Recent reviews by RRCM (Rico)

There are few games that consistently give me good reason to laugh out loud regardless of whether I am winning or losing, and this is one of those games. This game has the lighthearted spirit and playful art style of a game like Team Fortress 2, and an impressive amount of depth and polish for an entirely free to play game. With the recent inclusion of robust bots for solo play and classes still being added to the game as of October 2020 more than 10+ years after the release of this Half-Life 2 mod turned game, I can think of few other examples of a mod turned standalone game that are as worthy of a Labor of Love award as this game is. This game is a classic that deserves far more play time than I have given it so far on Steam and when it was a mod prior to its Steam release.

A relaxing, heart warming, and fun casual exploration game. It feels like a highly polished game that Nintendo would have made for the Nintendo DS or GameCube. This game is full of charm, laughs, thoughtful reflection, and rewarding moments that made it a joy to play throughout my time with it.

PROS:
---Well designed world that frequently rewards exploration and offers new paths to traverse it as you progress.
---Beautiful retro aesthetic that may be paying homepage to games on the Nintendo DS or other retro platforms.
---Movement in the game feels precise and gets progressively more fun as you build your inventory and complete quests. Gliding is a joy.
---Clever, amusing, and sometimes thought provoking dialogue across all character interactions. This game has heart.
---There is a good variety of quests and activities that are each unique and fun. Some quests make minor changes to the world as you complete them which is a great touch for making the world feel lived in.
---Excellent dynamic soundtrack befitting of the world.
---Nice ambient sound design.
---Meaningful achievements that fit the context of the game.
---Simple controls that worked well for a controller. I used an Xbox One controller and it felt comfortable.
---No issues with game performance. The game ran perfectly at a 1920x1080 resolution with 144 FPS, as it should on a PC with an i7 CPU and Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti.

CONS:
---It wasn't really a short hike :-P
---There were a few moments where I wished I had more control of the game's camera. This issue felt minor though and only negatively impacted game play during a parkour race where I may have been moving a little too erratically.
---As much as I liked the visual aesthetic of the game, there was a treasure map puzzle for which I felt completing it was actually hindered by the retro aesthetic.

Note: I have not played this game using a keyboard. At a glance, it looks like keyboard controls are a little awkward to configure.

If you like single player or coop shooter games with a science fiction setting, then I recommend trying this game. This is a mostly free-to-play game with a lot of depth and variety in its content, and that content ranges from exciting to relaxing.

PROS:
---Shooting feels crisp and precise.
---Movement is fluid and at times an absolute joy. You can parkour in this game!
---The game is graphically pleasing and outright impressive in some areas and/or moments.
---The game is well-optimized for PC.
---Many varied warframe types to suit most, if not all game play styles. There is a little something for everyone across the warframe roster.
---Deep customization options for your character powers and weapon loadouts.
---The game can be played alone or in coop. The coop aspect supports up to 4 players in a mission, and in hub worlds between missions the game feels like an MMO with dozens of players roaming around. There is a multiplayer focused component for PvP, though there is a con to that mentioned further below.
---An interesting story is included in the game. You access the story content via quest missions.
---There is a nice variety of mission types in this game that promote all-out action, stealth, and/or exploration.
---Varied level types from arena stages to linear levels to open-world maps. Some levels include space flight portions.
---At least once a month there seems to be a substantial in-game event that offers special rewards for completion.
---There is a nice variety of activities to mix up game play inside or outside missions. In open-world maps there is fishing, mining, animal conservation, and hoverboarding (all of which are ideally done outside bounty missions). There are some mini hacking games to unlock gates. Outside missions, there are 3 mini games to unlock inspired by classic or infamous games.
---There is always something to "work" towards in this game, be it a new warframe or weapon or mods for your character and weapons. Most of the game content is unlocked by playing the game.
---You can have pets such as dogs, cats, and robotic companions.
---Deep customization options for the look of your character and the items you use.
---You can assemble and decorate your own clan dojo!
---Frequent updates from the developer to add new weapons, items, warframes, improved graphics, new levels, new gameplay systems, bug fixes, and quality of life improvements.

CONS:
---Though the game is technically free-to-play, there are a quality of life aspects of the game that require monetary or significant time investments to unlock. This game has a resource called Platinum, and that resource can only be bought with real world money or traded for in the game. The following critical resources in this game can only be obtained using Platinum:
warframe slots
weapon slots
Without extra weapon and warframe slots, you will constantly need to sell items to free slots. It is highly likely that you will want to keep more items than the game initially provides slots for. It is possible to earn resources through game play that you can then trade to other players for Platinum, however, there is a significant time investment needed for that approach and time is money.
---There are a number of non-critical resources that you may desire and which require Platinum to obtain. Significant items in this category are companion slots for biological or robotic companions.
---There are a few resources that are frequently needed to craft items or needed in very high quantity to craft more late game items, and which frequently seem to be harder to obtain enough of relative to other resources. Specifically, these resources in particular seem to me to be a never-ending challenge to obtain enough of:
Cryotic
Mutagen Samples (the worst offender)
Tellurium
---There are several really cool looking player cosmetic items that can only be obtained with money in a Steam account. Not even Platinum can be used for these items.
---The game is so complex and not sufficiently explained in the game itself that you will likely frequently refer to the Warframe wiki or other online resources to learn how to do things efficiently, or at all.
---The game UI is not as intuitive as it should be. Things that should be simple like adding friends, accessing certain parts of your inventory, or trading may take more steps to do than you would expect.
---Almost no one seems to play the multiplayer PvP component of the game and sometimes connecting to such a match may seem impossible.
---This game has bugs. Especially around significant updates that overhaul systems or add a lot of content, the number of experience impacting bugs increases substantially.

11/23/2016 update: I nominated this game for the "You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain" award for the Steam Awards of 2016.
11/22/2017 update: I nominated this game for the “Labor of Love” award for the Steam Awards of 2017.
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Absolutely recommended, regardless of whether or not you enjoy FPS games or even games in general. As it is free-to-play, it only costs your time to investigate if this is a game for you. This is the only game that brings a smile to my face and for which I laugh out loud every single time I play it.

PROS:
-Hilarious team-centered gameplay that can consistently make you laugh out loud even if you're losing a match
-Distinct and memorable character classes that suit different play styles
-Unique and pleasant graphical fidelity that suits the game's intentions well
-Excellent and constantly improving level design
-Variety of classic and newer game play modes provide fun for all types of players
-Good bots included for offline practice
-Wealth of options readily available in-game to ensure the game looks and handles the way you want
-Many (emphasis) hats, other cosmetic items, and item modifiers available for customizing your look
-Free item drops, with an average 1 random drop per hour
-Many free updates that have added weapons, maps, production value, improved performance, story, play modes, and by extension new ways to play the game. All of this has made the game more fun over the years and helped to grow its diverse and largely vibrant community


CONS:
-The addition of so much content over the years has had some impact on game stability, though this is often fixed eventually via free updates
-Some nasty exploits available that can ruin the game for some players, though these are usually eventually fixed via free updates
-No obvious classic 'team deathmatch' play mode. The CTF map 2Fort is often used as a team deathmatch map as a result
-A lot of the story is explained outside the game via entertaining comics and high quality videos. I am fine with this, though this could frustrate players more interested in storytelling within games
-The game is free-to-play, however a minimal monetary investment is required to begin unlocking more than 50 items. There is no pay to win here, however there is definitely more fun to be had when you invest more money in the game to unlock more items. Check this official free-to-play FAQ for more details:
http://www.teamfortress.com/freetoplay/faq.php