I got sick and played over 40 hours of Warframe in a week, and I finally love it

People keep asking me if I'm okay. Bloodlines 2 delay - Lauren, are you okay? The Saja Boys are the bad guys in K-Pop Demon Hunters - Lauren, are you okay? You caught COVID and played over 40 hours of Warframe in one week? Alright, maybe I understand why you're asking if I'm not, in fact, okay. Having attended three Tennocons on behalf of PCGamesN and been reminded on a yearly basis that Digital Extremes' space game has one of the most vibrant, unique communities in the videogame sphere, post-event I've always spent a few hours trying to get into the MMO before putting it aside. This time, however, with COVID confining me to my apartment for a week, I plowed over 40 hours into Warframe, and after an awful lot of grinding, it finally clicked.

I, like many people, had been bitten by the Warframe 1999 bug. Promising a grimy, dystopian setting where futuristic weaponry and WW2-style tanks collide, a cast of romancable companions, and a MSN-inspired dating sim with over two novels' worth of unique interactions, it's easily the most exciting thing I've seen come out of a live-service multiplayer game in years.

I took a crack at cutting through the grind last year when the hype had peaked but found myself smacking my head against the Necramech requirement at the Mars Junction. While completing Heart of Deimos gave you the necessary blueprints, the fishing, mining, and bounty grinding required to get enough resources to actually craft the damn thing felt like hitting a brick wall: for a second year in a row, Warframe had failed to hold my interest.

Enter Techrot Encore, the second 1999-themed update from earlier this year. While all eyes were on the Technocyte Coda, new protoframes, and, of course, David Bowie-inspired Warframe Temple, Digital Extremes also removed the Necramech requirement at Mars, allowing you to start The New War (the game's pivotal campaign quest) without having to spend hours grinding it out on Deimos. Prayers answered.

All of this is part of Digital Extremes' push to simplify Warframe's onboarding - it's no secret that the early game is a bounce-off point for a lot of potential players. Speaking to design director Pablo Alonso and Digital Extremes' COO Sheldon Carter, they tell me that it's all about balance. "We want to make sure that the people that get through the game aren't getting through because it's too simple, although I am saying that about Warframe…" Carter laughs. "We kind of had a lightning in a bottle moment with the game," Alonso says, with Carter stating that "we don't want to mess with that - we still want it to have Digital Extremes' charm, and the charm of what the game was when it started."

After 40 hours of COVID and Lucozade-fuelled gameplay, it's a balance I feel is now better struck with the removal of the Necramech requirement. While there's still a good 20 or so hours of grinding to get to The New War - which I can now say from experience is absolutely where the game gets good - it feels somewhat more attainable. Post-Mars the mission variety increases, there's a slew of new mechanics like the Archwing and its underwater exploration, and generally it feels less like speedrunning through yet another Grineer base that you've probably visited at least three times now.

But the early grind is still pretty rough. It feels like a lot of disparate missions with no real continuity, and while some early elements are cleared up in later parts of the game, the narrative really does take quite a bit of time to get going. I also have the luxury of having top tier frames, either gifted to me by friends (thanks, MJ and Santi) or via Digital Extremes itself. I can imagine that, if you're playing solo, the grind to get yourself some decent frames and weapons isn't an easy one, and given how many hours you need to plow in to get to The New War (or Natah, which is where things heated up for me), you'd be forgiven for peacing out.

The point of this article, however, is to tell you not to quit. I know that 20 hours of grinding sounds horrible - I'm a Diablo player and even I found it pretty tough. But the quality of storytelling from The New War onwards is exceptional. There are twists and turns; deluges of emotion juxtaposed with robotic indifference. Is it on the same level of Baldur's Gate 3 or early Dragon Age? No. But what Digital Extremes has created is a soaring space opera that really does deserve your time, even if you have to work pretty hard to fall in love with it.

The slickness of the combat, the variation in frames, and the limitless buildcrafting will keep you around for literal days. I've spent hours honing my Ember, only to go and swap her out for Oraxia (ironic given I've got severe arachnophobia), then Nyx, then Cyte-09. The flexibility of being able to switch characters on a whim adds that replayability, as well as an extra layer of strategy as you match your frame's elements to the mission's recommended ones. And that's before I even get into the fashion frame and Orbiter renovation world, which I am slowly but surely becoming far too engrossed in.

I did wonder, post-COVID haze, whether or not I'd keep going back to Warframe. Was this a mix of post-Tennocon blues, coupled with being lumped with the choice of either zooming round as an interstellar ninja or watching my partner play Death Stranding 2? Thankfully, the answer is no. The beauty of Warframe is the ability to drop in, play a mission or two, and leave. Levels are quick enough that you can spend just 15 minutes grinding towards progressing that Junction, or a whole hour or more if you like. As someone who's spent most of her time sinking 45 minutes into a single League of Legends game since she was 21, that's a welcome change.

Is Warframe suddenly my favorite game ever made? Certainly not, though it's perhaps my favorite live service game in 2025. I admire Digital Extremes' commitment to staying true to Warframe's roots while assessing its accessibility and finally giving those early stages a rework; as someone who's bounced off it twice, it's finally in a great state if you're looking to try it as a newcomer. So, yes, I am okay, actually - more than okay. Warframe's finally become the game that I always wanted it to be, and I can't wait to experience Tau in 2026 (and finally smooch Eleanor. Maybe that's the most important bit).