Warframe, Digital Extremes action, role-playing, third person shooter game revealed its upcoming Warframe: 1999 update at TecnnoCon this year. The free to play game, originally released in 2013, is celebrating its 11th year since the anniversary in March. Winter of this year will bring Warframe back to the end of the millennium, 1999, and from the first few minutes of the gameplay demo, it’s clear the team was having a nostalgia fest tilted slightly to the left.
Our opening scene features Arthur Nightingale, voiced by Ben Starr – of Final Fantasy XVI protagonist Clive fame – a proto-excalibur warframe who leads a team of newly introduced characters. The 90s nostalgia begins immediately with Arthur in a classic mall, typing in a chatroom on his computer to some unknown recipient, and the Warframe version of a 90s boy band On-Lyne. On-Lyne is an in-universe boy band whose hit single is all over the demo, and they’re definitely the talk of the town.
After meeting our syndicate for the new story coming in 1999, the demo showcases that this time players will be getting action and romance. The story takes place in December of 1999 and will definitely last until the New Year, because players can have the chance to see who will be their New Year’s Eve kiss when the new millennium begins. There are some otome game elements with players being able to send instant messages to other members of their crew from laptops. Depending on the response options, players might just spend New Year’s with a special someone.
The initial mission introduces one of the antagonists of the new update Major Neci Rusalka, who’s Scaldra soldiers serve as the waves of enemies encountered by the player. Unique to this quest line is the ability for players to summon their Atomicycle at any time as they traverse between different enemy groups.
The demo has a boss fight showcase against a tank and some minions that get dropped into the arena, before defeating it leads into the TecnoRot where the real mystery of the 1999 update seems to be centered. I’m personally looking forward to seeing how On-Lyne plays into everything. Warframe:1999 will be out in Winter of 2024.