During Tennocon 2024, MonsterVine got a hands-off demo of Digital Extremes’ latest expansion for Warframe—Warframe: 1999. Instead of taking place in space and fighting on exotic planets, you’ll be on Earth with the task of hunting Dr. Entrati for answers before the new year starts.
Even though Digital Extremes is heavily pushing 1999, new players cannot jump right into it. To even play it, they’ll have to do various expansions first, including Whispers in the Walls. Although it makes sense that players will have to work their way to play this, it is a bit odd because of how much it’s being advertised to players.
However, for the game itself, one of the first things I noticed was its aesthetic. It’s not like your typical Warframe mission. Instead, you’re on a war-torn earth that’s filled with rubble just about everywhere. And a lot of the characters in the expansion don’t look like your typical Tennos, and that’s because they’re being referred to as “Protoframes,” which appears to be the precursor of what players usually control.
The style of these Protoframes appears to be a clear homage to the Metal Gear series because Arthur (the main character of 1999) can be seen rocking an outfit similar to Solid Snake. During a QA, Rebecca Ford, the creative director of Warframe, explained how Metal Gear played a significant role in inspiration.
“Geoff Crooks designed the original Exacilubor back in the day. Last year, we were like, ‘Geoff, we’re taking your boy, and we’re giving him a human face.’ It was kind of like, ‘How do we approach this?’ The first thing we had was the year. It’s got to be 1999. So we used Kevlar and Canvas, and all those things, and I then think it would be impossible not to reference Metal Gear. Metal Gear is probably the biggest influence.”
Crooks went on to echo her statement by explaining that the “Excalibur from 2004 was very much Grey Fox.”
There’s even a wide cast of characters that you’ll be introduced to as you play 1999. Arthur’s team consists of six other Protoframes, and they’re all equally as edgy and cheesy as he is. All of this adds to the charm of Warframe 1999 because it leans into the grunge scene, which was popular at the time.
Once the demo kicked off into high gear, we saw how the motorcycle would work. Although it’s not all that groundbreaking, it was enjoyable to watch. It mainly consisted of the player driving through the streets at high speed while catching some serious air using makeshift ramps and doing a Star Fox-like barrel roll.
Even though the look was drastically different, it very much played like Warframe, in the sense that you’re a super soldier with over-the-top abilities who can defeat anything thrown your way. It still had sci-fi elements to it, with all sorts of energy beams flying around and being able to dash through the air. But it was somewhat based in reality, with weapons that look similar to real-world rifles.
Another unique aspect of 1999 is how it affects the base game. For instance, there was a point in the demo in which they failed a mini-game. Shortly after that, they were launched back into the game’s main timeline to be attacked by the virus the similar creatures from the past. Ford hinted that 1999 will have some kind of time-traveling element.
Funnily enough, an Infested Liches boy band called On-lyne will be one of the main antagonizing forces. Although it wasn’t clear somehow, they’ll be floating stadiums in space with them playing, and you’ll be forced to go toe-to-toe with them.
If I can be perfectly honest, the music was incredibly catchy. Ford explained that Matthew Chalmers composed the music. She then said that making the boy band was fun because of how silly it inherently is. It was also particularly interesting that Ford revealed that some of the devs who helped make 1999 weren’t even born yet, creating some fun challenges.
Even though I can’t jump straight into Warframe: 1999, I definitely have the urge to play through all the content to unlock it. The mainline story for 1999 is only two to three hours to beat, but it has plenty of replayable ability with procedurally generated levels. On top of that, it’s stacked with an all-star list of actors. If there is anything that would lure me into Warframe, it would be 1999.
