Introduction: 

Wow, I was very excited to try out this game after checking out both the website and client portal. Both very well designed, no complaints there. I really liked the fan video that was included in the website, because it helped to increase the hype/excitement for the game. Some of my favorite FPS games are the Destiny and Halo series, so I fall right into the target audience.  

The overall world seemed well put together, and I could immediately predict that the game would revolve around upgrading Warframe’s powers/weapons, and going on solo/group missions with friends. It had a very reminiscent feeling of Destiny, while the game client itself was very similar to the way League of Legends formats their opening game client.

Once I was all set to begin playing, I had the choice between three distinct Warframe classes. Each one felt like they had unique abilities and while I immediately was drawn to the Harrow Warframe, because the graphics were the most enticing (due to the lightning effects), I decided to playtest with the Excalibur Warframe for the purposes of this playtest. There were a lot of elements that I loved about this game, but there were a couple problems for me as well, so let’s get right into it. I’ve divided this review into three chapters, starting with the graphics.  

CHAPTER  1   //   Graphics: 

I’m starting with the graphics, because this was the part that I personally had the least problems with. The opening sequence felt like I was watching an in-game movie. I didn’t recognize any apparent flaws, but Vor’s design felt a little off. There was a shot with his legs which made them feel a little disproportionate to his body, but that could just be me being nit-picky. The Grineer seemed pretty solid during the movie, and I really enjoyed the graphics at the end of the sequence that led to the Warframe being activated. I would’ve liked to see a more fully designed graphic that incorporated the Lotus in the opening sequence, because she was only shown for a very short period of time.  

Once I started playing the game there were three areas of graphics that I really focused on: the environment, the characters and the combat.  

Environment: Well put together, the world seemed to flow smoothly as I transitioned from area to area. However, I noticed that the waterfall graphics in the third or fourth room seemed kind of off, but when I checked out the water again in a later mission, it seemed fine. Also In the first room when I looked up at the ceiling there is light coming from the main window panels, but then above the entrance there is some sort of dark night environment that seemed counter effective to the window panels from the rest of the room. The outside dark design was the one area where the graphics seemed to suffer.  

Characters: Played with moving around my Excalibur Tenno, no issues there. I liked the enemy design, but they all seemed to come across as the same type, just with different fighter names.  

Combat: The combat design was pretty smooth. I noticed in chat someone mentioned problems with the clippings, but there was only one instance for me when I was defending the ship where I shot at an enemy character, and he split in half. I liked the graphic for the staff, when I left clicked the mouse, but I wasn’t really sure if it did anything.  

Side Note: The pop-up windows when other characters talked were cool, but the pop up window for Vor in the first mission, as compared to when he spoke in the second mission were completely different. I liked how his design was more incorporated into the environment in the second mission.  

 CHAPTER  2   //   Characters: 

Now I’m going to focus on the characters not only from a design standpoint, but how that is incorporated with the storytelling aspect.  

I really wanted to try out all three of the Warframe classes, but was unable to locate where I could restart the game to start a new character (granted this could be due to it being in beta).  

Overall the story is clear, you have the evil Grineer faction led by Vor who just wants to kill everyone and destroy the good guys. This was pretty evident from the opening sequence.  By the end of the sequence I had a clear idea of who Vor and the Grineer were from their design and dialogue. In terms of the Warframe, I was only clear about what it was, because I had read all the character information from the website, but I do think there could be more opportunities in game to really explore Warframe backstory, based on which Warframe the gamer is currently playing. I was most fascinated by the Lotus character (reminded me of Cortana from Halo), and really wish I could’ve seen more of her in the opening sequence. Her motivations were clear, but they were really sudden, and I would’ve liked to see a bit more of a lead up with her once she was activated so that Vor doesn’t seem as much of an idiot.  

Opening sequence aside, in-game the characters were awesome! You could tweak some of the Lotus dialogue to make her even more of a comedically likeable character, but that might not be what you’re going for. I loved the way the Lotus would pop up to help me. Vor’s dialogue was great, it was spot on for the character that was painted, and went hand in hand with his character design.  

Side Note: I would’ve liked a better introduction from the Oracle character when I was on the ship, and as such the Oracle was just there instead of feeling like a believable character.  

Overall, with the exception of the Oracle, the characters were pretty believable. I feel like there should be more highlighted enemy characters than just Vor, but that could be, because I was just starting the game.  

CHAPTER  3   //   Playability: 

Warframe is a very fun game to play, hands down. I feel like I was playing a new type of Destiny game that had a breath of fresh air. The actions are very smooth, and the mechanics are easy to get the hang of. I don’t have any problems with the design of the overall gameplay, but there are a couple of things that could be changed or tweaked to improve the overall gamer experience, and make it even easier for someone to hop right into the story. 

Button Layout: I know I could go into the options and change it myself, but from just starting out it should be as easy as possible. I understood why the left/right mouse buttons are used for the gun mode, but I feel like they should be better incorporated for the melee mode. The main attack which was hot buttoned to ‘E’ should be hot buttoned to the left mouse click, because that is the action that I personally used the most frequently. Right now when I hit the left mouse button, there’s a cool animation, but I don’t know what it does. The dash and the jumping mechanics were fine.  

Life bar: Right now it is very difficult to die in game, but this could be due to it being the first mission. I stood in a group of enemies for a minute taking fire, and was still alive. I feel the damage output should be increased slightly.  Additionally, when you’re supposed to run from Vor (third or fourth part), he should be able to 1 or 2 shot you, if he is that powerful.  

Tutorial: The pop ups were pretty helpful, you could probably increase the size of these a bit so they’re even more noticeable. The melee tutorial in the very beginning didn’t trigger for me immediately. I had to run to the first room, and back again for it to pop up.  

Items: The currency was clear, but I was uncertain what the Ferrite or Rubedo’s from the containers were (maybe they’re crafting mats or currency for later on), but you might consider adding a tutorial pop up for breaking a container, and what some of those items are so the player knows what they’re collecting.  

Once again, the game play was fun, it’s just these little things I noticed, which I feel would improve the overall gameplay experience.  

Conclusion 

Overall, I enjoyed my initial experience into the world of Warframe. It satisfied the storytelling element where I can explore missions, and learn more about the world. From the chat it also seemed like there are group mission/instances for later exploration. I believe I saw that there’s some sort of PvP element, but I didn’t have the opportunity to look into it.  

The story is fresh, but I do want to see more of this enemy or the other ones so it feels more of a grandiose battle, but this could be because I was just starting out. I like the main characters, and checking out the website I loved how there will be so many different types of Warframes to choose from.  

The gameplay was interesting, because you can fight with melee weapons, use ranged weapons (I thought it was funny there was a bow weapon), and there’s also these cool abilities. I didn’t get far enough to really playtest the abilities themselves besides the first one, but it seemed like they would become more relevant for boss fights.  

The design of the world stays within what is presented to us. I would definantly be the type of person to check it out again in a few months once it’s past the beta stage, to try out it’s progression. It’s fun, it’s fast paced, and all of my problems with it were mainly minor technical issues. Since I am a writer the story is the most important for me, so my overall rating is: 

8 out of 10 

Thanks for checking out this review, and I’ll catch you next time.  

J.L.Kauffman