When Digital Extreme’s first announced that the Broken Frame concept won in the community creation contest, I had my reservations. I have known — and appreciated — how much Digital Extremes involves and listens to its community, but was this stretching it too far? Could eaterofstorms’ meme-alicious idea that might be construed as a joke really fit into Warframe’s lineup?
Anything is possible, but even as development progressed and various talented community artists were selected to design different aspects of this new warframe (Eornheit, frame; Kedemel, weapon; Karu, syandana; and Faven, alt helmet), I’ll admit that I had doubts. I wasn’t sold on the idea — until I saw Xaku in action at TennoCon 2020. Now, call me a fan!
Coming to life
The art panel at TennoCon this past weekend introduced the latest iteration of Xaku, the 44th warframe, complete with veins of void flowing between salvaged parts of other frames. Aesthetically, this added extra oomph to the model, but it wasn’t until the TennoLive reveal of the complete package that Xaku came alive and captured my interest. The animated veins of void pulsed through the body while the armor pieces hovered above them was much more intriguing. Add in the startling idle animations of removing different body parts and the hobbled posture and I really felt the personality come alive with a Frankenstein vibe. How could a horror aficionado like me not love this piecemeal monster?
The real wow factor of Xaku, however, was in demonstrating their abilities, especially the ultimate. (Note: As an amalgam of various warframe parts, Xaku’s confirmed pronounces are they/them.) This fourth ability involves Xaku self-destructing, shooting off all their armor parts as shrapnel and running around as a void skeleton. In this form, Xaku is not only faster but has 75% damage reduction. Creepy, cool, and crazy useful!
Feel like taking a turn as Frankenstein’s Space Ninja? Xaku will be available to acquire in Heart of Deimos, launching later this month.
Catch up on more of our TennoCon 2020 coverage!
