Digital Extremes hosted the biggest spectacle for TennoCon 2024 Warframe so far. Fans got a recent look Soul Frame and found out everything that’s coming to their favorite game later this year. But the real star of the show was the next expansion: Warframe: 1999which will premiere in the winter of 2024.
I had the opportunity to see the demo Warframe: 1999 early and learn from the developers about all the different activities players will be able to take part in. The gameplay demo itself follows Arthur, Excalibur Protoframe, and five other Protoframes as they pursue a mysterious figure hiding in Warframe1999 version.
The demo starts with Arthur stomping his feet because he’s lost his keys and angrily accusing the other Protoframes of carrying them. That’s our introduction to each of them, all of whom are characters that support flesh out the story and really humanize the Warframes we’ve been playing with for so long. Digital Extremes also revealed that we’ll be able to contact, flirt, and develop relationships with each of these Protoframes via a retro ’90s-inspired instant messaging service to secure a kiss on New Year’s Eve.
Yes, you will be able to replay the whole thing Warframe: 1999 campaign and romance with each Protoframe separately.
After meeting the cast, the demo moves on to Arthur’s confrontation with the Infested forces that are all over Earth. It brings to life the very real fear that was palpable in the lead up to New Year’s Eve 1999, when the world wasn’t sure if it would wake up in the year 2000 or be destroyed by missiles due to a computer error.
Some of us even joked that this expansion is WarframeY2K version and the future in Warframe is our alternate reality. Digital Extremes, however, claims that this is not the case. Instead, it is a 90s version of Warframe. So while there is the original boy band song, retro minigames, and various 90s iconography everywhere, it occasionally strays beyond the 90s because it is a version of the game from the past. Not ours.
That said, the environment oozes a 90s vibe and absolutely nails the clamshell-phone, clunky controls, chunky keyboard vibe. It’s phenomenal how well it’s all brought to life in a game that has no touch inputs other than the controller.
The demo shows the environment and much more in action, which are definitely worth watchingOne of the most engaging parts is Arthur’s Atomiccycle, which everyone will be able to unlock and summon to race around the recent sandbox.
Another awesome feature that the extension will add is the Gemini skins. These are fully voiced skins for your Warframe which you can exploit to switch between your Warframe and the selected Protoframe. The Protoframes will say a variety of things, from yapping about your combat skills to asking you to take a break when you’re done with them.
The 1999 demo ended with a boss fight that involved a giant tank that spewed toxic sludge at Arthur. There’s something so very Warframe about what brings the 90s into this universe in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s just repurposing Infested from other parts of the game. It really feels like a whole recent piece has been added to the experience, like every Warframe expansion should.
What I like most about fighting in Warframe: 1999 is Arthur’s way of using grounded weapons with a slightly futuristic twist. The AK-47 is the AX-52, and there’s even a rocket launcher that he uses to shoot a tank. There will be many more Warframe variants of real weapons to maintain the 90s atmosphere throughout the gameplay.
Finally, after completing its first mission in 1999, Digital Extremes returned to the present to show us how the state-of-the-art solar system has changed. Warframe. There we find an infected stadium in space, where an infected boy band that survived since 1999 is now wreaking havoc.
It’s going to be a replayable experience where you can earn recent weapons and test your mettle in some really scary combat encounters. I think what I like most about this idea is that in the 90s, boy bands were everywhere, so of course Warframe: 1999 needed one. As with everything, Digital Extremes put a spin on the idea, creating a zombie boy band you don’t come to see. You come to fight.
Warframe: 1999 looks like it’s going to be awesome. But that’s content you won’t have access to until you’ve completed everything else in the story. If you’re excited by the idea of exploring a unique take on the ’90s with so many fun ideas floating in the air that you don’t just see; you experience and relive, now’s the time to check it out.
