E3 2013 – Preview: Warframe

Among the hustle and bustle of the packed Sony floor stood a humble game, Warframe. With one of the PR people behind me, I squeezed past the crowd to get as much of a proper demonstation as I could in a crowded area. After we both apologized for cutting in line, I got my hands on the game. This also happened to be the first time I got to use the PS4 controller. In a matter of minutes I was sliding all over the place, pelting enemy after enemy with my bow and throwing knives. Both the controller and the game surprised me in an immensely positive way, and I cannot wait to try this game out once the PS4 launches.

To be fair, this game is already out on Steam, and is also free-to-play, meaning you could check it out right this second. I dove more into the PC version when I returned from E3, and I’ll have to admit, I prefer the PS4 version more. Maybe it’s the controller setup, or maybe because it’s more optimized for the PS4. Yes, the PC version is still enjoyable, but I’ll definitely wait and spend my money come fall.

To get into the most crucial part of the game first is the free-to-play model. First off, this game is strictly PVE right now, which instantly eliminates any pay to win model. If someone else bought a better weapon than you, so what? You’re both achieving the same goal, so actually having someone who loves to spend money on F2P games will actually be a benefit to you. You are also given a choice between a handful of classes to choose from for free, so you aren’t forced to play with one beginner character. There’s also equipment to purchase with in game currency, meaning you won’t be stuck with the beginner weapons either. This game is more of an a la carte in which you pick what you’d like to play as and go from there. I don’t think anyone expects people to purchase everything in this game as it quickly would get rather expensive.

Enough about the structure of the game, time to dive into the meat of it, the actual action. As mentioned earlier, this game is PVE, with up to 4 players fighting along side each other at once. The mode I demoed was a 5 wave survival mode, which I was informed was shortened for E3. Each class has unique weapons and up to four abilities to accommodate the play style. I played as Loki, who was naturally a trickster. I was equipped with a bow and throwing stars for my weapons, meaning I could make stealthy kills while my allies held the aggro. I also had a sword to use for any melee ranged combat.

My four abilities were invisibility, decoy, switch teleport, and radial disarm. Since each ability use drained an energy pool that only replenished from certain orbs that dropped, I opted to make the most use of the cheaper ones, invisibility and decoy. Being invisible was great as I could still fire my weapon without breaking stealth, meaning enemies would easily drop without alerting others of my presence. Decoy was also another way to draw off aggro while I picked off enemies with my bow. Switch teleport allowed me to switch places with any target I was pointing at- my decoy, enemies, and allies. As of the demo, all of the abilities were mapped to the touch pad on the controller. It felt a bit awkward to use as I had never used it before and was not expecting it to actually click when I put pressure on it. I was informed that there would be an alternate scheme for the abilities, so you won’t be forced to use the touch pad if you don’t want to.

My favorite part, while also probably not being that important to the actual fighting, was the ability to do a power slide during a sprint. Hitting the crouch button while in a full sprint allowed me to slide the rest of the way while still being able to use my weapons. I definitely felt like I was Legolas, sliding down stairs and hitting enemy after enemy with my arrows. Sadly, the 5 waves were up too soon, meaning I had to hand over the controller to the guy I had cut off. I do look forward to trying my hands at the full PS4 version when it launches.