Warframe: 1999 Review – A Pizza Party at the End of the World

In TennoCon of 2023, Digital Extremes showed off their upcoming expansion for Warframe that would launch at the end of that year called Whispers in the Walls. This expansion would be the starting point for a new storyline in the long-running game. But one thing that took everyone by surprise was at the end of the gameplay demo, there was a transition to what would be another teased expansion for Warframe. The demo set a dark tone but did not drop the “cool” factor of having Into the Void by Nine Inch Nails playing in the cinematic they showed before the rest of the gameplay. This demo was for an expansion launching a year after Whispers in the Walls called Warframe: 1999.

Developer & Publisher // Digital Extremes, Tencent
Platforms // Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4|5, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS
MSRP & Release Date // Free, December 13th, 2024
Reviewed On // PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X

Warframe: 1999 was surprised dropped the day after The Game Awards 2024. Seeing as the gameplay demo for this expansion last year was present in Whispers in the Walls, I assumed the same trend of transparency would be followed, and it was. But what all was in Warframe: 1999 was more than I was expecting. Potentially raising the bar of quality Digital Extremes will provide in future expansions such as this.

As Warframe: 1999 is not just a cool new setting that tugs on many nostalgic heartstrings. It has a very compelling cast of new characters in a thrilling and densely packed storyline. With an excellent variety of new enemies, game modes, and strong additions to the game’s ever growing arsenal offerings. It has every bit of this, and so much more. I am in shock and awe over how expertly built this expansion is, even with a few missed opportunities, and inconsistencies in certain aspects of it.

A Blast to the Past

Warframe: 1999 picks up where Whispers in the Walls and The Lotus Eaters left off. The main character of The Duviri Paradox, the Drifter, is sent back to the year 1999 to hunt down Doctor Albrecht Entrati. Here, the Drifter finds himself amongst a whole new faction called the Hex, who are initially distrustful of the Drifter due to their strange arrival in the time period. However, due to the impending doom that looms at the end of the year, they have no choice but to work together and stop a catastrophe from taking place.

This leads the Drifter onto a journey that spans about an hour and a half of runtime. As they work with the Hex consisting of 6 proto warframes. The leader, Arthur, the Hacker Amir, the Mechanic Aoi, the Sharpshooter, Quincy, the Medic Leticia, and Arthur’s sister, Eleanor. They have to fight back against a militaristic group called the Scaldra and uncover more of the mystery surrounding The Indifference, who is directly antagonizing not only the Drifter but Entrati as well.

Warframe: 1999’s Many Hits and Few Misses

The plot of Warframe: 1999 is a tall order with many different moving parts. But Digital Extremes nailed not only properly fleshing out and making me care about all six members of the Hex. You get to spend ample time with them to understand who they are and feel torn apart as things start going south. But that is not to say there were not some very cool sequences. Such as classical 7th generation console game feeling segments, like a sniper section where you play as Quincy. Or riding on the back of a truck firing missiles at Scaldra vehicles while Aoi quips behind the wheel with one-liners to a rock-rap track.

They also showed how cold and uncaring Entrati is as a character, despite the level of fear he has of the Indifference as well. Turning his back on Loid in Whispers in the Walls to flee to 1999 and still being followed by this scary being forces him to make quick and harsh decisions while questioning the moral conflicts of the Hex and the Drifter. I understood his fear, even if I hated how he carried himself throughout the narrative.

However, the only two problems with this story overall are the lack of fleshing out for the Scaldra. The leader, Resulka, had an incredible introduction. But I still know very little about her as well as her right-hand man Viktor, voiced by Neil Newbon who only gets proper screen time in replayable missions after the story is finished. They hit on almost every narrative front but missed making me care about the recurring militant force I will be fighting against. Leaving them to feel like a new faction in the narrative for the sake of the setting.

The other problem is a follow-up on the coolest scene of the gameplay demo during TennoCon 2024. In a tense stand-off where you play as Arthur and cross swords against an Excalibur warframe. I feel like the section that followed it did not live up to the hype it generated. Its presentation was excellent, but the follow-up felt like a missed opportunity to have Arthur fight something that looks and moves like himself.

