“War is hell” warframesays Rebecca Ford, Creative Director of Community Director Megan Everett as she cuts through the hordes in the new Pelita Rebellion mode. It’s a phrase the pair keep repeating during previews of The Old Peace, the latest chapter in the MMO saga. In many ways this is appropriate. While the 12-minute war that Everett is embroiled in is certainly hellish, the quest’s adjacent plotline, the Devil’s Triad, adds a new “Devil Flame” Uriel and Descendia mode. Both are inspired by Dante’s Inferno and other classical depictions of religious iconography. “It’s no coincidence that the demonic frame exists and that the Orokin have an unfortunate relationship with it,” Ford says with a laugh. “None of this was an accident.”
In the latest development stream, Digital Extremes is focusing on the second part of The Old Peace (you can read Ken’s full breakdown of the first stream here). While the previous article mainly focused on the Devil’s Triad and the aforementioned Descendia, this time we’re focusing on the Tau.
But The Old Peace was released after Warframe 1999, perhaps the biggest “what the heck” moment in MMO history. Taking the frames we know and love and dropping them into a sci-fi, dieselpunk reimagining of turn-of-the-millennium Earth was a breath of fresh air. Add in the much-loved Protoframe system, which represents Warframe in its “human” form, and you’ve got everything from motorcycle combat to an MSN-inspired dating sim to the Infested boy band I’ve spent way too much time listening to. Visually it’s certainly impressive, but it’s the gameplay innovations that really make it stand out.
It is a marked contrast to the old war. Uriel, the demonic frame, is put through the meat grinder in Pertia Rebellion’s three levels (Hunhullus, Dactolyst, and Vanguard) when Temple releases the concert-inspired Stage Defense. These act as memories, showcasing key moments in Warframe’s storied history that build on the game’s “core” storyline. I asked Ford what it would be like to go back to an era like “old school” Warframe, and whether there were any risks associated with it given how well received it was in 1999.
“There’s always a risk in doing the unexpected,” Ford told me. “1999 represented the time when Warframe’s rubber bands stretched the furthest they could. In reality, you can’t go any further than that and work as hard as we do. Then, ‘puff’ – Ford makes a rubber band noise – ‘snap back, the rubber band goes back, it’ll tingle on the way back, but now you have to pull in a different direction.’
“We pushed ourselves to our limits, and returning in this direction felt essential for the team to launch Tau,” she continues. “There’s the man[within the walls]the wanderer’s arc who hunts the Entrati, and then there’s the operator’s arc who has to return to Tau for reasons that become clear at the end of this quest.
“1999 was a huge success and we had a lot of fun working on it. The team was excited about the atmosphere and the music, but some of the players were like, ‘Oh, I can’t wait until we get back to core Warframe.’ And here we are. We’re always trying to please all the Warframe fans and at least give them something in the updates. This time we really went back to the oldest war in the war.”
“This update would not have been possible without 1999. 1999 is absolutely necessary for something like The Old Peace to exist.”
While Tau and new Focus School abilities play a central role in this development stream, the DNA of 1999’s Protoframe lives on in The Devil’s Triad. Now that Halo, Uriel, and Wisp have all gotten sleek human (and Orokin) forms, I asked Ford how they brought this beloved system back to a completely different time and place while ensuring the team didn’t accidentally underprice it.
“For people who really like instant messaging systems, romance, and world-building through text, we’ve done a really good job with this update. It’s kind of fun to imagine that all they need is access to a computer and anyone can send an email,” she laughs.
“But this particular state of the protoframe group dissects three very different subjects in great detail. Marie (The Wisp) basically worships the ground that Albrecht Entrati walks on, much like Christine Daae did in The Phantom of the Opera. They all have something very different that players interested in these subjects will want to explore.”
“We’ve been very fortunate in formulating their arcs and what they offer because they all have very special problems, and this is the one case where they all need to come together or win or lose. There’s a good ending that involves all three, and an ending where certain things don’t happen. It takes players a few weeks to get over it and figure out what it is, but it has its own cinematic ending.
“It’s going to be the closest to the soul we’ve ever done, where the players don’t know it.” that It happened and I’m really excited about it. ”
And you don’t have to wait that long. Warframe’s The Old Peace update will be available on Wednesday, December 10th, adding the Devil’s Triad, Descendia, and Perita Rebellion modes, as well as the new Focus School update. To play The Old Peace, you must have completed The Lotus Eaters questline.
Note that for the first time, you can skip all of the game’s content and try out The Old Peace’s new mode from the jump. DE has confirmed that these are streamlined versions of Descendia and Perita Rebellion, and while we strive to remove most spoilers, some may still appear.
While I was initially skeptical of Warframe’s storytelling, I’ve really grown to love the world over the past year. I’m interested in seeing how The Devil’s Triad and Tau come together. And more importantly, I’m excited to choke Marie. You don’t have the courage to judge me.
