Warframe is a famously inscruitable game that still deserves your attention

Warframe is one of those games that is so popular that it may have existed on the periphery of your awareness for years, from friends, advertisements, or Internet scuttlebutt. It’s also a game that is nearly impenetrable to the casual observer. There are... robot ninjas? There’s a montage of cinematics narrated by Werner Herzog? There are advertisements for the game on Reddit, which is normal, but they’re hidden under a spoiler tag, which is strange. 

The aesthetics are a mix of high fantasy and science fiction. There’s clearly a ton of lore packed into a setting that has evolved since the game’s debut in 2013. Most of the people who sing the game's praises have invested hundreds (or thousands) of hours. You might think that you, too, have to sink that much time into the game to get anywhere good. Not so! Warframe has a truly dizzying buffet of features: PvP and PvE, a campaign, open world zones, a fighting game, wild amounts of customization (called Fashionframe by the community), a dating sim (no, for real), space naval battles, and more — and the player is largely free to dabble in features as they like, or simply pursue the story campaign.

That’s a lot to contend with, but here I am to assure you that Warframe is both extremely good and unlike anything else you’ve ever played. And yes, there’s a learning curve, but it’s not as steep as you might think. With TennoCon, the game’s yearly convention named after the aforementioned robot ninjas, on the horizon, now’s one of the best times to give the game a shot. I’m going to give you the rundown on how to get into Warframe, and I’m going to do so in stages, so you can dive in with the mystery largely intact or gain your bearings before forging ahead.

Okay, so, what is Warframe?

Warframe takes place in the far, far, far future, in our solar system. Our system was ruled by a golden, transhuman empire known as the Orokin. The player is an Operator, someone who controls one of the Orokin’s old Warframes. The Operator is a Tenno, a warrior caste of the old empire, which was lost during the events of a mysterious Old War. Upon awakening, the Operator is contacted by an enigmatic friend, a masked woman named the Lotus, and she helps them escape an ambush on their personal spaceship.

The Orokin are long gone, their ruins have been plundered, and new powers have risen in their place: the Grineer, geneforged soldiers who rely on grafting and cloning, and the Corpus, a merchant cult that treats corporate interests as religion. The Grineer discovered the Warframe and its ship and tried to loot them for tech. You manage to escape, but the Grineer captain, Vor, plants a little burrowing organic bulb on you. 

The player picks from one of three Warframes to start: Mag, Excalibur, or Volt. Warframes are like character classes; there are sixty-five of them in total, each with its own unique playstyle and abilities. The key is to understand that you can swap between them at any time; this isn’t like an MMO, where you’re locked into what you pick at character creation. Instead, you’ll earn new Warframes by completing quests.