But when it comes to the events that follow the story, there are a few firsts for Warframe as a whole that elevated how I felt about it.

Making Things Right

In Warframe: 1999, there is an alternate ending to the story that requires progressing in the Hex’s syndicate to unlock. Seeing the syndicate system used for more than a unique group interaction to flesh out the characters further is a first for the game, and it was done very well. Not only was there an ending but they added a whole conversation system with every member of the Hex you can engage in on a daily rotation. You can talk to each character, learning more about them and opening the Drifters more social side. But the biggest surprise to the system, was for the first time, you can romance a character in Warframe.

Each member of the Hex can be romanced by a series of different options. Whether that is being precise in what dialogue options you pick, or what gifts you buy for them. But you can also work towards your relationship with them by doing the character-specific bounties once a day.

This system leads to whomever you romance to move into the Drifters new apartment. Which has become my base of operations due to it having every bit of what makes the original hub, the Orbiter great. While also having that character greet you with both lovey-dovey lines, and some steamier ones.

The Hex ended up becoming the best iteration of the syndicate system so far. Outside of the romance system, having certain members fight by your side in bounties, while also having a consistent way of learning more about them is fantastic. Obviously, I wish there was a way to have more meaningful interactions after they move in. There was a tease of a cutscene that plays at the end of the calendar year in-game which is progressing quickly each week. But being able to initiate a hug, or a kiss when the mood is right through dialogue options face-to-face would go a long way.

While I did romance Aoi, I did enjoy conversing with Arthur, Quincy, and Leticia the most. Their personalities shine through even in the instant messaging system with very nostalgic ways of their messages being written. Learning how Arthur will only interact with people as long as they show proper respect adds to his character. While learning through Aoi how Quincy dropped his tough guy facade to be a hero to kids on the way back from a mission added an empathetic touch to someone so cold. It adds a great break between endgame activities and loot grinds, which are part and parcel of every Warframe update.

Nose to the Grind Stone

In Warframe: 1999, there are a few new mission types. The new HellScrubber mission is a unique twist on the pre-existing survival game mode. Where you now have to babysit your life support pods. Otherwise, they turn into mini-bosses that only give half of the usual life support that the pods generally grant. The new Legacyte endless capture style mission makes for an easier repetitive activity where you have to kill Infested to sniff out a mini-boss and capture it to earn a reward.

But the coolest new addition was the Efervon Tank mission. Where you fight a tank through two mechanically driven phases that progressively gets more interesting. From a tank you have to shoot at specific points while it fires acid shells, to an infested version with tendrils that launches itself around the arena with sweeping attacks. It also has a hidden harder raid-like variant that takes crucial coordination with your team to take down for a unique cosmetic reward.

While all of this sounds like major hits all around, there was a miss with the new Face Off game mode. It is a player vs player vs environment game mode where you do three set objectives in a race against time, similar to Capcom’s Exoprimal, just without direct enemy-player interaction. The game mode is fine and even offers reputation for the Conclave faction of the game, but players regularly leave and disable that reputation gain. Leaving those who stay to just gain normal rewards.

There is one new stand out mini game that was added to the new social hub, called Caliber Chicks 2. A Contra-like side-scrolling run-and-gun game co-developed by Sumo Digital. It is a very standard rendition of this style of game. Where you have enemies running at you constantly, with health drops, different weapons to acquire, and bosses to take down. It is a great time waster, but with minor cosmetics rewards to earn in Warframe: 1999.

But that to go alongside all of this, are cool new weapons and an amazing new warframe to earn.

The Spoils of Warframe: 1999

In Warframe: 1999, there are three new weapons to earn with their own cool quirks. There is the return of the AX-52 automatic rifle that when you hip-fire some bullets fire for free, and when you aim you do more headshot damage. While the new Vesper 77 highlights enemy weak points when you aim at them with it and packs a punch with each trigger pull. But my favorite of the three was the Reconifex, which has a lot of damage output, a massive magazine, and an active reload function similar to the Gears of War series that adds fire to every bullet when you pull the mechanic off.

