You could accuse Digital Extremes of being a bit on the nose with their latest Warframe expansion. The world is in the grip of a pandemic and up they pop at their annual TennoCon convention (now streamed, for full social distancing) with Heart Of Deimos: a gooey, pulsating update revolving around a trip to a moon in the grip of a parasitic infestation. But unlike real life, on Deimos you can distract yourself from lockdown woes by riding a giant dragonfly. Imagine steering one of those bad boys to Durham Castle.
This year's TennoCon presentation was a little different to normal, having fully migrated online due to COVID-19, but there were still plenty of changes announced for the Warframe universe, including a big new open-world area, a Warframe ability transfer feature... and mechs.
Releasing on all platforms simultaneously, the Heart of Deimos expansion is set to land on August 25th, and will introduce players to a new open world centred around the Infested faction. On the second moon of Mars, players can discover more about the Infested faction's origins, "unveiling the lost Entrati family and the marvels of technology and horror it left behind". There's also flying fish and two giant wyrms, with the latter locked in an eternal battle for power (and with one wyrm causing a "surge" in Infested power to keep players on their toes). Underground, players will find an area created from a series of procedurally-generated networked tunnels and vertical spaces to explore.
The K-Drive hoverboards introduced in Fortuna are getting a re-skin on Deimos - literally - as they appear as insects called Velocipods which you can ride over the hellish landscape. You can take them into combat, too, as the Velocipods will allow you to shoot while riding them, creating a "whole new combat dynamic". Or, if you need something with a little more firepower, you can try a Necramech: a pilotable suit of armour that comes with its own abilities, and is particularly effective when it comes to dealing with waves of Infested. They also appear as enemies within the Heart of Deimos expansion, and look pretty terrifying.
A world inhabited by infested creatures, an abundance of insects, and a daily power struggle between two opposing sides? No, it's not the British summertime in 2020, it's the new Warframe expansion Heart of Deimos, which has just been unveiled as part of this year's all-digital TennoCon presentation.
The update brings a raft of goodies - including a fleshy open world, K-Drive combat, mechs and warring giant wyrms - all of which should keep players occupied as they search for the origins of the Infested faction. Oh, and there's also a little thing called the Helminth Chrysalis System, which allows players to transfer an ability to another Warframe (something that should create some truly wacky combinations).
But given this year has been so disruptive for many studios thanks to the impact of COVID-19, I was curious to know how Digital Extremes had shifted its content plans and managed the workload for Warframe: particularly given the game normally receives a fairly consistent flow of updates and content. After watching a press deimos-tration, I had a chat with Warframe COO and dev team member Sheldon Carter, who was able to tell me more about the challenges of working during lockdown, how the Necramechs work... and what the hell is going on with that Helminth.
‘s gone and infested an entire moon with creepy crawlies for its Heart Of Deimos expansion. Shown properly for the first time during today’s Waframe fan event livestream, the expansion also includes other cool stuff, like customisable Warframe powers and a huge new open world area. But I’m more interested in the pair of gigantic worms endlessly warring to take control of the moon. At least, that’s what I think they’re doing. Guess we’ll find out when the expansion releases on August 25th.