Destinyhas been going on for over seven years. Bungie’s venture in reclaiming the first-person shooter throne has borne fruit, and it continues to cater to a large player base with plenty of new expansions. However, discontent has been growing within the community, and it seems likeDestiny 2’s new content vaulting practices have caused things to reach a boiling point. The baseDestiny 2is pretty much inaccessible at this point, having been replaced by an entirely different experience. Beloved old weapons and equipment are constantly being rebalanced and rotated out, and even the already shakily-received plot has become more incoherent due to older parts of it being removed. Even worse, it has problems that a new expansion,even one rivalingThe Taken King, can’t fix.
Fortunately, there are other games likeDestinyon the market. One of the other successful MMO shooters isWarframe, a third-person shooter made by the Canadian game studio Digital Extremes. Over the years,Warframehas built up a loyal following and always makes a great show out of its yearly TennoCon event. The chance to play as a spacefaring cyber ninja is a very appealing one and scratches some of the same itches thatDestinydoes. In fact, there’s a lot inWarframethat’s comparable toDestiny, making it a great place forDestinyrefugees to take up shop.
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Warframe Has a History of Quality
One of the biggest reasons to chooseWarframeabove any other MMO shooter is that it’s free, and it’s huge.Warframestands apart fromDestinyin that it has always been free-to-play, and all of its content updates are also free.Destinynow makes the bulk of its money through charging players for expansions similar to a typical MMO, whileWarframesimply offers microtransactions for various things that the player usually doesn’t need. It’s not overly pushy about these, although some players may be annoyed by the timer’s placed on new items that must be crafted before they can be used. There is, of course, a paid way around that.
Warframehas spent its many years of existence building upon itself, rarely scrapping anything in its efforts to become a massive galactic adventure. Things will seem homogenous for a while, and it’s definitely true that thefirst few hours ofWarframedon’t hold up quite as well as its later, more cinematic parts. However, that’s still a sight better thanDestiny 2’s cut campaign content. If aWarframeplayer can push through the first few planets worth of content, then they’ll be rewarded with a shocking amount of story development, and plenty of experimental features and mechanics. Eventually, they’ll gain a new lease on outer space itself, and be able to explore certain regions to their hearts’ content.
There’s a Lot of Great Design in Warframe
People who have had an ear pointed towardsWarframechannels have probably heard about the various open-world maps, new hubs, and even space exploration added to it.Destiny 2is no stranger to open-world mapsand interesting hubs; indeed, those are some of the more compelling parts of the game to some. However,Warframereally makes it feel like players have stepped into a new game when they reach those dedicated open-world areas. Plenty of new enemy types, questlines, and methods of transportation beyondWarframe’s already stellar movement make these large maps feel special.
And speaking ofWarframe’s movement, the game’s unique mechanics is the second biggest reason past its low price of admission to get into it.Warframe’s dashing, sliding, wall-running, and bullet jumpingall make advanced movement a joy to experience, and several areas and mission types have been set up to accommodate the players who get good at this. The different warframes that players can unlock also feel very different from one another, on top of looking very distinct even without cosmetics applied. WhileWarframe’s endgame has been controversial for a little while, that should be the last thing on aDestinyrefugee’s mind. WhileDestiny 2tries to find its footing again, fans of the looter MMO-shooter genre ought to giveWarframea chance.
Warframeis available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S
