The massive new update for free to play FPS/MMO/3rd person space-ninja simulator Warframe has just been released. Called Fortuna, it takes place on the planet of Venus and offers players a new faction to interact with, as well as a new open-world questing area that is four times larger than the previous expansion – Plains of Eidolon – that was released around this time in 2017.
Having had some time in game, here are some pros and cons of the current state of Fortuna to help any newcomers decide if it is worth the time to play:
Pros:
- It’s free. Most other games would bundle this into a season pass with a minimal £30 value these days.
- Massive new area to explore with varied fauna and flora to be mined, fished and captured.
- New vehicles in the shape of the hoverboard K-Drive that allows you to traverse the map quite quickly.
- New weapons and pets – Kitguns and Moa companions.
- New frame – Garuda. A hybrid DPS and healing frame, she appears to be quite resilient, though still nothing challenges Inaros when it comes to survivability.
- NPCs interesting and varied, there’s a real effort that has been made into fleshing out both “Solaris United” and Nef Anyo.
Cons:
- The bounties on offer at the moment rapidly become grindy with the same small set of locations used again and again.
- Beneath the shiny new coat of paint, it is still basically just the Ostron bounty rep grind all over again though progress here appears to be somewhat quicker.
- The trapping animal mini-game is badly explained. Players are told that captures, though successful, are “bad” with no explanation why.
- No real tutorial for K-Drives beyond basic movement. No mention of races, tricks, etc.
- Moa pets seem flimsy, still not as versatile as sentinels. They were also hugely expensive but DE have just reduced the cost for parts.
So the cons, in the grand scheme of things, are mostly nitpicks. If a player doesn’t like the new pets or the new weapons? Then simply use the frames and the companions and weapons they already have! If a player would rather not get too involved in the rep grind? Explore the area without bothering with bounties!
Developer Digital Extremes have provided a massive new playground for players to explore, a whole new loot and rep grind to pull players back in, and all at the bargain cost of nothing more than some space on your hard drive.