My Warframe Story: Why I Was Wrong for 10 Years

You know those games everyone is talking about, but you never find the time to try them yourself? Well, my story is a little different. My friend has been asking me for months to give one of his favorite games another try. It is a game that you have most likely at least heard about: Warframe.

I played this game somewhere around its launch and stopped after only 18 hours. I loved the idea, and I loved how my character looked even in its "noob" state without any customization items. However, after I finished the intro, I saw what I thought was a P2W (Pay-to-Win) system that I was not really fond of. I saw that I had to wait 12 hours to craft some weapon, and I saw that this could be sped up if I paid Platinum, which you buy with real money.

"Naturally, I thought right away: 'This must be the way why this game can be free to play. Because everything you want be hidden behind a paywall.' Because I believed that this game is pay to win, I didn't have any motivation to dig deeper."

Despite the fact that I love ninjas, katanas, fast and flashy combat, and sci-fi, I gave up on the game and never looked back. My friend, realizing that I love Destiny 2 and being someone who plays Warframe for hours every day, asked me to give it a try on several occasions. I would always tell him that I didn't have time or simply wasn't interested. Secretly, I thought, "What the hell is he about? I don't want to play a pay-to-win game."

But since I'm having a break from World of Warcraft right now, I have more time to play other games before the next midnight launches and I have to push new raids and dungeons with my guild. So I thought to myself, "Oh, what the hell, I'll download it, try it again, and just prove that this game is not for me."

I downloaded the game and found my one character that I stopped playing all those years ago. On Steam, it says that I have 18 hours played. For this game, that is basically just the first part of the tutorial—and that’s not an exaggerating. The game is complex and takes a long time to teach you even half of the stuff you should know.

My friend took his time and explained the basics to me via Discord voice chat. It took around two hours, and I understood maybe 20% of what he said.

"I'm that kind of a guy—until I do it myself, all talk will hardly help me. You know the type."

So I wanted to give the game an honest try now. My friend gifted me the Excalibur Warframe because my old Loki wasn't really the best choice to begin with. I started to soak in the lore and the story, and before I knew it, I was hooked. Now, 50 hours later, I'm taking this opportunity to write this for someone who might be like I used to be, and possibly sabotaging yourself in finding a great game.

So what is Warframe?

Warframe is a looter-shooter game that you can play online with people, solo by yourself, or only with your friends. In some regards, it's similar to Destiny and Destiny 2, just way faster and way more complex. It's a game about "space ninjas" who fight several different factions through the galaxy. Every Warframe has its own unique abilities. There are so many options and so many builds that you can do in this game it's mind-blowing.

What makes this game so good?

The fact that this game is free to play and truly free to play is beyond me. While there are boosts that can help you grind and skins you can buy, the value that you need for the store can also be earned in-game. There is no reason to spend a cent if you don't want to.

"I paid 17€ just to buy Wukong Prime and a costume. I didn't have to, as you can earn it in-game, but I really wanted to support developers who deserve it. This game really deserves support."

While playing, I realized something so "familiar"—a feeling that I've been missing in games for a long time. You know if you played games in the 90s that games felt way different than they are today.

"I always say that you could feel the difference when games were made by gamers, geeks and nerds and not huge multimillionaire companies who care about graphs and profit. That old school feeling is what Warframe has. It's amazing."

The visual effects are amazing, the zones are awesome, and the soundtrack is beautiful. I was unaware that Warframe also has open maps. And not just that—you have a crazy hoverboard that acts like a skateboard.

"Cyber ninja, 2 pistols on my waist, katana on my back and I'm doing Tony Hawk style of stuff with a SF hoverboard. It is hard to imagine that it could get any better than that right?"

But there is something even cooler: absolute sci-fi cyber wings! You can fly! It blew my mind. There are missions where you are flying through space, fighting enemies and flying between debris. All of this is absolutely free.

One thing I love is that when you are playing solo, you can pause the game to go to the toilet, stretch, or get a drink. The game acts like a single-player game, which is a life saver if you have kids or interruptions. Also, most cool skins are made by the players! Players make skins, the community votes on them, and every time someone buys your skin, most of the money goes to you.

Things that could be better

First of all, the game has terrible guidelines. I would probably be very frustrated if I didn't have two monitors to keep several wiki pages open and an AI to ask about things that no one explained in the game. Navigation through the story is really confusing.

Also, the promotion needs to be better. You hardly ever hear about Warframe, yet the game is so alive and full of people. Lastly, playing with veterans can be boring. When you join a team with vets, they fly through the map clearing everything just by passing through the room, and all you can do is follow them and soak free loot.

Conclusion:

Warframe is an amazing game that offers a tremendous amount of high-quality content for absolutely free. Without a hidden paywall and without a catch.

"I was trying to find a catch where I could see 'aha! game is p2w!' But really I couldn't find any. It makes the grind fun. It makes repeating fun. It doesn't get boring."

If you like sci-fi games and watch the official trailer and like what you see, you should give this game a try. There is literally nothing to lose.