By RON McKENZIE
Digital Extremes’ WARFRAME, the free-to-play cross-platform MMO, has long stood on a foundation of horror, from the cosmic terror of Deimos (a planet of infected blood and muscle and home/prison to a family of mad scientists/demigods) and the Bottin-esque hordes of the virulent Infestation all the way to the eldritch and omnipresent being watching over all, the Lynchian “Man In The Wall.” It seems only fitting, then, that the game’s 13th anniversary delivers its most unabashedly horror-inspired addition yet. Brace yourself, Tenno… here comes THE SHADOWGRAPHER.
A strange canvas painting manifests in the ruins of Vesper Relay, creating ripples of unease throughout the “Origin System” universe. As one of the bio-armoured interplanetary rangers known as Tenno, players are tasked with investigating the now-derelict satellite and entering the cursed painting itself, leading to the dimension’s sole occupant, Follie, a harlequin-like entity dripping with oil paint and malice. Players must escape by completing the unfinished artworks that litter this realm (utilizing new painting mechanics designed for this chapter), all while evading the gleefully mad stalker who calls this world “home.”
In advance of its release, Megan Everett, WARFRAME’s Director of Community & LiveOps, spoke with me about the old-school horror energy that fuels THE SHADOWGRAPHER.
“We’ve done our version of horror before in some previous updates,” Everett says. “There’s a lingering horror theme within our game, with some of our characters, maybe not explicit horror, but (THE SHADOWGRAPHER) is very much like a slasher vibe – something is after you, you can’t see it, but you know it’s there, and it’s coming for you. You’re on edge the whole time, and that’s what we’re trying to evoke with this: do your best to evade her, but she’s there, and she’s getting scarier as it goes on.
“Our game is a very fast game. Everyone wants to get in, get out, get their rewards, grind, get better, get more powerful. Now, we’re asking you to play a bit differently… she’s going to kill you, so you need to get the hell out of there. You’re trying to paint these canvases while she’s after you, and the environment escalates as you continue to paint. You try not to run into her, but she’s got all these tricks up her sleeve to deter you from success.”
In designing this chapter, it all started with the antagonist. Everything else followed Everett’s lead.
“We crafted this update around (Follie). The colour scheme is really inky, creepy, and almost monochromatic. We thought, ‘let’s go a little bit weird with this, and let’s go creepy. Let’s go dark.’”
Another factor Everett was excited to tease was THE SHADOWGRAPHER’s soundtrack. “We aren’t able to show it just yet, but there is brand new music that’s going into this game mode that in itself is incredibly creepy, using those old school voice recordings, children’s toys, that kind of sound, to really hit home with the worst spooky vibes.”
THE SHADOWGRAPHER releases March 25 on all platforms (as well as a bundle for purchase that includes Follie as a playable Warframe), but this is just the beginning for WARFRAME’s “Lucky 13.” Digital Extremes has more announcements slated for this year’s annual WARFRAME convention, TennoCon, in London, Ontario. Tickets are sold out for the live event, but all announcements and news at the show will be streamed live. Check Warframe.com for more updates as they come.
