Warframe is a currently OPEN BETA Game that is located via Steam.
I have been playing for roughly one – two weeks now & have a few simple points of interest for anyone looking for a multi-player online “shooter” game.
First of all, Warframe is in Beta at the moment, so there are bound to be “bugs” along the way somewhere. However, in the week or two that I have been online, I have not noticed yet a single one! So that’s ALWAYS great for someone that has been a Gamer that has come across these issues.
Your first bit of information that you’ll need to know is, once you complete your tutorial, you get to choose between three Warframes. (Warframes are essentially Classes.) Your “starter” Warframes are as follows, with links to the Warframe Wiki online:
Excalibur:
http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/Excalibur_(Warframe)
Loki:
http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/Loki_(Warframe)
Mag:
http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/Mag_(Warframe)
The descriptions given within the Wiki are pretty dead on. To simplify them for you, Excalibur is designed for survivability, Loki is designed for experienced / sniper-like gameplay, & Mag is designed for special ability gameplay.
Now to give some possible “spoilers”!
The majority of this game is looked upon as a “Pay-To-Win” Game. And in all rights, it can be viably looked at that way. However, if you do not wish to drop real life money into it, you can play it without dropping a single penny & still earning everything.
Basically the Pay-To-Win is first visible when looking into constructing new weapons, Warframes, & such. A lot are “XP Locked” unless you dump real life money into the Game or you gain levels & all to earn them (as I prefer).
To point out the “crafting” within Warframe, it’s fairly simple. First of all, you need a ‘blueprint’ of whatever you wish to construct. Secondly, you need the ‘resources’ (three types with their own numerical amount). Finally, you need ‘credits’ (in-game cash) & quite possibly a prerequisite weapon. When ‘upgrading’ a Lato Pistol to a Bolto, you would obviously need the Lato to do so.
See? Pretty simple.
Now comes what can seem to be a complex system … Mods …
The Mods are actually not difficult, but needing to understand how to upgrade them is what is definitely a need-to-know situation! My example will be the ‘Vitality’ Mod.
Example:
You have a Vitality Mod attached to your Warframe and you just completed a Mission that you looted another Vitality Mod in. Once you’re back on the main screen (which depicts “click a planet to select a mission”), choose the Arsenal Icon (crossed swords) on the upper right. Now click on Mods on the lower left. Scroll down (if needed) to your Vitality Mods. Select whichever one has the higher number in the upper right corner (if there is a difference). The Vitality Mod will go into the rectangle on the left. Then press Fusion, Duplicates, & Apply.
Doing this upgrades your Vitality Mod so that you will receive a higher percentage of Health while having the Vitality Mod equipped to your Warframe. Eventually, you’ll max out your Mods & paying attention while doing missions to your Shield, Health, Primary Weapon Damage, Secondary Weapon Damage, & Melee Weapon Damage will help you decide what Mods you need to level to continue to handle the oncoming onslaught that some of the Missions turn in to.
Now onto Gameplay! The gameplay in Warframe is very nice. The graphics are on the same level as Skyrim, in my opinion, just more futuristic … obviously. The solo aspect of the game is gratifying to someone such as myself that likes a challenge when moving forward on leveling. You can easily see that it gets gradually more difficult, unlike some games that you seem to suddenly hit a difficulty wall where everything just seems so incredibly over-powered!
The multi-player aspect of the game works out absolutely amazing as well! My Clan has converted to this game as an “alternate” game that we play when we’re bored with our “primary” game(s) that we play. So we have been running missions with each other fairly often. The gameplay in the multi-player works out two different ways from what I’ve personally seen. Here are the simple descriptions:
1. When running with known ‘friends’, we communicate more and work like a Military Recon / Room-Clearing Unit.
2. When running with random people that join you, it becomes a ‘Zerg-Fest’. People blaze through the Missions as quickly as possible & rarely look for anything other than a fast completion.
Now onto the weapons in very limited form:
Just like in real life, there are weapons that are entirely silent (which does not draw enemy aggro) & there are some that are incredibly loud (which draws everyone within the area out). Bows are the immediate ‘silent killer’. There are also secondary weapons, such as Pistols, which have the same silent abilities as well as there are Melee weapons. All Melee weapons are silent, unless doing a radius attack. For example: If you jump & press E while in the air, your character will slam his/her Melee weapon into the ground that does a radius attack to all within the area, knocking them prone for a second. This attack does not do much damage, so don’t expect it to. It is simply meant to knock the enemies prone, so that you can get the drop on them & get a few good hits in. This attack type works FANTASTIC when someone has immediate aggro and you sneak jump into the middle of them & knock them all prone, allowing you/your team to obliterate them quickly.
Warframe also has Clans! Their Clans are simple to build & assign Ranks within. The part of Clans that gets complicated is building your Clans’ Dojo (Guildhouse). My advice here (without divulging any spoilers), look online at the Warframe Dojo Designs.
With all of that stated, I hope your gameplay begins on a good note, as mine has. There’s more to learn as you go along, however, I don’t want to drop all of the spoilers on everyone & ruin it for you all. I have really enjoyed Warframe & it’s team of designers that are constantly doing updates, hotfixes, & such that are keeping the game rolling & clean. Their hotfixes are NOT making the game go down for maintenance, which is always a plus. To apply the hotfixes when they are completed, you simply re-log your game & they’re up-to-date & rolling! Have fun & hope this helps!
