The free-to-play science fiction game Warframe is known for its deep customization and loot options, satisfying cooperative content, and consistent stream of updates. What it isn’t — or at least hasn’t been — is a 2D fighter, but Digital Extremes took it upon itself to change that with a new minigame.
The latest update for Warframe adds a minigame called “Frame Fighter” that’s pretty clearly inspired by classic fighting game series like Street Fighter and Tekken. To play the game, you must acquire the Ludoplex device using the Standing resource. Along with Frame Fighter, you can also acquire the shoot-’em-up game “Wyrmius,” as well as “Happy Zephyr.”
“Inspired by longtime Warframe fan LocoCrazy_, this no-frills arcade minigame will transform your Orbiter into a battleground — no quarters required!” said Digital Extremes in a blog post.
Frame Fighter is quite a bit slower than what you’d expect from a full-fledged 2D fighting game, but it still contains quite a few different moves. You can throw together combos full of punches, leap through the air to kick your opponent, and even perform a heavy throw attack. There are only three Warframes to select from right now, but it should serve as a nice diversion for anyone getting bored with the main game’s third-person action.
Warframe isn’t the first game to include a fighting minigame as a hidden feature. One of the weirdest examples was Enter the Matrix, the companion game to the film The Matrix Reloaded. To access it, you had to use the “hacking” interface included in the menu, and one of the unlockable stages had a police cruiser and a Firebird vehicle fight each other instead of people. It didn’t make even a little bit of sense, but it was probably the most entertaining thing in the whole game.
We’d love to see some other games try their hand at 2D modes, fighting or otherwise. Overwatch seems like a perfect candidate due to its characters’ variety of moves, and it could put a nice spin on the Halo series as well. Which games would you like to see transition to 2D? Let us know in the comments!
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