Warframe is a game where you slice and shoot enemies as an overpowered space ninja. But in the quest “The War Within”, the developers turn the tables and show me what pure helplessness means! Read here why Warframe became an even better game for me because of it!
Warning: The following text contains heavy spoilers for the story of Warframe!
Warframe kept players with the famous quest “The Second Dream” sitting in front of their screens with their mouths agape. Finally, the secret of the Tenno and the Warframes was revealed. Your characters were strange children, equipped with bizarre superpowers through the energy of the “Void”. They channel their incredible power using remote-controlled Warframe battle suits.
Now that I knew who the Tenno really were, Warframe was a different gaming experience for me. But with the follow-up quest “The War Within”, the game-changing experience from “The Second Dream” was surpassed once again for me!
A Dark Omen
The War Within begins with a haunting scene where strange female beings in reddish shimmering darkness speak of the “Dreamers” (the player characters) now being awakened and soon coming to them. But instead of being afraid, the older of the two figures sees the arrival of the Tenno awakened in “Second Dream” as “the fulfillment of a prayer”.
What could these strange, futuristic witch-like figures be planning?
The Chilling Kuva Fortress
Soon, the hinted horror from the trailer was to become reality. Throughout a longer quest line, I pursue the mysterious warrior Teshin and stumble upon a massive asteroid fortress of the Grineer. There are extra nasty clone soldiers in red armor, and a chilling soundtrack indicates that the so-called “Kuva Fortress” is something special.
In the fortress, a lengthy infiltration mission follows, leading me deep into the heart of the stronghold. There, finally, I encounter Teshin in the chilling red chamber from the intro. And the Grineer queens! As with all enemies in Warframe, the designers did an outstanding job here.
One of the queens looks like a mix between one of the hideous witches from The Witcher and a cyborg snake. The other queen is a grotesque child-being, both girlish and repulsive, named “Worm”.
Space Ninjas and Their Limits
But that’s not even the worst part! Teshin seems to serve the queens and should just lure me in. However, he seems to have messed up, as the younger queen snaps at him, saying she wanted me as the “orphan” and not the “tainted puppet”. So, in plain language: She wants the defenseless operator and not the Warframe she controls.
The whole scene is extremely threatening, and the two queens seem to have no fear of me and my heavily armed and equipped Valkyr Warframe. I have already slain thousands of Grineer and taken down powerful bosses like General Sagas Ruk, Captain Vor, and Tyl Regor. What could a few ugly old hags possibly do to me?
But before I can confront the gruesome queens with gun and sword, the older queen raises an obscure scepter and severs the connection between Warframe and Operator!
I’m Just a Helpless Child!
Without their operator, who controls them from afar, Warframes are just lifeless, biomechanical shells. And without Warframes, operators are just frightened space kids! I realize this as my operator is violently ejected from their golden “throne”, the Warframe control device.
Ordis, my neurotic ship AI, frantically tells me to quickly reboot the machinery with my “Void powers”. But instead of producing a powerful purple energy beam like last time in “Second Dream”, I barely manage to muster a puny spark! Not only am I a space kid without a Warframe, I’m also a completely useless space kid without cool space superpowers!
Ordis seems to agree, as the protocol states that an operator who cannot work as an operator is an intruder. Therefore, Ordis initiates a “purge”. Luckily, he can only attack with pathetic mini-attacks from a hovering drone, but even that costs health points consistently! I flee in a panic through the ship that was recently a home.
The ship that I have lovingly decorated and furnished over many hours. The ship where I raised dozens of Kubrows and Kavats. Once it was home; now it wants to eradicate me like a pesky pest!
The Long March
With my last strength, I reach the cockpit of the ship and am dropped somewhere in a snowy mountain pass. My poor operator, only dressed in a space suit, trudges through the waist-high snow.
As they stand shivering and trembling in the snow, my operator appears extremely helpless and vulnerable. The contrast to the formerly powerful Tenno, who mows down enemies in droves with Warframe and weapons, could not be greater!
As a Tenno, not even space was an obstacle; here it seems as if my operator might perish in a few minutes due to the cold! I need to get away quickly and into the warmth!
After what feels like an eternity, I reach a cave with ancient Orokin ruins and hear Teshin’s voice giving me cryptic advice. But can I trust him? After all, he is the one responsible for this dilemma!
“Why Does the Golden Maw Have to Be Greedy?”
I could have explored the old ruins easily as a nimble Warframe with double jumps and wall runs in seconds. As a feeble child, however, I fall into a hole after a careless step and even drive some bone splinters into my leg! Great, now I’m even slower and clumsier!
But it gets even worse. I stand on an island in a sea of bones, and something is moving in this sea of pale remains! What is that? And why are there bones everywhere? There must be thousands!
Teshin’s words only make it worse: “Beware of the greedy golden maw!”
“Why must it be greedy?” my poor operator fatalistically observes …
But it doesn’t help; I have to get through there somehow. But I don’t get far! Because my injured operator is moving incredibly slowly and can’t perform any meter-long double jumps, barely as I step into the field of bones, a mechanical golden monster shoots up from the ground and gruesomely tears my poor space kid apart!
While the game allows a restart on the island, the feeling of absolute helplessness is now at its peak! I just want to get away from here! Just want to get out of this gruesome cave full of bones and deadly dangers!
The Hero’s Journey!
But things start looking up! After some more gruesome deaths, I am finally temporarily safe and, thanks to memory fragments and Teshin’s tips in the ancient ruins, I regain my former strength. But it gets even better; I learn more Void powers that I didn’t have before.
Now I can suddenly tear down walls and teleport for a short time. I can make myself invisible and, in the end, even transfer my will to the gruesome golden maws and control them from afar!
Though I am still a small space kid, I am now a space kid with powerful superpowers! The transformation is also evident in the operator’s posture. Where at first they crept through the ruins intimidated, they now confidently stride through the corridors lined with bones and dust.
The horrors of the ruins no longer have power over me. If I want, I can smash them with the power of my mind!
Revenge, Sweet Revenge!
With my new powers, I can transfer back to my ship, and it seems as if no time has passed since I was ejected from the control module. And before Ordis completely freaks out, I just reboot the machine and find myself back in the familiar body of my Valkyr Warframe, just as the ugly queen wants to play her tricks!
But that’s enough! I’ve had it with the queen, and a wild battle ensues. I fight both as a Warframe and as an operator. Thanks to my powers over time and space, I can appear anytime as a super space kid and attack enemies with my Void powers. Then, I transfer back into the Warframe and finish off the defenseless foes.
In the end, I claim victory. The little “Worm Queen” flees in panic, and the older sister breathes her unholy life away due to a large hole in her chest. And Teshin, who had to serve the queen out of old obligations, is now freed from his vow and back on my side.
“Per Aspera ad Astra”
In the end, I return as an operator to the lonely mountain pass on Earth. Back to the place where I, as a small, freezing creature, entered a dark cave and ascended again to the stars as a powerful warrior.
Teshin is waiting for me and hands me the scepter of the Grineer queen. I am now stronger and mightier than ever before. Refined through the trials in the caverns, my Tenno is now an even stronger fighter, and whole skill trees of new abilities and features await me!
Once again, Warframe has managed to radically change the game feeling with just one quest.
I can hardly wait for what comes next!
If you want to experience the feelings of a new player experiencing Warframe for the first time, don’t miss our article titled “How I Became a Space Ninja Out of Passion in Warframe!“
