Digital Extremes just pulled back the curtain on something fans have been begging for since basically forever. At Tennocon, the studio revealed Warframe: Tau, a brand-new second solar system that is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious expansions the free-to-play shooter has ever seen.
If you’ve been playing Warframe for any length of time, you know the Sentient faction has always been lurking in the background as this mysterious threat from beyond our solar system. Well, we’re finally going to their home turf. And let me tell you, Tau is not what anyone expected.
The first area players will explore is Fornax, a ringed city that basically feels like someone crossed a Philip K. Dick novel with a H.R. Giger nightmare. The whole place is built inside what appears to be a massive corpse, with corridors that feel more like organic arteries than streets. It’s gross, it’s gorgeous, and it’s dripping with noir atmosphere.
At the center of it all is Brysko, a brand-new Chimera Warframe who looks like a trenchcoat-wearing private eye from some cyberpunk detective story. He’s voiced by none other than Matt Mercer, which honestly feels like cheating at this point. Brysko has his own inner monologue, throws explosive cards in combat, and comes equipped with a grappleshot that works on both enemies and the environment.
The city itself is riddled with dark themes. Residents are hooked on a substance called the Bloom, and the whole place is drenched in corrupting rain. The lower levels are full of makeshift tents where addicts huddle, while higher up you’ll find glistening canyons of hovercars that look like vintage American roadsters crossed with alien vertebrae. And at the top? A neon casino with holographic singers and Warframe’s very first in-game card game, Portau.
During the demo, players will sit down for a card game with the Hunra, a crimelord who looks like a half-vaporized goblin riding around in a broken beetle tuxedo. Yes, this is real. Digital Extremes has absolutely lost their minds in the best possible way.
Warframe: Tau is launching later this year, though newcomers should know you’ll need to work through the existing story progression to unlock access. It’s a hefty investment, but if the Fornax reveal is anything to go by, it’ll be worth every minute.
On top of the big expansion, Digital Extremes also teased a smaller update called Iceblade of Narin coming this autumn, which introduces a new ice-element Warframe and a long-overdue rework for Banshee. There’s also a mini RPG adventure called Fables and Frontiers dropping in August, complete with a new song from the in-game boyband On-lyne.
seriously, Warframe really does have everything at this point. A noir detective city, a card game, a boyband. What’s next, a farming simulator? Actually, don’t answer that.
Jordan Hayes is a staff writer at SteamGamer.net covering PC gaming news, hardware, and the latest from the Steam ecosystem. When not writing, Jordan is probably buried in a roguelike or arguing about GPU prices.
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