Over the weekend, Digital Extremes hosted Tennocon, its annual convention of all things digital Warframeand revealed the first extensive look at the upcoming shooter 1999 extension. The free update, which is due to arrive this winter, almost looks like a completely different game, and accordingly will boast all-new features like a romance system. Warframe cheaters remain profitable, I guess.
During a lengthy presentation at the con, Digital Extremes finally provided an honest look at Arthur, Warframe 1999′the main character – voiced by the new golden boy of games, Final Fantasy XVI‘c Ben Starr– as well as his support team, Hex. Hex makes up what Warframe calls a union, but what we might call a faction. 1999The “Syndicate” of consists of Amir Beckett, Aoi Morohoshi, Quincy Isaacs, Leticia Garcia, and Eleanor Nightingale, who appears to be Arthur’s sister.
On stage, the developers announced that they wanted players to be able to “get a little closer” to this syndicate than others that have been added to the game. As a result, Warframe 1999 it features an entire romance system, and anyone in the Hex, including Arthur, can be romanced. Yes, you read that right, you i can romantic Ben Starr in this game and maybe even get a New Year’s kiss from everyone you go all-in with.
In keeping with the 1999 setting (specifically New Year’s Eve 1999 leading up to 2000/Y2K), the expansion will deliver this romantic system via instant messaging. Before the meaty action portion of the demo, Arthur hops on a computer in the abandoned shopping center that Hex calls the base and loads up a chat client called KIM, which is followed by an eerily accurate dial tone.
Not surprisingly, KIM looks eerily similar to AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) in its early days, and not only features pop-up chat windows, but also usernames and notes that can also be bios and statuses. When the demo player opened one of Hex’s profiles, a gift icon could also be seen, indicating that the relationship system may take some cues from games like Stardew Valley, where giving a gift can help you sympathize with other characters. Otherwise, KIM looks like a copycat of the messengers of yesteryear, and I swear to God if I hear the sound of a door slamming as someone unsubscribes, I’m going to sue for emotional damages.
After years of AAA game developers and publishers joke about adapting their established franchises in visual novels and dating sims—often around April Fools’ Day—it’s refreshing to see a game as big as Warframe take it seriously enough to add it as a feature in an extension. While it’s still unclear how deep the system is, the pops from the crowd at Tennocon seem to suggest that fans of the game, especially the most devout, really want a system like this. Digital Extremes could throw in some of that Warframe money for outsourcing a (bad) dating simulatorbut it didn’t, and I think that’s commendable.
The adorable retro extension to Warframe it doesn’t stop there. Throughout the 22-minute demo, there are glimpses of a boy band called On-lyne. The demo literally starts with an online ad and ads for them pop up around town as Arthur rides a motorcycle around 1999the new environment of. An On-lyne banner even briefly appears at the bottom of the KIM client. As it turns out, Digital Extremes borrows a page from Riot Games and thought fit to do actual 90s style boy band and get them in the game. There’s even a single out right now called “PARTY OF YOUR LIFETIME” and you can actually stream it. No nonsense people listen to this thing and tell me it doesn’t sound like the Backstreet Boys’ “Larger than Life” or some track from No strings attached.
Although you can’t see them in their prime 1999On-line seems to appear better in current Warframe timeline. After the demo cuts to a more current Tenno in their ship, they pick up the signal for a concert that appears to be taking place in mid-space. Once the player reaches the stadium, multiple pods hanging overhead release a handful of bodies onto the stage, revealing that the boy band has become Infested, one of Warframethe enemy factions of.
Unfortunately the action is a bit shorter than the actual encounter, but I saw enough. I’ve never played Warframe before, and I absolutely do no I need more office games to play, but I want to romance the hot cyborgs, ride around town on a sick motorcycle, and dance with the pretty boys to catchy anthems. You know deep down that you want this too.
