By the time Warframe Fortuna releases late subsequent month it should have been a full yr since Digital Extremes blew the collective minds of their participant base by releasing the open-world Plains of Eidolon enlargement. After 4 years of bullet-jumping via tight corridors in labyrinthine ranges, the Warframe neighborhood was lastly capable of unfold their Archwings and fly. But whereas the superior scale of of Plains of Eidolon was releasing, it shortly turned obvious that there, err, wasn’t truly lots to do there.
Step ahead Fortuna, Digital Extremes’ second open-world enlargement. Fortuna is about on the frozen floor of a terraformed Venus, known as the Orb Vallis, and – like Plains of Eidolon – includes a hub district with distributors, factions to earn standing with, and terrifying bosses. You’ll nonetheless be capable to fish, too. But a latest hands-off demo exhibits that Fortuna is shaping as much as be a drastic enchancment on its predecessor, including to its strong foundations with a number of new options, and a map that’s designed to distract gamers at each flip with unusual artifacts, strongholds filled with enemies, and wildlife.
The largest change is the Ok-Drive, a brand new hoverboard car that gamers can spawn in at any time whereas exploring. Unlike the Archwing, which gives such fast motion that it made the plains really feel small, the Ok-Drive focuses on making getting from A to B feel and appear pretty much as good as doable. You can carry out tips within the air, grind on rails, and even knock enemies down by touchdown on them, all of the whereas incomes standing with a neighborhood faction of kids known as the Vent Kids. This group of hoverboarding hooligans will reward you for profitable races and performing stunts throughout the Orb Vallis by granting new cosmetics and mods to your Ok-Drive. This, in flip, encourages much more exploration.
You’ll additionally come throughout networks of caves harbouring particular enemies, loot, and kinds of fish that may solely be present in particular biomes. Above floor, you might come throughout piles of dung that lead you to native wildlife, which you’ll then tranquilize and seize within the identify of conservation. These options be sure that you’re by no means wanting issues to do once you depart the primary roads and built-up areas of the Orb Vallis, whereas a number of high quality of life enhancements – corresponding to with the ability to obtain and switch in bounties with out having to return to the Fortuna hub – imply you’ll be able to immerse your self in your new environment with out breaking the core gameplay loop.
All of this guarantees to make Fortuna really feel like a extra totally realised open world than the Plains of Eidolon enlargement, which ought to be music to the ears of Warframe veterans. Unfortunately, nonetheless, it appears like new gamers will nonetheless have an exceptionally arduous time discovering their toes. Community director Rebecca Ford confirms in the course of the demo that there received’t be vital tutorials for any of the brand new techniques, and little greater than an intro cinematic to introduce gamers to their new stomping floor. This received’t trouble the hundreds of thousands of gamers already acquainted with Warframe, in fact, however it’s a disgrace that such an thrilling occasion in Warframe’s calendar will nonetheless show difficult for brand new gamers to familiarize yourself with.
Onboarding considerations apart, nonetheless, Fortuna represents probably the most assured open-world Warframe expertise but. It ought to present devoted gamers with one other hundred or so hours of beloved grind on this distinctive, relatively particular MMO.
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