Destiny has been going on for over seven years. Bungie's venture in reclaiming the first-person shooter throne has borne fruit, and it continues to cater to a large player base with plenty of new expansions. However, discontent has been growing within the community, and it seems like Destiny 2's new content vaulting practices have caused things to reach a boiling point. The base Destiny 2 is pretty much inaccessible at this point, having been replaced by an entirely different experience. Beloved old weapons and equipment are constantly being rebalanced and rotated out, and even the already shakily-received plot has become more incoherent due to older parts of it being removed. Even worse, it has problems that a new expansion, even one rivaling The Taken King, can't fix.
Fortunately, there are other games like Destiny on the market. One of the other successful MMO shooters is Warframe, a third-person shooter made by the Canadian game studio Digital Extremes. Over the years, Warframe has built up a loyal following and always makes a great show out of its yearly TennoCon event. The chance to play as a spacefaring cyber ninja is a very appealing one and scratches some of the same itches that Destiny does. In fact, there's a lot in Warframe that's comparable to Destiny, making it a great place for Destiny refugees to take up shop.
Warframe Has a History of Quality
One of the biggest reasons to choose Warframe above any other MMO shooter is that it's free, and it's huge. Warframe stands apart from Destiny in that it has always been free-to-play, and all of its content updates are also free. Destiny now makes the bulk of its money through charging players for expansions similar to a typical MMO, while Warframe simply offers microtransactions for various things that the player usually doesn’t need. It's not overly pushy about these, although some players may be annoyed by the timer's placed on new items that must be crafted before they can be used. There is, of course, a paid way around that.
Warframe has spent its many years of existence building upon itself, rarely scrapping anything in its efforts to become a massive galactic adventure. Things will seem homogenous for a while, and it's definitely true that the first few hours of Warframe don't hold up quite as well as its later, more cinematic parts. However, that's still a sight better than Destiny 2’s cut campaign content. If a Warframe player can push through the first few planets worth of content, then they'll be rewarded with a shocking amount of story development, and plenty of experimental features and mechanics. Eventually, they'll gain a new lease on outer space itself, and be able to explore certain regions to their hearts’ content.
There’s a Lot of Great Design in Warframe
People who have had an ear pointed towards Warframe channels have probably heard about the various open-world maps, new hubs, and even space exploration added to it. Destiny 2 is no stranger to open-world maps and interesting hubs; indeed, those are some of the more compelling parts of the game to some. However, Warframe really makes it feel like players have stepped into a new game when they reach those dedicated open-world areas. Plenty of new enemy types, questlines, and methods of transportation beyond Warframe's already stellar movement make these large maps feel special.
And speaking of Warframe’s movement, the game's unique mechanics is the second biggest reason past its low price of admission to get into it. Warframe's dashing, sliding, wall-running, and bullet jumping all make advanced movement a joy to experience, and several areas and mission types have been set up to accommodate the players who get good at this. The different warframes that players can unlock also feel very different from one another, on top of looking very distinct even without cosmetics applied. While Warframe’s endgame has been controversial for a little while, that should be the last thing on a Destiny refugee’s mind. While Destiny 2 tries to find its footing again, fans of the looter MMO-shooter genre ought to give Warframe a chance.
Warframe is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S