WARFRAME: HEART OF DEIMOS

It’s been a while since I chatted here about my favorite game, hasn’t it? Yes, free-to-play space ninja game Warframe is back with a major update, adding Deimos, the moon of Mars, as the game’s third open-world region. Deimos is geographically a bit smaller than previous locations, but an enticingly vertical landscape and procedurally generated tunnels beneath the surface help to keep things feeling fresh.

Deimos is also completely wrecked. Disgusting organic tissue coats the moon, with a variety of new (read: gross) enemy types inspired by bugs and horror movie icons. That’s right, this expansion has facehuggers—only these ones can fly. Even the guardians of Deimos, the ancient Entrati family, have succumbed to the infestation, able to communicate but trapped inside fleshy cocoons.

Gameplay-wise, this update has lots to offer. The core gameplay loop of previous expansions is still here, but this world is better tuned and better suited to unite Warframe’s frequently disparate parts. The last open-world region added hoverboards; they make a reappearance here as Velocipods, giant insects you can ride around. There’s still fishing, but these “fish” drift through the air and look particularly gruesome.

As always, there’s a host of new loot. A bunch of new guns is always welcome, as is the ability to rescue wild animals and raise them as deadly pets. There’s a new frame to play as: Xaku, who can turn into a freaky plasma skeleton. Oh, and there’s big stompy mechs now, because Warframe values fun over logic.

Warframe remains a slightly odd, disjointed experience, but an overhauled tutorial goes some way to address this. I can’t wait to see what the devs do next. $FREE, http://warframe.com