Games worth discovering

Warframe is the perfect example of a mobile port

13K View2024-02-23

SHOULD I PLAY WARFRAME?

If you’re a fan of third-person shooters and sci-fi themes, or if you already play Warframe on console or PC and want to take advantage of that sweet crossplay feature, the mobile port of Warframe is worth your time. This game really brought out the power of my iPhone 15 Pro. Despite being a game developed over a decade ago on PC, everything looks gorgeous. Warframe felt right at home on my phone.

TIME PLAYED

I spent around four hours on Warframe, building up Volt, my chosen warframe. This mostly involved going on missions, building weapons, upgrading my skills, and exploring a futuristic Earth.

WHAT’S AWESOME ABOUT WARFRAME?

• Fast-paced action and controls. I’ve only briefly played Warframe on PlayStation, but jumping into the mobile port was just as thrilling. Missions moved quickly, and I could cut through enemies seamlessly. Where recent triple-A mobile ports like Death Stranding and Resident Evil 4 were awkward on the tiny screen, Warframe somehow feels designed for iOS. The touch control scheme didn’t take up too much space on my phone screen, and thanks to the auto-attack and auto-fire settings, engaging enemies in combat was easy.

• Beautiful sci-fi visuals. Warframe is a sci-fi lover’s dream come true. The original iteration of the game may be over a decade old, but it still looks great on my iPhone 15. Every time I unleashed a surge of electricity to barbeque my enemies as Volt, the effect looked great. Warframe proves to be such an effective port because of its seamless visual transition from console and PC to mobile.

• Seamless crossplay. I can’t imagine a bigger selling point for Warframe than having the freedom to switch between console, PC, and mobile while upgrading the same character. As mentioned, I’ve only played a bit of Warframe on my PlayStation. Still, now that I can take the same character I’ve been building onto the console, I’m tempted to dive deep and swap between playing at home and playing on the go. This crossplay feature breathes new life into the series by offering a flexible gaming experience that caters to the diverse preferences and lifestyles of players.

• A dorky sci-fi story that pulled me in. Playing as an ancient warrior in the middle of a galactic war really brings out the sci-fi nerd in me, and I mean that in a good way. Warframe opens with a beautiful cinematic that perfectly introduces the concept of warframes— weaponized armor controlled by an ancient race of warriors known as Tenno. It got me hyped to play the game, and with tons of upgrades to unlock and more plot to uncover, I don’t think I’ll get bored any time soon.

WHAT SUCKS ABOUT WARFRAME?

• Some frame rate hits. Warframe feels like a perfect fit on mobile, but that doesn’t mean it runs perfectly all the time. I ran into spots where my FPS took a major dive, usually when many enemies were on screen and I used a special ability. These frame rate dips never lasted long, but you might experience more problems if you’re using an older device.

• Overheating. There were a few moments when I was playing Warframe where I was convinced my iPhone 15 Pro was going to explode. Thankfully that never happened, but I was forced to put the game down at times, both to give my device a break and for my own comfort.