Since 2013, Warframe has been one of those games that you either play hardcore or don’t play at all. Many players bounce of it’s very obtuse and repetitive early game, but the ones that can stick with it are rewarded with some genuinely mind-boggling storytelling, stellar world building, and dizzying mechanical depth that, when attempting to recount and bit of it to their peers, they often feel the need to punctuate a long screed of lore with a “Weird, right?” It’s a coming of age story both in it’s long-running, multiverse-spanning narrative and the many times it’s tinkered with its own core systems while also dabbling in various sub-genres not often seen in its live service wheelhouse.
I’ve been a devoted son of the Lotus for many years now, so Digital Extremes slipping in a new mini game system as casually as they did a whole ass roguelike mode or a Batman-style crime scene snooping mini-game isn’t as eye-popping in isolation. But Warframe: 1999, at least aesthetically, isn’t just any expansion, it’s a 90’s-flavored sugar high of industrial ninja action, iconic pop music, and romance.
“Who had a computer at 9 years old and gave their family computer a virus downloading a Backstreet Boys song?” Creative Director Rebb Ford replied when asked whose idea it was to feature a gritty city in a near apocalypse in 1999 that’s being terrorized by a parasite-infested boyband during a Q&A session with the press. “They could be in the room with you right now.” On-Lyne’s smash hit “Party of Your Lifetime” is both a pitch perfect replica of the saccharine chart toppers of the TRL-era, and an ominous piece of ludonarrative in its own right. When you listen to it a dozen times like I have, the fact that the song’s lyrics slowly morph from harmless bop to insidious threat over the course of it’s three and a half minute runtime is one of many Easter eggs for you to revel over.
For a game know for truly outstanding music, “Party of Your Lifetime” is the crown jewel of late-90’s musical treasure trove, but the rest of the soundtrack from in-house composer Matthew Chalmers hops into Alice in Chains style-grunge and TOOLs slow, atmospheric, riff heavy pace, making this tortured city of Hollvania at least sound the part.
That turn of the century vibe radiates through the screen from every corridor of the headquarters of The Hex, a syndicate of soldiers tasked with holding back the end of the world. The dilapidated mall has walls of broken tiles and thick, archaic cabling provided power for thick CRT monitors and arcade cabinets. Anything not lit but the harsh glow of halogen lights is cloaked in shadow, and its hard not to see 1998’s Blade in the cracked tile walls. Advertisements for Big Bytes Pizza point energetically back to a time where Pizza Hut has lacquered oak tables and stained glass light fixtures hanging from the ceiling just a little too close to your head. Member’s of The Hex themselves, especially their moody leader, Arthur, is clad head to toe in a body suit straight out of Metal Gear Solid. Much is said of he and the Warframe Excalibur’s resemblance to Grey Fox, but when the gameplay leaves the hideout and takes to the streets of Hollvania, the inspiration goes far deeper. On Arthur’s trip to the final boss, he’s stopped by what I assume to be the villainous Major Reklusa, dressed in Soviet-style garb that is both animalistic – a venomous snake in this instance – and too sexy for military use. Kojima staples, through and through.
The aforementioned Hex are a the thin, technoflesh-colored line between the future of civilization and the encroaching techrot chaos delivered by Dr. Entrati. Each member resembles a warframe that long-time players would easily pick out of a line up. Arthur’s Excalibur is more obvious than say Aoi’s Mag or Elanor’s Nyx, but onces they express their skills just a little bit, the references are as clear as a starry night. How they connect to the frames in the story is still an unanswered question, but Ford and company thinks you’ll find something resembling an answer during the course of the 3 to 4 hour adventure.
The Hex less Avengers and more X-Force, where they take their job with a deadly seriousness, but don’t let that get in the way of some light banter between shots and slashes. The steam is familiar and competitive with one another in that way that tight night groups of people can be, each brimming with unique and vibrant personalities that become easier to like with every line of dialogue. Warframe is full of characters like this, but 1999 is unique in two ways. One is the push for a voice cast that goes above and beyond the normal reaches of the game, with heavy hitters like Nick Apostolides (Resident Evil 4), Alpha Takahashi (Cyberpunk 2077), and Ben Starr (Final Fantasy 16). And another, is the inclusion of flirting and romance systems, a first for the series that looks to add yet another system to its collection.
“It’s my first time!” Alpha said when I asked the trio how it felt to be characters who could potentially be the target of a New Year’s smootch if the player plays their cards right. Details are still sparse on the mechanics of the romance system, but the gist is that your character – who will not be a member of The Hex – will be able to interact with them via an AIM-style instant messaging system. How often and to what extent will reveal itself as we get closer to launch.
Ben Starr elaborated on playing a character who needs to be emotionally vulnerable enough to become a love interest to the player: “It’s really fun as a performer to take the things that we recognize in the action setting and pull them back a bit. And show a little bit of sensitivity is really fun.” Figuring out what makes Arthur laugh and cry as a party of sort of “romantic” side journey is an opportunity he was happy to have. Along the same lines, Nick wasn’t worried about a perceived box people might put him in as a consequence of being so associated with an iconic character like Leon Kennedy for as long as he has been. “I’ve had a lot of good fortunes in my life. Every single opportunity I’m afforded Im so grateful. So if certain characters are similar to other ones, so be it.” That said, he’s worked with many developers who love to collaborate with him and get him into the creative process outside of the grunts and growls, and that’s where he gets his moment to flourish. “I’ve been very lucky to work with a lot of developers who are open to outside influence and take suggestions. They don’t tell you ‘This is what you’re doing’ they ask ‘what do you think?’”
Warframe 1999 is expansion content, but its not accessible unless you’ve some specific story stuff up to this point, so if you’re a new or lapsed Warframe player getting lured by the siren song of 90’s nostalgia, you should start chopping away at The New War and other vital content now. Once you get there, 1999 has some fresh new stuff to add to your collection. The Kawasaki-inspired Atomicycle, The Hex’s preferred two-wheeled transport, will be available to you to drift and bullet jump through the streets of Hollvania, and other open zones like The Plains of Eidolon and Cambrion Drift. If you just can’t get enough of the cuties from The Hex, the new Gemini Skins all you to switch one of the six corresponding skins into their 1999 counterparts, meaning Lettie’s power bangs aren’t trapped in the past. There’s also a brand new Warframe, Cyte-09, that will be available to collect and corresponds with 1999’s Quincy, easily the most mysterious of the bunch. And finally, On-lyne’s veiled threats in “Party of Your Lifetime” become action as the infested boy band breaks into the present as the Technocyte Coda, challenging you to travel across the system and stop them akin to the Kuva Lich or Tempestarii hunts in the past.
All of this looks to ring in the New Year when it launches this Winter 2024.
