Warframe
Warframe has completely transformed since its release, and is now a kind of free-to-play answer to Destiny. It’s a third-person sci-fi shooter that has you complete missions, alone or in a party, to earn materials with which to craft new and better equipment. Warframe has a wonderful sense of fluidity of movement, and as a “tenno” you have the ability to wallrun, slide, and leap through each environment. These tend to be long corridors, but they have branching paths – as you return to each one for subsequent missions (or to repeat missions you’ve already completed), you’ll find new ways to traverse them. Levels, weapons, and characters are lovely and detailed – Warframe looks for all the world like a full-priced title.
Like Destiny, it’s a great game to play online with a couple friends and a voice connection – it’s demanding enough to be a challenge once you’ve cleared the first tier or so of missions, but not so much that you can’t catch up with pals while you fight.
Unfortunately, the business model gets a bit aggressive once you’ve played up to a certain point – you’ll have to fork out cash for the best gear unless you plan on countless hours of grinding. But by that point you’ll have played a couple dozen fun hours of the game and you’ll know whether you want to keep playing or move on to something new.
