
10/08/2012 at 11:54 Totally heterosexual says:
Hi, im warframer. I frame wars.
10/08/2012 at 13:04 Syra says:
You’ve Been Framed…WARS
10/08/2012 at 11:58 MadTinkerer says:
WARMFEAR.
10/08/2012 at 12:14 Kasab says:
WARMFACE!
10/08/2012 at 12:36 razgon says:
Hardware!
10/08/2012 at 13:36 GGno says:
HardFace. But warm.
10/08/2012 at 13:53 DuddBudda says:
ZIMMERFRAME
10/08/2012 at 14:08 billyphuz says:
WARFRAMERATE!
10/08/2012 at 16:17 GGno says:
WTFRAME
10/08/2012 at 17:32 Shazbut says:
FRAME
10/08/2012 at 17:32 Shazbut says:
FRAME!!!
10/08/2012 at 21:17 Narbotic says:
… makes a man take things over ♫ ♪ ♩
10/08/2012 at 10:08 Yuri says:
Guyver. That is all.
10/08/2012 at 15:35 Chandos says:
Indeed! I kept thinking it looked very familiar but couldn’t put my finger on it. Thanks for putting your finger on Guyver.
10/08/2012 at 10:11 Big Murray says:
WAR in your FRAME!!
Wait, no …
10/08/2012 at 10:12 thepaleking says:
Wow, I was worried this would become some Gears of War blended with CoD tripe. But that video showed some incredibly interesting gameplay. I’m reminded of the Splinter Cell multiplayer mode, mercs versus spies, but with the spies replaced with, as you said, cyber-ninjas.
10/08/2012 at 10:14 Bobsy says:
Wait, that voice. I’ve heard that exact computer voice before. Where was it? Gaaah. This is going to irritate me now.
Homeworld perhaps?
10/08/2012 at 15:02 woodsey says:
Made me think of KotOR, for some reason. Couldn’t tell you why though. Maybe Mass Effect.
(I have no idea.)
10/08/2012 at 20:40 ChaosBlight says:
This sounds a bit similar:
link to youtube.com
10/08/2012 at 10:16 PC-GAMER-4LIFE says:
F2P needs to die fast just go back to the traditional model instead where you pay for the game upfront & all DLC is included @ launch!
To most gamers F2P means your getting a lesser experience not sure why they want to keep pushing that model anyway.
10/08/2012 at 10:25 Anthile says:
…and then you end up with empty servers after two weeks, regardless of quality. Well, unless you have a big marketing budget.
10/08/2012 at 10:26 Lekker Pain says:
Original Dark Sector with F2P model. I would suggest following little changes:
– remove F2P
– forget the Dark Sector you released ever existed
– rename this to Dark Sector
– bring the original plot/setting/universe back
– release it.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Openyourfuckingeyeswedontwantanotherf2pgame
10/08/2012 at 10:35 JackShandy says:
Like anthile says, indie games become ghost towns within a few weeks unless they’re free to play. S’pretty obvious the collective “We” wants free2Play, regardless of your feelings.
10/08/2012 at 14:38 Hardlylikely says:
Maybe an alternative would be to accept that if the player numbers aren’t there, then not every title needs to have multiplayer? That a lot of people, despite protestations, in fact are happy to play a game and move on?
Nothing against MP for those who like it, but sometimes as a fan of mostly SP games it feels like the industry is trying to contort itself into keeping as many MP games alive at all costs. I can only wonder why, when the only way to keep players around is to give the game away and charge for tat or higher powered items.
That just needed to come out, not entirely a reply to you, but I’ll leave it here.
10/08/2012 at 10:54 wiredhuman says:
So Im not the only one seeing Dark Sector. Glad they actually made something from the original Idea.
10/08/2012 at 11:04 AmateurScience says:
I may be having Freudian moment, but was anyone else slightly concerned that the main character model had what appears to be a giant phallus attached to the front of its helmet?
Edit: just watched it again, now all I can see is penis.
10/08/2012 at 11:16 The Hammer says:
Oh my god, what makes it even better is that it gradually rotates around the character’s head, revealing more and more of that metal member.
That’s made my day.
10/08/2012 at 11:56 HisMastersVoice says:
If that’s what you see every morning when taking the loo, I suggest visiting a doctor. Fast.
10/08/2012 at 13:11 Ciber says:
He has a futuristic pepa pig head. Which also looks like genitalia.
10/08/2012 at 11:30 Kinsha says:
I would like to shake the hand of the man who thought “oh yes, this screenshot will change the world.. UNLEASH IT”. I have no idea wtf is going on there.
10/08/2012 at 13:19 The Hammer says:
I think it’s just a still Nathan’s taken from the trailer. Not a great one!
Did like the footage, though. Interesting.
10/08/2012 at 11:59 HisMastersVoice says:
I really like what I see here. ME multiplayer was ruined by crappy controls, bad cover and lousy map design, but the core concept was pretty decent. Those brief flashes look like they fix all that.
10/08/2012 at 12:29 PC-GAMER-4LIFE says:
Dark Sector on Steam should be removed from sale its a travesty (only supports 4:3 FOV due to them outsourcing to a russian developer who obviously spent the FOV budget on Vodka!!!). Just like Bioshock2 MP is a travesty…oh wait same developer!! NEXT
(But they also somehow got the contract from Namco for the megabudget Star Trek Co-Op based game coming to PC in early 2013. Guess that will be another Namco PC special with GFWL & console textures!).
10/08/2012 at 17:10 Totally heterosexual says:
Racist
10/08/2012 at 13:06 Ciber says:
This just looks like a shooty future world of warcraft. It’s third person perspective which is no good for a shooter. It involves hitting things with sticks, even if they are future looking sticks. It involves what look like magic spells. It’s orks & dorks re imagined!
[dragons den]
And for those reasons I’m out.
[/dragons den]
10/08/2012 at 13:19 Dominic White says:
RPS is the only place on the internet I’ve seen this ‘Third-person is no good for action games’ meme. It’s baffling.
10/08/2012 at 13:23 Ciber says:
Action games yes. Ones with shooting? OK but not for me.
I suppose you need 3rd person view to look at the waist high walls you are crouching behind?
10/08/2012 at 13:32 Flakfizer says:
Third person has no place in a shooter. It’s like trying to have a nice firefight with someone constantly standing in the way.
10/08/2012 at 13:32 Shooop says:
That’s just how things are. Third person is terrible for shooting unless you’re Max Payne.
10/08/2012 at 13:36 Shooop says:
The future is terrible lighting and phallic helmets!
10/08/2012 at 13:40 NightShift says:
Man, this game looks awesome. Is there a rise in third person shooter co-op games? With Firefall, now this? And the chance of a Global Agenda 2?
10/08/2012 at 14:32 JohnnyMaverik says:
So… you get to play an Alien? O.o
If so then cool.
10/08/2012 at 19:24 kuuvvv says:
link to redir.is
11/08/2012 at 03:28 Adventurous Putty says:
She seems terribly bored. “*Yawn* The warframes.”