Finally, the new stealth sniper warframe, Cyte-09 is an excellent new addition to the game. Where he can highlight enemy weak points, turn invisible, throw out elemental ammo crates, and summon a sniper rifle that can kill endgame enemies in a single shot.

On top of all of this, there are a slew of new arcanes that feel tailor-made for certain weapons. Like Secondary Enervate, which offers stronger critical hits for pistols like the Vesper, or one that adds more critical damage and power strength to warframes that are invisible, like Cyte-09. Couple this with the new cosmetic offerings, and more music to play in the new apartment or your other player hubs, and you have a lot to earn for free just by enjoying the expansion.

The only regression I have found so far is that Leticia, who you turn in reputation items to, does not have a way to trade in excess resources for more reputation items, which was present in Whispers in the Walls, and even The Duviri Paradox, or Angels of the Zariman. If there was anything I wish was present right now, it’s this feature to at least keep up with my daily reputational gains with the Hex and keep players who are locked out of certain ranks for needing certain items they may not be able to get.

Fantastic Voices, Killer Soundtrack, Nearly Perfect Performance

I played the story of Warframe: 1999 on the Xbox Series X, and the only noticeable issues I ran into were issues with the textures and shaders seemingly popping in if you stand in place and pan the camera around quickly. While playing everything beyond the story on the PlayStation 5, where everything ran similarly smooth outside of that same issue being present. Outside of that, I have only experienced two random crashes when changing warframes and hopping on the Atomicycle to head into a mission.

When it comes to the new environment, however, Hollvania is very beautiful, even with these minor issues. Hollvania is not an open world, but feels realistic and lived in. With abandoned vehicles, underground metro stations with malls and fun zones. With enough verticality above ground by utilizing rooftops and ziplines to fire at foes stealthily. The new Atomicycle also handles excellently, with four abilities where you can either pop a wheelie and speed up, dismount and be invisible, or launch it into enemies and light them all on fire. The latter of which never got old.

In the Warframe: 1999 segment in Whispers in the Walls, the background track showed a cool new pivot to a rock-centered soundtrack. But what I was not expecting in the full expansion was a full mixed-rock album. With tracks like Shut it Down being a screamo metal track that plays during the Efervon Tank fight. With others like the Pick a Side rock-rap track being used in the section where you fired missions at Scaldra vehicles. But the standouts were easily from the in-universe boyband On-Lyne. Both Party of Your Lifetime and The Great Despair are used to great effect to drive home the cool old-school experience Warframe: 1999 provides.

Finally, when it comes to vocal performances, two of the most advertised talents being lent to the expansion were Ben Starr from Final Fantasy 16 and Alpha Takahashi from Cyberpunk 2077. But everyone in the expansion, even Resulka, Viktor, Quincy, Amir, Leticia, and Eleanor all did fantastic jobs. I liked Quincy the most due to how his voice actor, Trieve Blackwood-Cambridge, did an incredible job considering he was stacked alongside star voice actors like Ben and Alpha.

Final Thoughts on Warframe: 1999

Warframe: 1999 had a few missteps in certain areas. Especially with the addition of the Scaldra. While they don’t feel out of place in the setting. There is just not enough outside of the Efervon Tank to make them stand out. Same goes with the Technocyte infested, the designs are excellently realized, but they do not impress in the gameplay department.

But overall, Warframe: 1999 excels in being an excellent continuation of the game’s long-running story, while experimenting with so many new mechanics to create a fresh feeling to existing stuff that was carried over. With an excellently fleshed-out romance and conversation system and all of the good loot in between. If you have been away from Warframe for a while, this is an excellent point to jump back in. Digital Extremes created the most Warframe feeling Warframe experience in years that I am more than happy to recommend. It is more than worth your time.

Final Score: 8.8/10

Pros:

• Great Cinematic Narrative Experience
• Excellent New Syndicate
• Fleshed Out Conversation and Romance System
• Refreshing New Missions
• Awesome New Weapons and Warframe
• Incredible Soundtrack
• Cool New Mini Game

Cons:

• Lack of Fleshing Out Scaldra Faction
• Some Missed Opportunities in the Story
• Some Technical Issues