Warframe doesn’t seem to bother with trailers, and nobody’s ever shouted its name from a stage – and yet it goes on, shirking its promotional duties to spend more time dancing with PC gamers. A cursory check reveals that it’s just shy of Steam’s top-ten most-played list this morning, boasting nearly 1,000 players more than Payday 2 (which is doing rather well itself, thankyouverymuch).
You might not be playing it, but apparently everybody else is. So let’s see where it’s up to, shall we?
Warframe’s newestmost update is named Shadows of the Dead, and comes flush with new weapons, modes, environments and Warframes.
Warframes are loadouts, to be selected and customised by players, and one of the new ones lends this update its macabre name. Nekros uses his powers “to manipulate his enemies, both living and dead”. He sounds like a good time. And he’s accompanied by Mag Prime, who joins the likes of Excalibur Prime and Frost Prime as the newest elite Tenno.
New Conclaves, meanwhile, have freed duels from clan restrictions. If you’ve a point to prove to somebody, you can meet them at certain sites on the Solar Map for 1v1 or 2v2 standoffs. And a brand new mode has emerged from the success of Survival Weekend, a recent event that saw players raiding oxygen caches and distracting enemies. Thanks to some overwhelmingly positive community feedback, you can now play a randomly-generated Survival level at any time.
New weapons come in the form of the Ether Scythe, Tenno Assualt Rifle, and two new Prime bangsticks – the Boar Prime and Dakka Prime (as in dakka-dakka, we can only presume).
- New tileset – Orokin Derelict Spacecraft – Ancient vessels dead and drifting through space. Relics of the Orokin age.
- New boss – Located in the Orokin Derelict, Infested Golem awaits!
- Expanded level – The Grineer Settlement has been expanded with even more exciting gameplay.
- New clan research – Three new infested weapons – including a Primary, Secondary and Melee – to be crafted using a new component!
- 18 new mod cards – New Glaive mods add puncture, flight speed and rebound + and -, the Energy Life mod drains any remaining Energy on death and converts, Finishing Touch mod increases damage to knocked down enemies and the Spare Parts mod offers the chance to spawn a rare resource when a sentinel dies, to name just a few!
- Updates and new accessories for the Clan Dojo – Including a Zen Garden vanity room as well as new Zen Garden, statue and drum decorations.
Our Tim reviewed Warframe in April. It’s good! Well, it’s not. But it nearly is, and is evidently getting better all the time. Are you playing it?