One of Warframe's most exciting content updates just received a new trailer. Digital Extremes' largest expansion yet, the Plains of Eidolon, will add the game's first Landscape to Warframe, a vast open world area that players are free to explore and adventure in. Up until recently the Plains of Eidolon update has remained somewhat mysterious, but the new trailer and several long gameplay recordings have helped build Warframe players' anticipation.

The Plains of Eidolon is split into two seamlessly connected areas, the town of Cestus and the Plains itself. The town of Cestus is a social area where players can congregate, check out other players' Warframes, shop, and pick up quests. The Plains is a huge area filled with enemies and other unique activities to check out, including non-combat gathering like fishing and mining.

Warframe's new trailer gives a few looks at many of these new Plains of Eidolon features. It starts out giving a tour of Cestus, peeking into various buildings and showing a handful of NPCs. There's even one NPC who will allow players to build and customize their own weapons, a brand new feature introduced in the upcoming expansion. Later in the trailer, another new feature is revealed: a giant Eidolon that will require players to group up to defeat. It's like an open world boss from a traditional MMO, now designed for Warframe's unique gameplay.

The Plains of Eidolon Landscape marks a dramatic shift for Warframe's future. Previously, Warframe has been built around randomly generated environments and linear mission structures. In the Plains of Eidolon players get to determine their own priorities, whether that be combat, exploration, or socializing. By all accounts, Plains of Eidolon is just the first Landscape that Digital Extremes plans to implement. This is only the beginning.

With the open world comes other major shifts in both structure and tone for Warframe, growing closer to an RPG experience. Through exploration of the Plains of Eidolon players will become a part of the Landscape's story, growing as a character and becoming intertwined with the world's lore. The new settings of Warframe will take on a life of their own, rather than maintaining what could be considered a disconnect between a player's character and the world around them.

In many ways, the true Warframe experience will start with Plains of Eidolon. In several years, players may find what came before near unrecognizable. It's a major promise from Digital Extremes, but as the trailer should imply it's a worthy direction for the increasingly popular free-to-play game.

Warframe is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The Plains of Eidolon update is planned to launch later this year, first on PC and later on console.